OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : Ganging Up on Violence : Green Ribbon Campaign Grew from Anger, Grief Over Shooting of Teen-Ager After School

John is being pressured into joining a gang. A friend brings him to Karen Lott’s house and he becomes one in a group of teen-agers who gather every Sunday evening in her living room, headquarters for the Green Ribbon campaign.

John is one of the borderline teens who have joined the gatherings at Lott’s Lake Forest home.

They discuss their fears or experiences with youth violence, make posters for rallies, write letters to politicians, talk about their personal achievements and feel the comfort of working together on a cause that Lott believes needs more attention.

Lott founded the Green Ribbon campaign to focus on teen violence after her 18-year-old son, Philip, was shot four times while walking home from El Toro High School on Nov. 4, 1992.

Four teens were subsequently tried for attempted murder; all were convicted.

Meanwhile, the organization that was started on Philip’s behalf has blossomed to include more than 5,000 teens in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Massachusetts. There are members in Australia and England as well.

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The Green Ribbon idea came to Lott when she was looking for a way to deal with the confusion and despair over the shooting.

“I stayed with (Philip) for four days (in the hospital) and when I came home I saw his room was exactly how I left it, and I sat on his bed and I was so full of sadness, I cried myself to sleep,” she recalled. “I prayed to Lord, ‘What can I do?’ and I dreamed of the green ribbon.”

So she started writing “Stop youth violence, support Philip” on little pieces of paper and attached green ribbons to them.

“When I started, my immediate goal was to increase public awareness about teen violence,” Lott said. “I wanted to bring parents, educators and law enforcement together.”

The day after her dream, she took the messages and ribbons to the hospital to show Philip and his friend Corrine Hatter. Hatter, a June graduate of El Toro High in Lake Forest, and Philip became the co-chairs, and the campaign was rolling.

The green ribbons symbolize hope and growth, said Philip, who is now almost fully recovered from the bullet wounds to his stomach and legs.

“(Mom) wants kids to have the chance to grow up without having to worry about getting shot or hurt,” said Philip, a senior at El Toro High School.

As a result of the effort, high school students in Orange County as well as Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Francisco and San Diego counties have organized Green Ribbon rallies and marches and have attended city council meetings to speak about youth violence, hoping to influence legislation pertaining to youth violence. The organization also sponsored its first essay contest.

Lott plans to establish a fund to help teen victims of violence pay for some of the extras in high school, like class rings, yearbooks and proms.

“There are financial burdens that come with caring for a victim,” she said, explaining the need for such a fund.

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The Lotts have taken their green ribbon message to high schools, national talk shows and a law enforcement conference for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

By the end of this year, Lott hopes to have a Green Ribbon campaign in every Orange County high school, including buttons that say, “I will not be part of the problem, I will be part of the solution.”

Huntington Beach High School has become particularly involved in the Green Ribbon campaign, according to Lott.

“The (campaign) is part of our total emphasis on student safety, respect for each other, and (it’s) a message of nonviolence,” said Huntington Beach High principal Jim Stauntan.

However, instead of just passing out ribbons to everyone, students were told if they wished to wear a green ribbon, they could pick one up at the office.

“We did this because if (students) come get it, it means something to them,” Stauntan said.

And the school took it one step further by making every Tuesday a green ribbon day for administrators.

“It is such a small thing to do (but) it has such a big impact,” Stauntan said. “I’m really pleased with those kids who choose to wear them. They put them on their backpacks, I see them in their hair, on their shoes. It makes people aware. It reminds them.”

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Hatter, who wrote to President Clinton about the Green Ribbon campaign and received a personal reply, has used the organization as a means of channeling her anger about Philip’s shooting.

“(This) was the only thing I did for a while. I’d be up until 3 in the morning cutting green ribbons,” said Hatter, who has been friends with Philip since the ninth grade. “Everything made me really angry and this was my was of fighting back.”

Lott quit her job as a real estate agent to work full time on the Green Ribbon campaign. “This is my way of healing,” she explained. “In the beginning, I was just fighting for Philip. But now I want to help thousands of kids.”

She conveys that desire in her Sunday evening gatherings with high school students. Many of the teens who attend the meetings are like Philip, she said, and are not involved with gangs. However, lately some teens who are thinking about joining gangs have started coming.

“They come over, and we tell them about what happens if you join a gang,” Lott said. “We tell them they’re so special that there is more to life than being a bad guy.”