Mass shootings in public schools have become a tragic fact of life in the U.S. So much so, there have even been discussions about using the government’s educational funds to pay for guns and weapons training for teachers. In Florida,, for example, starting next Tuesday, some teachers will be able to have concealed firearms in the classroom.
Creative directors Niraj Zaveri and Justin Ebert wanted to address this idea. The two creatives, along with director and Nomad CEO Glenn Martin, all have parents who were once educators and thus know first-hand how much teachers care for the children they teach. In a way, the students become extended families.
This spot centers on a teacher who leads viewers around her classroom, wistfully describing the students that sit at each desk. As she then sits at her own table, she claims: “They’re my kids. You send them to me every day and trust that I’ll keep them safe.” Glancing down into her drawer, she adds: “So I’ll need to be prepared to protect them. But since I don’t know if one of them will be a threat, I guess I have to be prepared to kill them, too.” After this shocking line, the school bell rings as the camera cuts to the inside of the teacher’s drawer, lingering on a handgun she has hidden inside.
Creative director Zaveri commented, “Arming teachers in classrooms is very quietly becoming a reality. And no one’s talking about just what an insane idea that is. And what an incredible burden we’re asking teachers to carry. So we wanted to create a film that calls attention to this issue. And hopefully inspires some discussion and a better solution for our schools.”
Working with Nomad, the team wrote and released the film themselves under the #notinourclass hashtag on Twitter and Instagram, hoping to call attention to the issue and prove that it isn’t a viable solution. The spot aims to inspire viewers in the U.S. to vote for candidates who have a more gun-smart strategy, acknowledging that “teachers shouldn’t have to learn how to kill” in order to keep school and students safe.
