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             DOOR-TO-DOOR SCHOOL SALES DEBATED AFTER BOY'S SLAYING
                                       
     Werner October 1, 1997
     Web posted at: 10:02 p.m. EDT (0202 GMT)
     
     TOMS RIVER, New Jersey (CNN) -- During the school year, it's a scene
     that takes place across the United States -- children selling
     merchandise door-to-door, raising money to benefit their schools or
     activity groups.
     
     But now, the rape and murder of an 11-year-old New Jersey boy who
     tragically knocked on the wrong door has brought renewed attention
     to the issue of whether door-to-door sales should be discouraged, or
     even outlawed.
     
     Prosecutors say Edward Werner was attacked and murdered by a
     15-year-old boy who opened the door at a house in Toms River. Edward
     hoped to win a walkie talkie by selling the most merchandise in a
     contest.
     
     Authorities say they know of no other connection between the victim
     and the teen who has been charged -- that it was a "chance
     encounter" brought about by Edward's door-to-door selling in what a
     prosecutor describes as a "very safe" neighborhood.
     
     The teen-ager was charged Wednesday with murder and aggravated
     sexual assault. Authorities did not release his name because he is a
     juvenile.
     
  Raising money for the PTA
  
     
     
     Schools and non-profit groups pull down an estimated $2 billion a
     year from product sales, and no state has a law restricting
     door-to-door fund-raising sales by school children. But in the wake
     of Edward's slaying, a New Jersey legislator has suggested a ban.
     Neighborhood
     
     Ironically, Edward was raising money for the PTA -- though the
     national Parent Teacher Association has a policy discouraging
     students from selling merchandise door-to-door. The sales kits
     provided to the students warned them to sell only to "family,
     friends and neighbors with whom you are familiar."
     
     The Association of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers, a trade group
     representing about half of the estimated 1,500 companies that deal
     with school and youth groups, has also adopted a policy saying it
     does not endorse door-to-door sales.
     
     Instead, the association suggests that children sell to relatives,
     friends or neighbors they know, while having parents sell to their
     co-workers, according to Russell Lemieux, the association's
     executive director.
     
     "That's really the bulk of sales in fund raising," Lemieux said.
     "The instance of a child going door-to-door is quite rare."
     
     However, children are often offered incentives that encourage them
     to sell as much as they can -- incentives which could have a
     tendency to encourage, rather than discourage, door-to-door sales.
     
     "Our members say incentives ... make a big difference," Lemieux
     said.
     
  Robbery thought the motive
  
     
     
     When he was last seen, Edward had about $200 on him, and police say
     he had been showing that money to friends. Robbery is believed to
     have been a motive in his murder, but no robbery charge has been
     filed.
     
     In the wake of the tragedy Edward's school district has banned
     door-to-door sales, as green ribbons have begun to appear in his
     memory. 
     
     Correspondent Christine Negroni contributed to this report.
     
   
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