11-year-old Kayleigh instructs the group on how to deal with an armed shooter. Photo / Supplied
11-year-old Kayleigh instructs the group on how to deal with an armed shooter. Photo / Supplied
An anti-gun campaign has sent shockwaves throughout the US as the extremely stark reality of what American students can expect to face throughout their schooling is detailed by an 11-year-old-girl.
In a video, released by March For Our Lives, the gun control group established in the wake of 2018's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, a young girl, Kayleigh, instructs a group of adults in their workplace on how to survive in the event of an active shooter.
"If there was an active shooter, you would all be dead," she tells the group of shocked and confused employees.
"When you talk out loud, the shooter can hear where you are and where you're hiding."
As some of the adults are moved to tears, Kayleigh continues by informing the group how to deal with an armed attacker, including tips like pushing chairs up against the doors, how to detect the shooter's location, and even squatting on toilet seats so the attacker can't see your feet.
The harrowing footage, titled "Generation Lockdown", is part of a campaign from the Australian creative directors of McCann New York, Alex Little and Karsten Jurkschat.
Being from Australia, the two creatives struggled to understand active shooter drills in public schools across the US.
"We made sure every adult and politician in the country knew what their inaction on gun reform was doing to the next generation," Little and Jurkschat say on their website.
Since its creation about a month ago, the now viral video has racked up more than 50 million views sending a distressing reminder of something Americans are becoming increasingly desensitised to.
Members of the group, visibly distressed by what they're hearing, listen in silence as the child leads the training. Photo / Supplied
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, there were at least 103 incidents of gunfire on school grounds in 2018.
"There wasn't a lot of gift-wrapping around this. It's what kids in America learn in school. And it's putting it in an interesting environment, which is an adult situation," Little told the ABC.
"Usually these secrets — these lockdowns — are kept in the classroom. And parents hear snatches of what kids are learning in school, but they don't really hear details."
The video ends with Kayleigh singing a rhyme a teacher had taught her to make it easier to remember what to do in the event of an armed-attacker.
"Lockdown, lockdown, let's all hide. Lock the doors and stay inside. Crouch on down. Don't make a sound. And don't cry or you'll be found."
**Heads up: this video contains sensitive content** We want to learn without fearing for our lives.
The PSA speaks to an audience unaware of what is going on in American schools, a situation ignored by politicians, unknown to parents but becoming ingrained into students.
"Kids are politically powerless, but this film gives them a massive voice," Little said.
"Our goal is to keep trying to shift that needle, to keep trying to get Americans, more people, more politicians to kind of realise that this is not a normal thing for kids to learn," Jurkschat added.
Kayleigh practices lockdown drills at schools along with 95 per cent of public school children in the United States.
