On April 29, March for Our Lives released a new video in which a group of adults are given advice on how to hold a successful lockdown in the event of an active shooter.
Their instructor was someone well-versed in proper lockdown behavior, who had given large amounts of thought to the possibility of a school shooter: Kayleigh, a young student whose school holds regular lockdown drills.
**Heads up: this video contains sensitive content** We want to learn without fearing for our lives. We want to lea… https://t.co/eBWuKPlQ5R— March For Our Lives (@March For Our Lives)1556559911.0
As Kayleigh advised the adults on the importance of silence and barricading the door, the adults were heartbroken at the reality of a world where such a young girl needed to know these things.
Active shooter drills taught us how to: ❌Crouch under tables to hide. ❌Look for escape paths when we enter a new r… https://t.co/NAfSUgaCI6— March For Our Lives DC (@March For Our Lives DC)1556560868.0
@AMarch4OurLives I am the only one that got emotional watching this?— AmirNoir (@AmirNoir)1556578293.0
Children go to school to learn, not to fear for their lives.
@AMarch4OurLives What’s really difficult and sad frankly - as a parent to accept, is the casualness in which my kid… https://t.co/pqEYAypdOZ— Chuck Whitney (@Chuck Whitney)1556568608.0
My six-year-old daughter last year after an actual lockdown: "The best places to hide are the big cupboards. But ho… https://t.co/TX6urhu12s— Kaz Weida (@Kaz Weida)1556566873.0
@kazweida My grandson said if they got in your room & started shooting grab anything & throw it at them. Maybe he &… https://t.co/J6Ayip2Fwu— Pam 🌊✌️❤️🎶😗👀 🏳️🌈GBO VFL (@Pam 🌊✌️❤️🎶😗👀 🏳️🌈GBO VFL)1556570627.0
Countless people on Twitter spoke up, speaking about the terrifying fears children in America are forced to deal with because we refuse to take action and stop the epidemic of gun violence.
@AMarch4OurLives I arrived at my kids ES to volunteer in the art roomjust as a lockdown started. By the end of the… https://t.co/uNzkfEriOZ— V (@V)1556562268.0
Recently my daughter Bella told me that she made a new friend. Me: “That’s great sweetie; what do you like about h… https://t.co/K8x5Y7uNi3— this account fights scaredy-cats🙀 (@this account fights scaredy-cats🙀)1556577486.0
An entire generation is growing up under the threat of unexpected violence.
My then-kindergartener, after a school lockdown drill: “Mom, [baby sister] would be a problem in a lockdown, becaus… https://t.co/11ZWKAcueE— Colleen (@Colleen)1556573798.0
Noya Dayan is 8 years old. She survived the shooting at her temple in Poway, CA yesterday. Listen to this 8 year… https://t.co/VTv3LU7SuU— Matt Deitsch (@Matt Deitsch)1556491957.0
Lockdowns aren't a solution to the problem, they're a last-ditch hope of saving lives once the threat of violence is on your doorstep.
Schools should not have to be a place students fear for their lives.
Just this week I reported my classroom door to the principal. The lock is stiff and takes some effort to open. If… https://t.co/I2doftYoUJ— RESISTNYC (@RESISTNYC)1556575393.0
@AMarch4OurLives I have a day job that involves working with large crowds in public. There are days when I come in… https://t.co/gFH47yFfD7— Alexander Vornoff (@Alexander Vornoff)1556564598.0
@AMarch4OurLives Every few months we have a lockdown drill at my school. We have to go against the back wall and al… https://t.co/ZemYq9r0Gr— 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 | #ProtectLinSquad (@𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 | #ProtectLinSquad)1556569495.0
The hashtag #GenerationLockdown is trending on Twitter as adults and children alike discuss gun violence in America and what could be done to fix it.
It probably says something that I saw #GenerationLockdown and immediately understood what it meant. I feel so bad f… https://t.co/e1S2ElW1hz— 🌸🛡 Mick Mack (They) (@🌸🛡 Mick Mack (They))1556569587.0
@AMarch4OurLives Have to figure our parents were telling our grandparents about the bomb shelters and duck and cove… https://t.co/drPgvYOX9v— Willie Green (@Willie Green)1556565212.0
@AMarch4OurLives @Well_Regulated_ In the little sleepy town I grew up in of 800 people they have active shooter dri… https://t.co/53luAlfeTt— CH (@CH)1556605502.0
Many Twitter users were chilled by the video and the stories that were inspired by it.
@AMarch4OurLives @deepash81 Good God, I have chills! Is this what has become the norm?!! So sad.— Sandy Sterzer 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 (@Sandy Sterzer 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦)1556563051.0
@AMarch4OurLives I work at an elementary school. My rooms are the gym and the cafeteria at lunch. There is nowhere… https://t.co/waMHLtdEav— Paula Blair (@Paula Blair)1556570139.0
#GenerationLockdown deserves better than childhoods tinged with violence, and learning environments should be a place where no one fears for their lives.
Whatever action is necessary to make these children safe should be our first priority as a culture.