Brady Responds to Reported TikTok Trend Regarding Threats to School Safety

While these viral TikTok posts do not appear to be specific or even necessarily credible, this trend has caused school districts nationwide to issue warnings or prepare for possible violence — a clear sign for every community and elected official that we must address gun violence in this country.

Washington, D.C., December 16, 2021 - Following a reported and highly shared post on TikTok that threatened or appeared to encourage the threat of violence at schools nationwide on Friday, December 17, Brady urges attention to the reality that such threats highlight the real dangers that students feel and face at school because of gun violence in this country. While this post does not appear to be specific or even necessarily credible, the fact that gun violence, and threats of violence, in our nation’s schools are so frequent and well-understood that this trend has caused districts nationwide to issue warnings or prepare for possible violence is a clear sign for every community and elected official that we must address gun violence in this country.

Brady President Kris Brown shared:

“This is a unique circumstance, but it underscores how the on-going and uniquely American epidemic of gun violence is traumatizing our children and damaging our society. Nowhere else in the world do parents worry or wonder every day whether or not their children are safe from gun violence when they send them off to school. Nowhere else in the world do children practice lockdowns and carry bulletproof backpacks because of the very real threat that they could be shot. This trend or prank is harmful and concerning, certainly, but we cannot look away from the fact that it lays bare the reality in our country that our children are not safe and they know it. That should compel us all to act.”

About the Threat of Schools Shootings and Lock Down Drills:

Across the United States, students of all ages participate in lockdown drills in preparation for the possibility of an active shooter situation in their schools. This is not an idle concern, as one Washington Post investigation estimates that as many as 278,000 children have experienced gun violence at school since the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. By some estimates, there have been 32 school shootings in 2021 alone. This reality traumatizes children, as does the constant threat of such shootings reinforced by lockdown drills, which experts such as psychotherapist Nancy Kislin worry damage the mental health of young people. The reality is that these concerns will not abate until gun violence abates, a clear call to action for all Americans concerned about the well-being of the next generation.

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Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.


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