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RAY SUAREZ:Now a different perspective on guns and public safety from young people who participate in the "NewsHour"'s Student Reporting Labs program.
And again to Hari Sreenivasan.
HARI SREENIVASAN:We brought together high school students from around the country into a Google Hangout to talk about recent gun proposals that affect schools, the connection between video games and violence and what can be done to prevent mass shootings like the one that took place in Newtown, Conn. We asked them about recent proposals, such as arming teachers.
Jacqueline Mears is from Magnolia, Texas.
JACQUELINE MEARS, Magnolia, Texas: I wouldn't trust a teacher who's trained to teach to protect me. We also have three armed constables all our school. And I would trust constables. And I would trust somebody that is trained to protect me to protect me. So I feel safe with the constables, and I feel like they can do the job better than a teacher that's armed.
HARI SREENIVASAN:Spencer Baldwin is from Shenandoah, Iowa, a place he describes as a rural community with many hunters and farmers.
SPENCER BALDWIN, Shenandoah, Iowa: A lot of our teachers are already gun owners. They have conceal and carry permits. They have been trained to do that kind of thing. And I think that having one in every classroom wouldn't necessarily be a danger to the students at all.
HARI SREENIVASAN:Students also talked about the changes they have seen since Newtown. Many oft schools are increasing restrictions on who can enter the school, times that kids can go off campus, and they're trying to keep individuals from walking the halls alone.
SaDarius Clayton is from Las Vegas, Nev.
SADARIUS CLAYTON, Las Vegas, Nev.: Our school has implemented a closed school campus, where students cannot leave the school for lunch anymore and not too many people can get into the school without going through the front office. Therefore, now they have teachers guarding the door where students cannot sneak out or cannot sneak anything in without teachers being around.
HARI SREENIVASAN:Patrick Avognon, who goes to school in Los Angeles, described what he sees as a useful tool.
PATRICK AVOGNON, Los Angeles, Calif.: We have random searches. And so what happens is an administrator will come in and she will ask for the attendance list. And they will do every third person or everyone who has a birthday in the month of February. And they will take them. They will search their locker. They will search their backpack. And it's completely random.
HARI SREENIVASAN:The students had a lot to say about whether video games cause real gun violence.
Elitza Batchiyska from Los Angeles thinks the underlying causes are more complicated.
ELITZA BATCHIYSKA, Los Angeles, Calif.: I mean, I think that we have been witnessing violence for years, whether in reality through the media or through video games. And I don't think that's a first-hand effect. A lot of the shooters that we know of might not even be interested in that stuff. I go to school with a lot of kids, teenaged boys who are into that, but they would never even dream of owning a weapon.
