October 5, 2021 • 22 mins
Gun violence has risen to alarming new heights in recent years, becoming the leading cause of death for children since 2018. What can we do to keep our children safe? Nicole Hockley, co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise, joins us to share her insights.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From the recount a Marina nine in and you're listening
to the Recount Daily Pod Today's Tuesday, October five. There
are so many signs that would be shooters put off
before that they commit their active violence, and that it's
all about how you can stop that act from happening.
That was Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
Sandy Hook. Promise Nicole and I dive into the issue
(00:29):
of gun violence prevention a little later on, but first
your morning headlines. We began with Facebook, the popular social
media platform, along with its products Instagram and WhatsApp. We're
all down for several hours worldwide yesterday. This happened just
one day after revelations that Francis Hogan had shared thousands
(00:50):
of pages of sensitive documents and communications with The Wall
Street Journal. The documents seemed to imply unethical practices at
Facebook that put profit over users safety. How again, will
testify before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee today. The former Facebook
product manager alleges that the company thrived off of misinformation
and instead of removing it, allowed it to propagate. She
(01:12):
also accused the company of misrepresentation and emissions and statements
to investors. She claims that company also knew that Instagram
was worsening body image issues for teenage girls. Next to
the United States Postal Service, which started quietly offering paycheck
cashing services at several East Coast post offices. According to
(01:34):
an agency's spokesman, Postal customers can abardeem their paychecks for
a Visa gift card topping out at five dred dollars.
Federal officials expect to expand the test market to more
locations and offer services like bill paying and a t
m S for more than fourteen million unbanked adults. This
means bringing a government backed alternative to paycheck cashing stores
(01:57):
and paid a lenders, both of which target vulnerable populations
and charge outsize fees and interest rates we had with COVID.
According to The New York Times, vaccine maker Johnson and
Johnson will be asking US regulators sometime this week to
authorize a booster shot of its COVID vaccine. The FDA
(02:17):
has already scheduled in October fifteenth meeting of its Expert
Advisory Committee to discuss whether to grant emergency use authorization
for MADERNA and J and J booster shots. MADERNA is
still gathering more data before making its request formal. New
guidelines were issued on Monday by the Department of Defense.
Under the new rules, all citizens who worked for the
(02:39):
d D must be fully vaccinated for COVID nineteen by November.
Each brand of the military also released its own deadline,
with most aiming for a November December date. Deputy Defense
Secretary Kathleen Hicks said that the new mandate is in
line with the President's directive requiring federal employees to be
vaccinated and now to our daily deep dive. Gun violence
(03:03):
has risen to alarming new heights in recent years, making
it the leading cause of death in children for the
past three years. The stress of the pandemic and recent
return of students to school are only expecting to exacerbate issues,
and experts expect a surge in school shootings. How can
we keep our children safe? Here to help share her
insights is Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
(03:24):
Sandy Hook Promise. Nicole, welcome, Hi, Thank you for having me,
of course, so give us a sense you know, under
this pandemic, what are you most worried about? Is more
students who were remote are re emerging and back in school. Well,
you know, what we've seen this last year is a
lot of anxiety, stress, and depression in kids that have
(03:44):
been speaking to us with our anonymous reporting system. We've
seen a significant increase in mental health reporting. We've seen
a massive increase in suicide and suicidal ideation. Forty of
the tips that we get now are just around suicide.
So this means that there are kids that need more
help than ever other. They've been isolated for the past year.
(04:05):
They've lost a lot of their connections, they've lost a
lot of their supports, and now that we're emerging from
that isolation perspective, we can't just expect that they're just
going to be resilient and bounce back. They need more
mental health supports and we need to be prepared to
help them. What do you think schools who might not
be equipped with the funding or capabilities when they're reevaluating
(04:26):
how they can prevent school shootings, what really works. What
really works is focusing on prevention. I've seen a lot
of schools, and you know, I know schools are overwhelmed,
so I don't envy the challenges that they have, but
I also see that a lot of schools focus on
downstream violence prevention or hardening and security. That's not really
(04:47):
what the kids need right now. We need to focus
on learning the signs of someone who's in distress and
how we can help them before it reaches tragic consequences.
Schools don't need significant resources to rebuild connections, to put
in mental health supports with what they already have, but
to really also focus on these violent signs or in
crisis signs so that they can take action when a
(05:09):
kid needs the most. What are the signs that a
kid is in distress. There are so many signs to
look for, and we provide as much training as possible,
but it's really about being in tune with children and
recognizing changes in behavior. So we're talking about uh, sudden
withdrawal from friends or family or activities that the child
(05:29):
used to be interested in. Bullying. We've seen a massive
increase in cyber bullying this past year, so any child
that is bullying or is being bullied needs help. Excessive
irritability or lack of patients, someone who is experiencing chronic loneliness,
significant behavior changes in the way that they dress or
the way they interact, or obviously making overt threats of
(05:50):
violence or self harm. But there's a multitude of signs
and it's not always about the one thing of someone
saying I'm going to shoot up a school. It's about
all of this, Lindes that lead up to someone who
is in crisis and needs needs that intervention before they
take a tragic step forward. Speaking of tragedy for folks
who might not be familiar, you have an amazing story
(06:12):
about how you started Sandy Hook. Promise tell me about it.
We launched the organization one month after the shooting at
Sandy Hook School. Both of my children were at the
school that day. My eldest was in third grade at
the time. He's now a senior in high school. And
um Dylan was killed in his first grade classroom. He
was shot five times and died instantly. And I didn't
(06:36):
want to accept that as the ending. I wanted to
create change so that no other parents would experience what
I do every day. And the more I learned about
school shootings, and the more I learned about school violence
and youth violence, I learned that all of these acts
are preventable, that there are so many signs that would
(06:57):
be shooters put off before that they commit their active islands,
and that it's all about how you can stop that
act from happening. So I devoted my life to Sandy
Hook promise in our mission to stop school shootings and
keep children safe in their schools and their families and
their communities. What keeps you going? How do you keep
doing this? I'm just so blown away. I'm not gonna
(07:19):
lie in to him. It's not exhausting, it can be
very traumatic, but I have a seventeen year old son.
Now I need to honor my son that died, and
then need to protect the sun that lived. And that's
what keeps me going constantly, knowing that this works, knowing
that we have already saved hundreds are potentially thousands of
(07:40):
lives from mentual health as well as from actual averted
school shootings. That's what keeps me going every day. Why
do you think it is that America has the highest
rate of school violence of anywhere in the world. I
think that we just don't really know how to handle
the gun violence here. I think that normal outbursts of
(08:01):
activity are to be expected, but we don't always know
how to treat that. We're often in denial, you know,
a lot of parents will say it's not my child,
or not take responsibility and accountability for creating an intervention.
I think we're also have a lot of polarization and
division in our country, and we're not necessarily dealing with
it as responsible adults. And that is then what our
(08:22):
kids are seeing, and that's what their role modeling. And
I think school violence in general, we are seeing that
absolutely increase, especially its self harm as well as violence
to others. And I think it's because we need more
mental health supports for our children. We are not unique
in having mental health needs as a country. However, I
think that sometimes we fall short on being able to
(08:43):
help our kids where they are. As these kids return
back to school and so many of us are struggling
with our own mental health, what do you worry about
the most, especially as we're all trying to re emerge.
I am an optimist by nature, but this year I've
been nervous than ever about the potential spike for violence
in schools because I don't think we have adequately prepared
(09:07):
across the country two be ready to help these kids
make new connections and to deal with the trauma that
they've had over the last seventeen eighteen months, as well
as help the educators that have also had trauma over
the last seventeen and eighteen months. And I am very
nervous that this element of violence that's bubbling under the
(09:29):
surface right now, what we're seeing in terms of what's
being reported as well as the actions that have already
started taking place, it feels like it's a powder kig
getting ready to go off. And that's why I'm urging
that we focus on prevention, that we focus on learning
the signs, that we focus on creating interventions and being
there for our kids to get them the help that
(09:49):
they need so that we can mitigate against this violence.
We've got to take a quick break and we'll be
right back in. Nicole Hockley, Founder and Managing director of
Sandy Hook Promise. You're listening to the Recount Daily Pod.
(10:09):
Welcome back to the Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from
the Recount and I Heart Radio. I'm here with Nicole Hockley.
She's co founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise,
and we're talking about gun violence and prevention. We all
think about COVID nineteen as being a public health epidemic
back in April, President Biden said the country was facing
(10:30):
a quote gun violence public health epidemic. What do you
think he meant by using that term in regards to
gun violence. I think the President is absolutely spot on
when he says that gun violence is a public health epidemic.
When you think about roughly forty people dying every year
as a result of gun violence, and then the ripple
(10:50):
effects of those that survive and experience it, this is
creating serious physical and mental health issues, and it is
an epidemic. And it's an epidemic that we can control
and prevent and stop from happening. That is absolutely within
our power. So I know that the President is very
interested in working with the CDC and others to help
(11:11):
create more research around this so that we can really
understand the root causes and what is truly going to
prevent them from happening. But I think as well, we
have a responsibility within our communities to take more action
and be more present in this as a public health
epidemic and take the steps to stop it. In the
same way masks and vaccines are here to help stop COVID.
(11:32):
There are many actions that we can take to help
stop gun violence. You mentioned the c d C. They're
actually getting involved with funds and research, spending over two
million on a surveillance mechanism try and track people with
non fatal gunshot wounds in real time. Are there other
federal agencies you wish would step up here? Yeah, we're
very supportive of funding for the CDC and the NIH,
(11:54):
the National Insitut of Health to get more research into
effective and evidence based on violence prevention measures. Were also
working closely and want to see more support from the
d J, the Department of Justice to help implement extreme
risk protection orders across the states. We already work really
well with the d o J in terms of the
Stop School Violence Act that passed in teen to provide
(12:16):
funding for schools to implement violence prevention programs UM and
we're also working with different members of Congress in the
Senate and House to pass the Stand Up Act, which
is about expanding evidence space programs for middle and high
school's nationwide around suicide prevention. So, I mean, there's a
lot of other agencies that can lean into this. You
(12:37):
and your organizations and working really closely with the Biden
White House and trying to pass legislation to curb gun
violence in terms of legislation, Are you confident something might
get passed? Yes, I am absolutely confident. I think that
the model state extreme risk Protection orders that are already
in nineteen states, and that d C is helping provide
(12:57):
federal guidance on how to provide pass them in more states.
That is going to be incredibly helpful because that works
for anyone who doesn't know what an extremerst protection order is.
It compliments are now the signs because we teach you
how to recognize the signs of someone who's in crisis
or needs help, and then an extremist Protection Order is
a legislation that means and when you're seeing those signs,
(13:17):
there is a judicious and due process for removing firearms
from someone who is deemed to be at risk to
harm themselves or someone else. They can then have their
weapons returned to them once they are no longer in crisis,
but in that moment, they are not able to purchase
or use firearms to them carry out on their acts.
So we're very supportive of that. So fascinating hear you
(13:41):
say you're optimistic. I haven't heard that sort of excitement
for people pushing for gun violent support and legislation. Who
do you think are the biggest opponents to this legislation
and what's really their criticism. I think what gets in
the way is fear. There are some politicians that perhaps
(14:01):
aren't interested in doing the right thing, but are more
concerned with their careers. I think there are still strong
lobbyists out there, and I'm not just talking about the
n r A. There are other extreme rights groups that
are more focused on profit and proliferating messages of fear
and anger as a way to purchase more guns for
(14:22):
more profit rather than again really hearing the voice from
responsible gun owners across the country. I think that once
we get past that fear and division, then we can
focus on what matters, which is about protecting our children,
which is about protecting our lives. But we still have
some uphill battles background checks, for example. I've been working
(14:42):
on that since my son was killed almost ten years now,
and we're in a more optimistic place than we have
been in the past, but there's still challenges to overcome
in terms of define details of legislation and ensuring that
people understand that it doesn't mean we're taking away rights,
it's about out you know, strengthening the law that's already
there and ensuring that there aren't nupoles, and those things
(15:04):
can sometimes create gigantic fights. We've got an even quick break.
We'll be right back with Nicole Hockley, co founder and
Managing director of Sandy Hook Promise. You're listening to the
Recount Daily Pod. Welcome back to the Recount Daily Pod,
(15:24):
a podcast from the Recount and I heart Radio. I'm
here with Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
Sandy Hook Promise. We're talking about gun violence prevention. You know,
the research team here at the Recount pulled up the
statistic that just amazed me when I read the research,
guns have now killed more children and teens than cancer, pneumonia, influenza, HIV, AIDS, asthma,
(15:49):
and opioids combined. It's now the leading cause of death
and children. For parents like myself who are listening to
you today, how do we talk to our children about
school shootings and gun by I think you have to
be really open and not avoid the topic and don't
assume that a child is too young to be able
(16:11):
to handle the topic, because this is what they are
experiencing now, you know, we have active shooter drills in
schools at very early ages. Now, personalize your feelings that
you have as an adult about this and validate their
concerns and talk to them. But the most important thing
is to really reassure the children in your life that
you are judgment free of them, You are a source
(16:32):
of support for them, and that they can discuss anything
with you. And then, as an adult, if your child
does discuss something with you that is concerning you, take action.
Please take what they tell you seriously. Don't be apathetic
about it or passive about it, and don't assume that
just because a kid seems to be okay, that they
are okay, because we don't always physically show how mentally
(16:57):
unwell we are. My kids Hope elementary school one day
and Mom, we had a drill just in case a
big angry bear comes into our classroom. And here's what
we did. Boy, that broke my heart. I know, it
is heartbreaking, and it's not like stop drop and roll
of when I was throwing up. It's very different now
(17:18):
and it's scary. And there are some bad apples out
there in terms of active shooter drills. You know, we
hear horror stories of live simulations, and that is traumatizing kids.
You know, I'd love to see more focus on just
training adults what to do and not having kids go
through these drills, because I think it's too much for
many kids to handle. And I want school to be
(17:40):
a place of learning and community and helping shape them
for their future, not practicing how to run and hide.
Danny who Promise has a new video out. It's called
The Teenage Dream Is Not What It Used to be?
Telling me about this video and what was your goal
in releasing this. We've done p s A every year
that's really focused on the warning sign and how they
(18:00):
can be very subtle, but how you can recognize them
accumulating over time, and how it can lead to violence.
And this time we've decided, especially with the number of
children dying and the idea that some kids are now
almost expecting their school to have an act of gun
violence at some point, which is incredibly horrifying and heartbreaking,
(18:22):
we wanted to focus on the survivors. We wanted to
focus on what happens after the school shooting and how
can we ensure that people are remembering these ripple effects
for the survivors, for the community as a way to
remind them that it doesn't end when the shooting happens.
This is decades of mental health issues, this is decades
(18:43):
of trauma, and we're getting to that point in the country,
which is a horrible thing to say where we're all
going to be touched by gun violence at some point now,
and that is a scary thing. I wanted to focus
on what does that mean for the youth of today
as a way to motivate people to prevent it, to say,
this is not the future that I want for my child.
Who do you hope this campaign reaches really talking to
(19:06):
adults here um, because I think kids they're the ones
living this right now, they're the ones experiencing it. So
we're trying to help amplify their voices to adults to
say you need to do something about this, because it's
very hard for a parent to not listen to their
child when they're asking for help. Do you think they'll
(19:27):
ever be a day when school shootings are a thing
of the past, or do you think they'll forever be
with us? I want school shootings to be a thing
of the past, and I think we have the power
to make that happen, and I just want to ensure
that we get to that point as a country. I
don't know if there is enough positive passion right now
(19:48):
with the adults in a country, but I think our
kids are going to be the ones that make this
change happen. And look at everything that happened after Parkland
and what continues to happen, they are going to be
the ones that say, this is not going to be
the future that I enable for my child. So I
am very hopeful and I just very much hope that
(20:09):
it happens in my lifetime. Nicole Hockley from Sandy Hook
promise a mom who took personal pain and turned it
into something powerful. Thank you for joining us. Thank you,
and now to the look ahead. Here's what else we're
watching today. President Joe Biden heads to Michigan today to
rally support for the one trillion dollar infrastructure bill along
(20:31):
with a three point five trillion dollar build Back, Better
or Reconciliation plan. This comes after a tough week for
the administration, which is trying to rally to hold out
senators who are refusing to back Biden's economic agenda. Time
for an update. Windows eleven launches today. The new operating
system will first be available on newer devices before opening
(20:53):
up to all users. Windows eleven will feature a new interface,
which will be closer to its Mac operating system counterpart,
art and feature options to make remote work easier. Users
can wait until Windows updates on its own that's expected
early next year, or they can go directly to Microsoft's website.
The update is free to all Windows ten users. History
(21:14):
will be made today at the U s. Supreme Court
when Michigan Solicitor General Fada Hamoud argues on behalf of
the state and Brown versus Davenport. She'll be the first
Arab American Muslim woman to argue before the High Court.
Fadua has had an expansive career, but it's most known
for her work as Michigan Solicitor General, where she led
the investigation into the Flint water crisis. She's also the
(21:37):
first Arab American solicitor general in the US. Have a
great day, everyone, see you back tomorrow. This is a
Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from the Recount and I
Heart Radio are thanks to Nicole Hockley, co founder and
Managing director of Sandy Hook Promise for being on the
show and if you like this episode, do subscribe to
(21:59):
the Readcount Daily pod. Leave us rating on the Apple
podcast app. I'm your host, Rena Niden
From the recount a Marina nine in and you're listening
to the Recount Daily Pod Today's Tuesday, October five. There
are so many signs that would be shooters put off
before that they commit their active violence, and that it's
all about how you can stop that act from happening.
That was Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
Sandy Hook. Promise Nicole and I dive into the issue
(00:29):
of gun violence prevention a little later on, but first
your morning headlines. We began with Facebook, the popular social
media platform, along with its products Instagram and WhatsApp. We're
all down for several hours worldwide yesterday. This happened just
one day after revelations that Francis Hogan had shared thousands
(00:50):
of pages of sensitive documents and communications with The Wall
Street Journal. The documents seemed to imply unethical practices at
Facebook that put profit over users safety. How again, will
testify before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee today. The former Facebook
product manager alleges that the company thrived off of misinformation
and instead of removing it, allowed it to propagate. She
(01:12):
also accused the company of misrepresentation and emissions and statements
to investors. She claims that company also knew that Instagram
was worsening body image issues for teenage girls. Next to
the United States Postal Service, which started quietly offering paycheck
cashing services at several East Coast post offices. According to
(01:34):
an agency's spokesman, Postal customers can abardeem their paychecks for
a Visa gift card topping out at five dred dollars.
Federal officials expect to expand the test market to more
locations and offer services like bill paying and a t
m S for more than fourteen million unbanked adults. This
means bringing a government backed alternative to paycheck cashing stores
(01:57):
and paid a lenders, both of which target vulnerable populations
and charge outsize fees and interest rates we had with COVID.
According to The New York Times, vaccine maker Johnson and
Johnson will be asking US regulators sometime this week to
authorize a booster shot of its COVID vaccine. The FDA
(02:17):
has already scheduled in October fifteenth meeting of its Expert
Advisory Committee to discuss whether to grant emergency use authorization
for MADERNA and J and J booster shots. MADERNA is
still gathering more data before making its request formal. New
guidelines were issued on Monday by the Department of Defense.
Under the new rules, all citizens who worked for the
(02:39):
d D must be fully vaccinated for COVID nineteen by November.
Each brand of the military also released its own deadline,
with most aiming for a November December date. Deputy Defense
Secretary Kathleen Hicks said that the new mandate is in
line with the President's directive requiring federal employees to be
vaccinated and now to our daily deep dive. Gun violence
(03:03):
has risen to alarming new heights in recent years, making
it the leading cause of death in children for the
past three years. The stress of the pandemic and recent
return of students to school are only expecting to exacerbate issues,
and experts expect a surge in school shootings. How can
we keep our children safe? Here to help share her
insights is Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
(03:24):
Sandy Hook Promise. Nicole, welcome, Hi, Thank you for having me,
of course, so give us a sense you know, under
this pandemic, what are you most worried about? Is more
students who were remote are re emerging and back in school. Well,
you know, what we've seen this last year is a
lot of anxiety, stress, and depression in kids that have
(03:44):
been speaking to us with our anonymous reporting system. We've
seen a significant increase in mental health reporting. We've seen
a massive increase in suicide and suicidal ideation. Forty of
the tips that we get now are just around suicide.
So this means that there are kids that need more
help than ever other. They've been isolated for the past year.
(04:05):
They've lost a lot of their connections, they've lost a
lot of their supports, and now that we're emerging from
that isolation perspective, we can't just expect that they're just
going to be resilient and bounce back. They need more
mental health supports and we need to be prepared to
help them. What do you think schools who might not
be equipped with the funding or capabilities when they're reevaluating
(04:26):
how they can prevent school shootings, what really works. What
really works is focusing on prevention. I've seen a lot
of schools, and you know, I know schools are overwhelmed,
so I don't envy the challenges that they have, but
I also see that a lot of schools focus on
downstream violence prevention or hardening and security. That's not really
(04:47):
what the kids need right now. We need to focus
on learning the signs of someone who's in distress and
how we can help them before it reaches tragic consequences.
Schools don't need significant resources to rebuild connections, to put
in mental health supports with what they already have, but
to really also focus on these violent signs or in
crisis signs so that they can take action when a
(05:09):
kid needs the most. What are the signs that a
kid is in distress. There are so many signs to
look for, and we provide as much training as possible,
but it's really about being in tune with children and
recognizing changes in behavior. So we're talking about uh, sudden
withdrawal from friends or family or activities that the child
(05:29):
used to be interested in. Bullying. We've seen a massive
increase in cyber bullying this past year, so any child
that is bullying or is being bullied needs help. Excessive
irritability or lack of patients, someone who is experiencing chronic loneliness,
significant behavior changes in the way that they dress or
the way they interact, or obviously making overt threats of
(05:50):
violence or self harm. But there's a multitude of signs
and it's not always about the one thing of someone
saying I'm going to shoot up a school. It's about
all of this, Lindes that lead up to someone who
is in crisis and needs needs that intervention before they
take a tragic step forward. Speaking of tragedy for folks
who might not be familiar, you have an amazing story
(06:12):
about how you started Sandy Hook. Promise tell me about it.
We launched the organization one month after the shooting at
Sandy Hook School. Both of my children were at the
school that day. My eldest was in third grade at
the time. He's now a senior in high school. And
um Dylan was killed in his first grade classroom. He
was shot five times and died instantly. And I didn't
(06:36):
want to accept that as the ending. I wanted to
create change so that no other parents would experience what
I do every day. And the more I learned about
school shootings, and the more I learned about school violence
and youth violence, I learned that all of these acts
are preventable, that there are so many signs that would
(06:57):
be shooters put off before that they commit their active islands,
and that it's all about how you can stop that
act from happening. So I devoted my life to Sandy
Hook promise in our mission to stop school shootings and
keep children safe in their schools and their families and
their communities. What keeps you going? How do you keep
doing this? I'm just so blown away. I'm not gonna
(07:19):
lie in to him. It's not exhausting, it can be
very traumatic, but I have a seventeen year old son.
Now I need to honor my son that died, and
then need to protect the sun that lived. And that's
what keeps me going constantly, knowing that this works, knowing
that we have already saved hundreds are potentially thousands of
(07:40):
lives from mentual health as well as from actual averted
school shootings. That's what keeps me going every day. Why
do you think it is that America has the highest
rate of school violence of anywhere in the world. I
think that we just don't really know how to handle
the gun violence here. I think that normal outbursts of
(08:01):
activity are to be expected, but we don't always know
how to treat that. We're often in denial, you know,
a lot of parents will say it's not my child,
or not take responsibility and accountability for creating an intervention.
I think we're also have a lot of polarization and
division in our country, and we're not necessarily dealing with
it as responsible adults. And that is then what our
(08:22):
kids are seeing, and that's what their role modeling. And
I think school violence in general, we are seeing that
absolutely increase, especially its self harm as well as violence
to others. And I think it's because we need more
mental health supports for our children. We are not unique
in having mental health needs as a country. However, I
think that sometimes we fall short on being able to
(08:43):
help our kids where they are. As these kids return
back to school and so many of us are struggling
with our own mental health, what do you worry about
the most, especially as we're all trying to re emerge.
I am an optimist by nature, but this year I've
been nervous than ever about the potential spike for violence
in schools because I don't think we have adequately prepared
(09:07):
across the country two be ready to help these kids
make new connections and to deal with the trauma that
they've had over the last seventeen eighteen months, as well
as help the educators that have also had trauma over
the last seventeen and eighteen months. And I am very
nervous that this element of violence that's bubbling under the
(09:29):
surface right now, what we're seeing in terms of what's
being reported as well as the actions that have already
started taking place, it feels like it's a powder kig
getting ready to go off. And that's why I'm urging
that we focus on prevention, that we focus on learning
the signs, that we focus on creating interventions and being
there for our kids to get them the help that
(09:49):
they need so that we can mitigate against this violence.
We've got to take a quick break and we'll be
right back in. Nicole Hockley, Founder and Managing director of
Sandy Hook Promise. You're listening to the Recount Daily Pod.
(10:09):
Welcome back to the Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from
the Recount and I Heart Radio. I'm here with Nicole Hockley.
She's co founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise,
and we're talking about gun violence and prevention. We all
think about COVID nineteen as being a public health epidemic
back in April, President Biden said the country was facing
(10:30):
a quote gun violence public health epidemic. What do you
think he meant by using that term in regards to
gun violence. I think the President is absolutely spot on
when he says that gun violence is a public health epidemic.
When you think about roughly forty people dying every year
as a result of gun violence, and then the ripple
(10:50):
effects of those that survive and experience it, this is
creating serious physical and mental health issues, and it is
an epidemic. And it's an epidemic that we can control
and prevent and stop from happening. That is absolutely within
our power. So I know that the President is very
interested in working with the CDC and others to help
(11:11):
create more research around this so that we can really
understand the root causes and what is truly going to
prevent them from happening. But I think as well, we
have a responsibility within our communities to take more action
and be more present in this as a public health
epidemic and take the steps to stop it. In the
same way masks and vaccines are here to help stop COVID.
(11:32):
There are many actions that we can take to help
stop gun violence. You mentioned the c d C. They're
actually getting involved with funds and research, spending over two
million on a surveillance mechanism try and track people with
non fatal gunshot wounds in real time. Are there other
federal agencies you wish would step up here? Yeah, we're
very supportive of funding for the CDC and the NIH,
(11:54):
the National Insitut of Health to get more research into
effective and evidence based on violence prevention measures. Were also
working closely and want to see more support from the
d J, the Department of Justice to help implement extreme
risk protection orders across the states. We already work really
well with the d o J in terms of the
Stop School Violence Act that passed in teen to provide
(12:16):
funding for schools to implement violence prevention programs UM and
we're also working with different members of Congress in the
Senate and House to pass the Stand Up Act, which
is about expanding evidence space programs for middle and high
school's nationwide around suicide prevention. So, I mean, there's a
lot of other agencies that can lean into this. You
(12:37):
and your organizations and working really closely with the Biden
White House and trying to pass legislation to curb gun
violence in terms of legislation, Are you confident something might
get passed? Yes, I am absolutely confident. I think that
the model state extreme risk Protection orders that are already
in nineteen states, and that d C is helping provide
(12:57):
federal guidance on how to provide pass them in more states.
That is going to be incredibly helpful because that works
for anyone who doesn't know what an extremerst protection order is.
It compliments are now the signs because we teach you
how to recognize the signs of someone who's in crisis
or needs help, and then an extremist Protection Order is
a legislation that means and when you're seeing those signs,
(13:17):
there is a judicious and due process for removing firearms
from someone who is deemed to be at risk to
harm themselves or someone else. They can then have their
weapons returned to them once they are no longer in crisis,
but in that moment, they are not able to purchase
or use firearms to them carry out on their acts.
So we're very supportive of that. So fascinating hear you
(13:41):
say you're optimistic. I haven't heard that sort of excitement
for people pushing for gun violent support and legislation. Who
do you think are the biggest opponents to this legislation
and what's really their criticism. I think what gets in
the way is fear. There are some politicians that perhaps
(14:01):
aren't interested in doing the right thing, but are more
concerned with their careers. I think there are still strong
lobbyists out there, and I'm not just talking about the
n r A. There are other extreme rights groups that
are more focused on profit and proliferating messages of fear
and anger as a way to purchase more guns for
(14:22):
more profit rather than again really hearing the voice from
responsible gun owners across the country. I think that once
we get past that fear and division, then we can
focus on what matters, which is about protecting our children,
which is about protecting our lives. But we still have
some uphill battles background checks, for example. I've been working
(14:42):
on that since my son was killed almost ten years now,
and we're in a more optimistic place than we have
been in the past, but there's still challenges to overcome
in terms of define details of legislation and ensuring that
people understand that it doesn't mean we're taking away rights,
it's about out you know, strengthening the law that's already
there and ensuring that there aren't nupoles, and those things
(15:04):
can sometimes create gigantic fights. We've got an even quick break.
We'll be right back with Nicole Hockley, co founder and
Managing director of Sandy Hook Promise. You're listening to the
Recount Daily Pod. Welcome back to the Recount Daily Pod,
(15:24):
a podcast from the Recount and I heart Radio. I'm
here with Nicole Hockley, co founder and managing director of
Sandy Hook Promise. We're talking about gun violence prevention. You know,
the research team here at the Recount pulled up the
statistic that just amazed me when I read the research,
guns have now killed more children and teens than cancer, pneumonia, influenza, HIV, AIDS, asthma,
(15:49):
and opioids combined. It's now the leading cause of death
and children. For parents like myself who are listening to
you today, how do we talk to our children about
school shootings and gun by I think you have to
be really open and not avoid the topic and don't
assume that a child is too young to be able
(16:11):
to handle the topic, because this is what they are
experiencing now, you know, we have active shooter drills in
schools at very early ages. Now, personalize your feelings that
you have as an adult about this and validate their
concerns and talk to them. But the most important thing
is to really reassure the children in your life that
you are judgment free of them, You are a source
(16:32):
of support for them, and that they can discuss anything
with you. And then, as an adult, if your child
does discuss something with you that is concerning you, take action.
Please take what they tell you seriously. Don't be apathetic
about it or passive about it, and don't assume that
just because a kid seems to be okay, that they
are okay, because we don't always physically show how mentally
(16:57):
unwell we are. My kids Hope elementary school one day
and Mom, we had a drill just in case a
big angry bear comes into our classroom. And here's what
we did. Boy, that broke my heart. I know, it
is heartbreaking, and it's not like stop drop and roll
of when I was throwing up. It's very different now
(17:18):
and it's scary. And there are some bad apples out
there in terms of active shooter drills. You know, we
hear horror stories of live simulations, and that is traumatizing kids.
You know, I'd love to see more focus on just
training adults what to do and not having kids go
through these drills, because I think it's too much for
many kids to handle. And I want school to be
(17:40):
a place of learning and community and helping shape them
for their future, not practicing how to run and hide.
Danny who Promise has a new video out. It's called
The Teenage Dream Is Not What It Used to be?
Telling me about this video and what was your goal
in releasing this. We've done p s A every year
that's really focused on the warning sign and how they
(18:00):
can be very subtle, but how you can recognize them
accumulating over time, and how it can lead to violence.
And this time we've decided, especially with the number of
children dying and the idea that some kids are now
almost expecting their school to have an act of gun
violence at some point, which is incredibly horrifying and heartbreaking,
(18:22):
we wanted to focus on the survivors. We wanted to
focus on what happens after the school shooting and how
can we ensure that people are remembering these ripple effects
for the survivors, for the community as a way to
remind them that it doesn't end when the shooting happens.
This is decades of mental health issues, this is decades
(18:43):
of trauma, and we're getting to that point in the country,
which is a horrible thing to say where we're all
going to be touched by gun violence at some point now,
and that is a scary thing. I wanted to focus
on what does that mean for the youth of today
as a way to motivate people to prevent it, to say,
this is not the future that I want for my child.
Who do you hope this campaign reaches really talking to
(19:06):
adults here um, because I think kids they're the ones
living this right now, they're the ones experiencing it. So
we're trying to help amplify their voices to adults to
say you need to do something about this, because it's
very hard for a parent to not listen to their
child when they're asking for help. Do you think they'll
(19:27):
ever be a day when school shootings are a thing
of the past, or do you think they'll forever be
with us? I want school shootings to be a thing
of the past, and I think we have the power
to make that happen, and I just want to ensure
that we get to that point as a country. I
don't know if there is enough positive passion right now
(19:48):
with the adults in a country, but I think our
kids are going to be the ones that make this
change happen. And look at everything that happened after Parkland
and what continues to happen, they are going to be
the ones that say, this is not going to be
the future that I enable for my child. So I
am very hopeful and I just very much hope that
(20:09):
it happens in my lifetime. Nicole Hockley from Sandy Hook
promise a mom who took personal pain and turned it
into something powerful. Thank you for joining us. Thank you,
and now to the look ahead. Here's what else we're
watching today. President Joe Biden heads to Michigan today to
rally support for the one trillion dollar infrastructure bill along
(20:31):
with a three point five trillion dollar build Back, Better
or Reconciliation plan. This comes after a tough week for
the administration, which is trying to rally to hold out
senators who are refusing to back Biden's economic agenda. Time
for an update. Windows eleven launches today. The new operating
system will first be available on newer devices before opening
(20:53):
up to all users. Windows eleven will feature a new interface,
which will be closer to its Mac operating system counterpart,
art and feature options to make remote work easier. Users
can wait until Windows updates on its own that's expected
early next year, or they can go directly to Microsoft's website.
The update is free to all Windows ten users. History
(21:14):
will be made today at the U s. Supreme Court
when Michigan Solicitor General Fada Hamoud argues on behalf of
the state and Brown versus Davenport. She'll be the first
Arab American Muslim woman to argue before the High Court.
Fadua has had an expansive career, but it's most known
for her work as Michigan Solicitor General, where she led
the investigation into the Flint water crisis. She's also the
(21:37):
first Arab American solicitor general in the US. Have a
great day, everyone, see you back tomorrow. This is a
Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from the Recount and I
Heart Radio are thanks to Nicole Hockley, co founder and
Managing director of Sandy Hook Promise for being on the
show and if you like this episode, do subscribe to
(21:59):
the Readcount Daily pod. Leave us rating on the Apple
podcast app. I'm your host, Rena Niden
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