Early last week, a back to school PSA was released, in which young students use commonly found school supplies as emergency survival resources. The new public service announcement was created by Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-violence organization founded by the parents of those killed in the horrific 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. The non-profit is based out of Newtown, Connecticut, where the school shooting took place.
The Sandy Hook shooting occurred when a 20-year-old man, Adam Lanza, shot and killed 20 young students and 6 adult staff members. Now, the parents of those students are putting the continued issue of school shootings right in Americans’ faces.
The PSA begins as an innocent back to school commercial, where the children show off their new school supplies. The students display their beautiful backpacks, colorful binders, shiny headphones and so on.
However, as the video progresses, it becomes apparent that a shooter is now in the building. As one student uses his skateboard to break a window to escape, another holds up scissors while anxiously hiding behind a door.
In an interview with CNN, Sandy Hook Promise’s managing director, Nicole Hockley, stated that “it’s meant to be an intense video.” Hockley continues with, “Parents still think of back to school as this rosy time where you’re getting your staplers, your shoes, your folders and binders, whereas actually it’s back to a time of violence for a lot of kids.” Hockley lost her 6-year-old son, Dylan, in the massacre.