On Saturday, April 21, one day after the second national school walkout of 2018 and 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) hosted the annual SAVE Youth Summit, "Promise 2 Youth" for SAVE Promise Clubs across the country at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley, the organization's founders, both attended.

Mr Barden spoke with The Newtown Bee shortly after returning to reflect on the "incredible event" he experienced at the summit working with student leaders, advisers, and advocates who came together to showcase successful tactics and training to make schools and communities safer.

Mr Barden said SHP acquired SAVE last June and plans to continue the annual tradition of the important youth summit.

"We decided to partner with the SAVE clubs, which stands for Students Against Violence Everywhere, which I believe started about 29 years ago in North Carolina," he said. "The SAVE clubs have been having an annual summit for many years now and as part of this coalition between SAVE and Sandy Hook Promise, we hosted this summit."

He said more than 400 students and their mentors attended, representing almost two dozen states.

"The activism, and the level of emotion and engagement, and the information that was shared was just beautiful, inspiring, and at times overwhelming," Mr Barden said.

Besides himself and Ms Hockley, speakers at this year's event included David Hogg, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and gun violence prevention activist, Angie Bynum, Dawne Orange, and Gray Weart, co-founders of SAVE, as well as student leaders and gun violence prevention activists Ben Holtzman, Aaliyah Stewart, Natalie Barden, along with SAVE Promise Club members from across the country.

At the summit, students, educators, parents, and school safety leaders learned best practices for implementing, leading, and sustaining SHP's proven Know the Signs programs that include Say Something, Start with Hello, Signs of Suicide, and Safety Assessment & Intervention in their schools and communities. SAVE Promise Club members additionally shared advice about rolling out these programs in their schools.

Mr Barden said he has observed youth activism at its peak since the mass school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and agreed that such a groundswell of young people raising their voices together behind a united message has probably not been seen since the late 1960s Vietnam-era protests that swept the country.

"Youth activism is at a peak now and it seems to be continuing, which is great to see," he said. "I've seen it in my own family. Even before Parkland, my daughter Natalie joined the youth Newtown Action Alliance and has begun raising her voice for the first time since the tragedy that took her little brother over five years ago. But since Parkland she finds herself at the epicenter of this and has been requested to be involved in activities."

Mr Barden said Natalie had her debut speaking event at the summit, delivering remarks she scripted herself before a large audience.

"As a proud dad, I was overwhelmed by her eloquence and information," he said. "I was so proud to see my daughter involved in this youth movement. She is 16 years old and I think she has a very powerful [message] to share."

Mr Barden said as the unified voices of thousands of young people grow stronger, he is beginning to see a political shift - with even some former opponents coming around as the messages they are hearing grow stronger by the day.

"It is a large demographic to be reckoned with for sure. It's like nothing we've seen," Mr Barden said. "These kids are the stakeholders of their own future. They are not taking 'no' for an answer, they are not backing down, they are articulate, and I really believe this is the catalyst moment of a movement that is going to change the future of our country."

He said it is heartbreaking to see kids who just want to be able to go out to a concert, to their place of worship, and even to school to have to be constantly and actively concerned for their own personal safety.

"Folks who are already part of this movement are so inspired by this youth activism, that it's generating a ripple effect across constituencies and age groups and we're seeing more adults re-incentivized and who are doubling down on their own efforts," Mr Barden said. "And we're seeing more adult engagement as well, who were not previously engaged. It's all culminating in this true and widespread social movement."

Tide Is Turning

As elected officials become more aware of the tremendous growth of the movement that has borrowed from organizations like Sandy Hook Promise, Mr Barden said those political leaders are taking cues like they always have done.

"This has reached a tipping point where they see their jobs are actually on the line with regard to how they vote on these issues," he said, adding that SHP still takes a nonpartisan position on the subject.

"These are not polarizing issues, these are issues you can get on board with regardless of your political affiliation," he observed. "Everybody wants to protect our children, everyone wants to make their community safer, and so we've always enjoyed bipartisan support for our issues."

He said even those who previously and blindly opposed and voted against issues like access to guns, background checks, and extreme risk protection orders because it was in conflict with their traditional party position are changing.

"We're seeing governors and states across the country supporting robust gun violence prevention in legislative packages," he said. "We're watching the future change right before our eyes."

Turning his attention back to the summit, Mr Barden said breakout sessions included familiarizing attendees with the four pillars of Sandy Hook Promises mission including its "Say Something" initiative, which is tied to two successful public service videos and a new mobile reporting application.

"Say Something is one of our four 'Know the Signs' programs we offer to schools and communities across the country that trains kids to look for language in social media and elsewhere in somebody exhibiting at-risk behavior, and then speak up to a trusted adult to get that person the help they need before it becomes a tragedy," he said.

"We have prevented school shootings and suicides that way. We also offer an anonymous reporting system, which is an app that allows anybody to make a tip to a call center where it is triaged by trained professionals who process the information and take the appropriate next steps," Mr Barden added.

The first video from SHP, Evan, showed how warning signs could present without being noticed. In the first three weeks after its release on YouTube and other viewing platforms, Mr Barden said it was viewed more than 145 million times and "won nearly every advertising award it could win."

The latest follow-up, Tomorrow's News, promotes "the importance of saying something with an eye toward prevention," and getting someone exhibiting at-risk behavior the help they need before it becomes a tragedy.

'Start With Hello'

The summit also highlighted SHP's "Start With Hello" program that is near and dear to Mr Barden's heart because it was inspired by his late son, Daniel, who was lost at Sandy Hook School.

"If he saw someone sitting alone, he would reach out to them to see if they were okay, and if they needed a friend," Mr Barden said. "As we've studied that behavior, we've discovered how significant it is. Somebody who has been in a socially isolated position for a sustained period of time can be at increased risk for violent behavior or being a victim of violence."

Mr Barden said his organization's "Signs of Suicide" initiative is the only evidence-based suicide prevention program that is proven effective in helping students, teachers, and parents recognize the signs that someone is contemplating self harm.

"We have dozens of case studies where high school kids leave literally hundreds of impressions in social media about their intentions, and it tells a tragic story leading up to the day where someone is posting or tweeting that they are going to do this. And folks don't know how to intervene, they don't know if it's serious, they don't know what to do, and we train folks on how to intervene safely."

Mr Barden said lots of study and interviews with stakeholders across the country went into the development of the SHP programs, but it is all rooted in what happened at Sandy Hook School.

"Each one or any combination of these programs I believe in my heart would have or could have prevented what happened at Sandy Hook," Mr Barden said. "Social isolation, Start With Hello, Say Something - any of these programs, I believe would have potentially averted what happened, and we know they have already averted mass shootings and suicide."

For more information visit sandyhookpromise.org or call 203-304-9780.