20 years removed from the Columbine High School shooting, active shooter drills have become standard at schools, and shootings are unfortunately still happening at schools around the US.
March for Our Lives has released a video public service announcement to remind people that kids go through training to shield themselves and classmates against active shooters. Titled ‘Generation Lockdown,’ the video offers a stark reminder of the dangerous environment today’s students face in schools across the country.
The PSA features a young girl, Kayleigh, instructing adults on how they would survive an active shooter event. She enters a workspace in California, much to the shock of the employees there. She continues to tell them how to recognize gunfire, how to hide and protect doorways. When she states how gunfire sounds, an image of those mourning the victims of school shootings is shown. It ends by telling people to learn about the S.42 Background Check Expansion Act that hopes to prevent dangerous people from getting guns.
The PSA offers a moving look at what students deal with and how schools have had to respond to the very real threat of gun violence. The organization estimates that 95% of school kids – some as young as five – are now trained on what to do during an active shooter situation because they have to be prepared for it at any minute, in any community.
‘Generation Lockdown’ by McCann NY follows the April 15 launch of a two-week Times Square ad campaign centered on gun violence prevention. March for Our Lives’ Times Square billboard ads are estimated to reach 5.5 million people as the organization seeks to garner support for legislation to pass background checks, extreme-risk protection orders (ERPO’s), safe-storage laws and other life-saving measures. In 2017, nearly 40,000 people were killed due to gun violence.