LAGUNA NIGUEL : A Class Act on Making of Policy

If policy-making has a sound, this was it--scores of fingers rattling across computer keyboards, noisy printers churning out reports, and a dozen voices dissecting and debating laws and taxes.

But this wasn’t a government office. Nor were there any politicians in sight.

Instead, a group of Niguel Hills Intermediate School students were embroiled in the issues of gun control and ineffective school systems.

For four weeks, a pair of advanced eighth-grade classes have investigated these two weighty issues, and the 57 participating students plan to deliver their findings and recommendations in a few weeks to the Laguna Niguel City Council.

“They’ve been interviewing people in the community, the city manager and police chief came in to give presentations, and they’ve been researching statistics and articles,” teacher Nancy McIntyre said. “They are doing more than just studying the issues, though. They are coming up with answers to the questions.”

The answers they came up with include a mandatory 20-day waiting period for handgun purchases and conflict-resolution training at the elementary school level to offset the trend of youths bringing guns into schools.

For the education system, they suggest a formal coalition between schools and businesses to improve career preparation.

“They teach us reading, writing and arithmetic, but not how to apply them on the job,” student Bryan Frank said. “It’s nice to know when the Revolutionary War ended, but it’s not going to help you when you want a job.”

To make school curricula more responsive to the skills needed by employers, Frank and his classmates also suggest that high school students spend one semester visiting and working in several businesses. After sampling careers, the students would pick the one they liked best--for a second, full-semester work stint.

But jobs are mostly a future concern, while guns are a very current problem.

In April, a 13-year-old Niguel Hills student was expelled for bringing a loaded handgun on campus. The youth was also sentenced to 120 days in Orange County Juvenile Hall.

Many of the students in the class said they knew the boy, who reportedly took his father’s gun as a way to protect himself from a threatening classmate.

To dissuade others from bringing guns to school, the students said the Capistrano Unified School District and parents should cooperate to sponsor an early education effort about weapons.

As a result of their experiences, some students said they now view policy-makers in a new light.

“I kind of look up to the government now,” said Goldie Sisoyev,13. “I thought it was easy, but now I don’t know how they get anything done.”

Caroline Tess, who spoke to several gun shop owners and read up on the legislative efforts to curb the widespread distribution of weapons, was less upbeat.

“I was surprised how much money affects the decisions made,” said Tess, 13. “I don’t want the laws affecting my life decided by whoever has the most money.

“It’s like cigarettes being allowed even though they’re bad for people, just because the people who make them are rich,” Tess added. “They should make decisions on what’s the right thing to do.”