Remembering Sandy Hook with Respect

Remembering Sandy Hook with Respect

On December 14th, 2022, 10 years have passed since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed.

This event, the largest K-12 school shooting in US history, has sparked ongoing debates about gun laws, school safety, and child welfare.

In the Newtown community, this date is a time of both public mourning and private grief. Many organizations have created guidelines for school administrators on handling the privacy and respect needs of families and surviving students during the commemoration.

In recent years, discussions on school safety have often focused on preventing shootings through student support and threat assessment methods.

According to a 2019 analysis by the US Secret Service, almost all school shooters share their intentions with someone beforehand, a phenomenon known as “leaking” among psychologists.

This can lead to an “anniversary effect,” where the date of a traumatic event or the familiar seasonal events leading up to it can trigger physical and emotional stress responses in those who were present.

The National Association of School Psychologists suggests that administrators consider whether whole-school events will be helpful or harmful on the anniversary of a tragedy, and a network of principals who have led schools through the aftermath of shootings recommend making commemorative activities optional to allow students to safely and quietly disengage if the events cause anxiety or difficult emotions.