Sandy Hook Empathy Programs
May 12, 2017
Sandy Hook Empathy Programs
On December 14, 2012, 20-year- old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20
elementary school students from Sandy Hook Elementary School. In
addition to the students, Lanza also fatally shot 6 staff members. This
tragedy is the deadliest mass shooting in a school scenario in United States
history.
Since this tragedy, community members of Sandy Hook, Connecticut
and surrounding areas have been working towards preventative methods to
avoid another incident like this one. Many believe that this massacre may
have been avoided if more had been done in schools to address social
isolation and mental health issues.
Nelba Marquez-Greene is the mother of a 6-year- old girl that was
killed in the school shooting. Marquez-Greene is a family therapist, and is
now working the Connecticut school systems to implement a curriculum to
focus of helping students with social isolation issues.
Marquez-Greene has started the Ana Grace Project, which is named
after her deceased daughter. This program is designed to work with
elementary schools in New Britain, Connecticut to bring awareness to
bullying and teach empathy. She is not the only parent involved in
introducing preventative curriculum to Connecticut schools.
Scarlett Lewis, whose son was also among the 20 children killed, was
involved in advocating for a law that would allow federal funding in schools
to be used for crisis-intervention training and mental-illness awareness
programs.
These mothers are just a couple of the many who are involved in
ensuring that no other parents will have to suffer like they did. These
concerned mother believe that programs like these could have saved the
lives of their children.
Following the massacre, law officials learned that Adam Lanza had
always suffered from social isolation and mental illness. Family and friends
reported that he spent extended amounts of time in isolation within his
home and suffered from psychiatric ailments that were left untreated.
The knowledge of this truly sparked the flame within local authorities
and parents involved in the incident. As of now, several programs have
already been put in place within schools. School officials report that these
programs have been helping with social interactions in the schools.
At this time, parents, teachers, and other school officials are still
brainstorming and trying to find ways to further improve these programs.
Their goal is simply to ensure that nothing like the Sandy Hook Massacre
happens ever again.