The Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization led by the families of the Sandy Hook primary school, released another heart-wrenching video about gun violence in schools.
This new video titled “Back to School Essentials” shows elementary school kids showing the new school supplies they got for the school year in the midst of a shooting. The video starts off more innocent while students are showing off their new backpacks, folders, and headphones, but with children running and a teacher frantically locking the door in the background.
The video then takes a drastic turn when a child shows that his new sneakers are “just what he needed for the new year,” while running down a hallway as children are falling behind him. Kids are then shown using new skateboards to smash windows and knee socks to make tourniquets for bullet wounds. The last shot is the most dramatic with a young girl using her “new phone” to text her mom that she loves her while hiding in a bathroom stall, just as the bathroom door open and footsteps approach. The video ends with “It’s back to school time and you know what that means. School shootings are preventable when you know the signs.”
This is not the first video that the Sandy Hook Promise organization has produced. They have released several videos since their founding. Their most notable video is titled “Know the Signs”, which shows a high school romance with a student planning a shooting in the background of every shot.
The Sandy Hook Promise organization was founded by a group of families whose young children were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Their mission is to “honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation by providing programs and practices that protect children from gun violence.”
Sources: Sandy Hook Promise 9/19/19, Washington Post 9/18/19, BBC 9/19/19
