In February, after the horrific shooting that took the lives of 17 students and teachers in Parkland, Florida, seniors at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn decided it was time to take action. They had just started SLP’s Residency Program and decide to use their time with Faculty member Allie Cashell to help prevent the senseless gun violence they were hearing about all too often.
As part of their research, Fort Hamilton students met with staff from Everytown for Gun Safety, who shared information about gun violence, and introduced them to Students Demand Action (SDA), an Everytown initiative designed to empower youth voices in the fight for gun safety. Working closely with SDA, the students created a school-based Student Safety Coalition (SSC). SSC is a youth-led group through which teens promote a safer school environment and raise awareness around the issue of gun violence in schools. Hoping to inspire other schools and students around the country to start SSCs of their own, the SLP students created the video above and this SSC How to Guide.
We are thrilled that Everytown is sharing both the video and the pamphlet with partner schools in NYC and across the country.