Sandy Hook Promise Helps to Protect Kids from Gun Violence

Steve Adubato goes One-on-One with Mark Barden, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Sandy Hook Promise, who honors his son Daniel through the work he is doing to protect other children from gun violence in schools.

10/29/19 #2255

Excerpt:

"We're honored to be joined by Mark Barden, Co-founder and Managing Director, Sandy Hook Promise. Thank you. Thank you for having me Steve. So describe what Sandy Hook Promise is. How much time do we have? Take as much time as you want. I say that because we set out on a bold undertaking. And it's a very simple premise. But we want to prevent other families from having to live through the trauma and the devastation of gun violence, and the impact that that has. Some background, obviously December 14, 2012, the horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School... you and so many other parents devastated by the outcome, the impact of that horrible situation? Yeah. Your son, Daniel. Seven at the time? He was seven. Yeah. We're gonna be showing some pictures of Daniel. Thank you. So what I'm curious about is that you made a decision to dedicate your life to doing what you're doing right now, prevention, helping others, and... so they don't go through what you and your family have gone through? And so many others? Mm hmm. But why? Why not just...? Yeah. That's a... that's a good question. Because, as you can imagine, there are many days, still, that I just... I... it's a challenge just to get out of bed. But I have to stay committed to my family, to my wife Jackie, my son James, and my daughter Natalie, to provide as much love and normalcy as I can for them. But also I feel that I have to honor my little Daniel. And I have to protect my James and Natalie from this devastation. And I know that what I'm doing with Sandy Hook Promise is making a difference. And I feel it's a very appropriate way to honor my son that way. And I feel that we are absolutely preventing other families from living this pain. And we're building more connected communities and schools across the country in the process. We're putting up the website as we speak. What are some of the key components of the organization in terms of the prevention efforts? And we're actually going to show a PSA in just a couple seconds. Go ahead. We decided, early on, that we needed to occupy a different space in the gun violence prevention movement. And we really focus on prevention. We empower students with free trainings, where they learn how to recognize at-risk behavior in their peers, and then give them the tools to connect them to the help that they need before it becomes something more serious, or it escalates to violence. You're actually in the schools right now? We are actually in the schools with free programs. Describe what a program could look like. So let's take our..."