We have accepted the unacceptable for too long. Parents, teachers and kids should not have to worry that their school will be the site of the next school shooting. We need a Gun Safety President. Thanks to the efforts of Gabby Giffords and the Giffords Organization, we will no longer tolerate the intolerable.
As today marks the first full week of September with American children heading back to school, Giffords’ new #GunSafetyPresident series starts with a first video—top Democratic candidate candidates speaking out about the epidemic of gun violence and school shootings that have become all too commonplace in American life. During the 2017–2018 school year, 4.1 million students endured at least one lockdown.
Students across America are scared that their school could be the site of the next mass shooting. Parents are afraid to put their kids on the school bus. Instead of making lesson plans, teachers are making active shooter plans. It shouldn’t be this way.
The candidates we spoke with understand that protecting our kids is one of the most urgent priorities our next president will face and are committed to fighting for a safer future.
Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN is a Nationally Certified School Nurse (NCSN), currently in her 21st year as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. Robin is the Legislative Co-chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association. She is proud to be a Johnson & Johnson School Health Leadership Fellow and past Program Mentor. Robin is the honored recipient of multiple awards for her work in school nursing and population health. These awards include, 2019 and 2020 National Association of School Nurses President’s Award, 2018 NCSN School Nurse of the Year, 2017 Johnson & Johnson School Nurse of the Year, and the New Jersey Department of Health 2017 Population Health Hero Award. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing, where she teaches the next generation of school nurses. She was presented the 2018 Rutgers University – Camden Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for Part-time Faculty. Robin writes a weekly blog called The Relentless School Nurse. She also writes a monthly column in My American Nurse, the official journal of the American Nurses Association. Robin’s work is included as a case study in The Future of Nursing Report 2020-2030. You can follow Robin on Twitter at @RobinCogan.
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