While many anniversaries are a call for celebration, this one in particular is not. The 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting took place on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The decade that has passed after the Newtown shooting – which took the lives of 20 children and six staff members – serves as a huge wake up call, emphasizing the great work that still needs to be done, and the minimal advances the country has made, regarding the issue of school-related gun violence.

For the past 10 years we have watched the same cycle repeat. After a school shooting as tragic as Sandy Hook, the country goes on pause. The shock and feelings of distraught that face Americans is unparalleled. Yet, after a few social media posts and moments of silence, life continues back as normal. The lives that were lost begin to slip the minds of many, and insignificant changes are made to the ways people live. Normalcy returns until the next school shooting, when the cycle repeats. 

In 2022 alone there have been 50 school shootings, 38 deaths from school shootings, and 101 injuries, according to EducationWeek.  Students and educators continue to live in fear in an environment meant for growth and learning. While this is an extremely upsetting reality, the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings have also allowed Americans to reflect on the progress the country has made, and the strength people have been able to find, specifically those personally affected. 

This past year, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law, an act that provides funding for states to implement Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), community based violence interventions and more mental health resources in schools. ERPOs, or “red flag laws” can be used by law enforcement to temporarily prevent gun access to people that seem to be at an elevated risk of harming either themselves or others. Additionally, the act expanded on the STOP School Violence Act that was passed in 2018. The STOP act provides students and teachers with different tools to help them recognize and prevent acts of school violence. Governmental grants are offered to school districts to assist in providing and improving school security. This is done through training, reporting systems and school threat assessment teams. 

While there have been government advancements, the most inspirational result of the various school shootings that have occurred in the last 10 years isn’t a law. It’s the strength and bravery the survivors gained and their determination to end this issue for other children across America. 

The first example of such is The Sandy Hook Promise. Their mission, to honor the victims lost to school gun violence and use it as a means for transformation, is a demonstration of the utmost courage the survivors and family of victims have. The Sandy Hook Promise has engaged over 18 million participants and over 23,000 schools. They came together in a time of deep disparity and heartbreak and used these intense emotions to promote change within our world. Additionally, the Newtown Action Alliance has done tremendous work to achieve their mission of inciting legislative change in regards to gun control. The Newtown Action Alliance attended the National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence, where they met several other school shooting survivors and urged change to officials such as President Joe Biden. 

The loss, grief and pain that the Newtown community and Sandy Hook survivors must have felt on the 10 year anniversary of this tragic event is unimaginable. But the ways in which they have turned their agony into courage and determination gives the country hope and inspiration for a safer school environment further down the line.