March For Our Lives – Generation Lockdown

2019 Cannes Lions – Grand Prix for Good

March For Our Lives estimates that 95% of American schoolchildren are now trained in active shooter drills. That’s the reality of growing up in a country where gun violence is normalized. It’s also the spark behind the Generation Lockdown campaign.

To bring that reality home, we staged a workplace safety training session at an office in San Diego. Employees expected a corporate security expert to lead the drill. Instead, they were met by Kayleigh, age 12, unfortunately, an active shooter drill expert.

She calmly walked the adults through the protocol: how to barricade a door, where to hide, when to run. She spoke with clarity, poise, and a heartbreaking familiarity. The emotional dissonance, an elementary schooler teaching professionals how to survive gunfire, was impossible to ignore.

The result was a devastatingly simple message: kids are the experts now.

Directed by Bryan Buckley.