Sandy Hook Promise clubs magnify prevention message
NEWTOWN — Youth clubs across the country, under the auspices of a home-grown nonprofit, are magnifying gun violence prevention messages on social media as the day approaches when 26 first graders and educators were slain at Sandy Hook
Elementary School nine years ago.
Students in 3,500 clubs sanctioned by Newtown-based Sandy Hook Promise kicked off a 14-day campaign on Wednesday to honor those slain in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre “by taking action to stop school shootings and violence.”
Specifically, students in SAVE Promise Clubs took pledges about how they would prevent gun violence, from “speaking up about bullying to saying something when they see warning signs of potential violence,” according to the nonprofit.
“Kids are putting stuff up on Instagram and social media pledging to reach out and meet someone new today or pledging to talk to a trusted adult if they see (red flag behavior),” said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, whose son was among the first graders slain nine years ago. “They’re putting up pledges about being more caring and kind, and some are posting that they want to learn more about gun violence prevention in their communities.”
Hockley is referring to a youth leadership initiative that was born when Sandy Hook Promise merged with Students Against
Violence Everywhere to form SAVE Promise clubs in schools where the nonprofit runs its free peerbased “Know the Signs” programs. The SAVE Promise clubs, which are expected to number 5,000 by the end of the school year, are overseen by the nonprofit’s National Youth Advisory Board, a 13-member group that includes Aislinn Burns from Milford’s Jonathan Law High School.
“These are the student leaders who create a safe and inclusive climate in their schools,” Hockley said on Thursday. “This is longterm generational training about being inclusive and taking action, rather than thinking someone else will do it.”
The youth campaign, called 14 Days of Action, is meant to create awareness leading up to the shooting date on Dec. 14 — a date Sandy Hook Promise calls a remembrance rather than an anniversary, to emphasize its solemnity.
“Our children were killed because nobody took action on the warning signs to stop the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre from happening,” said Mark Barden, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, in a prepared statement.
“Remembrance Day and the 14 days of action are about knowing the signs to prevent violence and promising to say something because that will save lives,” said Bardon, whose son was among the first graders slain in the Sandy Hook massacre. “I implore students, parents, educators and everyone to promise to be part of the solution to preventing violence — be an upstander, not a bystander.”
Sandy Hook Promise has grown into one of the premier gun violence prevention groups in the country, gaining national attention when its STOP School Violence Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The nonprofit made headlines in May when it released a trio of provocative PSAs about the “powder keg of turmoil” threatening kids’ well-being. Specifically, PSAs zeroed-in on “the anxiety, isolation, pressure, boredom, and incessant information overload that teenagers are experiencing” and encouraged viewers to “learn the signs of a child in emotional distress and get help before it’s too late.”