A Teddy Bear's Dreams Are Dashed in Sandy Hook Promise's Gut-Punching Ad
A teddy bear is typically a symbol of childhood innocence, comfort, and play. But in a harrowing ad from nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, the stuffed animal serves as a stark reminder of how the gun violence epidemic is impacting childhoods across the U.S.
As the organization's latest public service announcement (PSA) reminds viewers, teddy bears are also often left at memorials in the aftermath of school shootings. The campaign centers around the notion that kids deserve to be kids, and that school shootings are preventable.
"A Teddy Bear's Dream," created by agency BBDO New York and directed by Henry-Alex Rubin through production company Smuggler, at first appears to be a sweet story told through the eyes of a teddy bear. After a little girl picks out the toy in a store, the bear imagines a new life with the girl–playing, coloring, and riding bikes–to a light-hearted soundtrack of "Best of Friends" from Disney's classic 1981 film, The Fox and the Hound.
The story takes a turn, however, when the true purpose of the teddy bear is revealed. The girl leaves it at a memorial for a school shooting, before images of multiple shrines from numerous tragedies appear on screen.
The teddy bear symbol has a direct link to the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Following the tragedy, 60,000 bears were sent to Newtown–so many that a storage facility was required.
Along with the PSA, Sandy Hook Promise has created a guide about how to recognize the warning signs before school shootings. It is also selling a limited-edition teddy bear called the "Hope Bear," with all proceeds going to gun violence prevention educational programs.
Today (March 10), the nonprofit revealed that it recently helped prevent a planned school shooting in Florida after receiving more than 40 tips about threatening social media messages to its Say Something Anonymous Reporting System. Following an investigation, Florida authorities determined the 14-year-old student had a plan for an attack and charged them with threatening communications or threats of a mass shooting, according to Sandy Hook Promise.
The organization also said that since its creation in 2018, it has helped prevent at least 18 credible planned school shootings. With this campaign, Sandy Hook Promise wants to raise awareness of its services and educate others about how to prevent violence.
"All across this country, there are tragic stories we will never hear about because a brave upstander recognized warning signs and did something to prevent a violent act," said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, whose son Dylan was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. "We all have a role to play in preserving childhood innocence and ensuring a teddy bear stays just that–an enduring symbol of childhood innocence and imagination."
Eight in 10 parents feel the threat of school violence has affected childhood today, according to a February survey from KRC Research.
BBDO NY has worked with Sandy Hook Promise over the past decade, including on the 2020 Emmy Award-winning PSA, "Back-to-School Essentials."
"We're still steadfast in our commitment to educate people to know the signs of school shootings," Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide chief creative officer of BBDO, said in a statement, adding that the agency's ads for Sandy Hook Promise have engaged millions of viewers and garnered more than 300 industry awards.
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Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Florida child welfare agency calls ICE on teen migrant in foster care, sparking criticism
Florida child welfare authorities turned over a 17-year-old foster child to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, sparking intense criticism that the action could hinder efforts to protect children in the state's large immigrant communities. The Honduran teen, named Henry, was removed from his Pensacola foster home Monday morning — in handcuffs and shackles – and transferred immediately into ICE custody. The boy and his mother had crossed the southwest border into the U.S. without permission, sources familiar with the case told the Miami Herald. After being separated from his mother, who was later deported, Henry traveled from Texas to Pensacola, where he sought work. He entered foster care after he was found living in a shed with no source of food, shelter or income, records show. He also may have been a victim of labor trafficking. The Herald is not fully naming him to protect his privacy. The decision to alert immigration authorities to Henry's status as an undocumented migrant is at odds with decades of child welfare practice in Florida – and it appears to violate a 30-year-old state Department of Children and Families rule that prohibits workers from acting upon a child's status. Fran Allegra, a children's attorney who ran Miami-Dade's private foster care agency from 2004 until 2014, said if DCF's action in Henry's case represents a formal change in policy, it 'puts Florida children at risk, and introduces a new chilling effect on reports to the [state's] child abuse hotline. Reports about undocumented families are already low. This shift makes the chance for reporting, and, therefore, rescuing kids, less likely.' State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican who has been openly critical of the Trump administration's immigration policies after previously supporting them, spoke Monday about Henry's plight after working behind the scenes to keep him within state care. While declining to name the child, she told the Herald she is concerned his case may be part of a larger pattern in which children in the state's foster care system could be picked up at the homes of their foster parents by federal immigration authorities. Lawyers told the Herald it's been years since they heard about state child welfare agencies, like DCF, notifying ICE about children in their custody. 'Somehow they are collecting these records because they are going to their houses,' said Garcia, a co-founder of Latinas for Trump. 'What really bothers me is that these are victims of human trafficking. You would think they would have more protections.' In a post on social media, Garcia said the effort to target minors in foster care is a 'desperate' attempt to meet a 'quota of deportations.' Typically, unaccompanied children who are detained at the border are placed in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refuge Resettlement, which locates available relatives and suitable sponsors or places children in shelters. But Henry was detained by local authorities in Escambia County and placed in state care, instead. Historically, ORR has been reluctant to take children who had been released from their care – or had never been in their custody – if they were already placed with a local or state agency. But experts told the Herald that has changed under the Trump administration, which they say has been apprehending kids already in the U.S. and putting them into ORR custody. As part of its crackdown, the administration also has cut funds for lawyers in kids' immigration cases – and provided ICE access to a database about unaccompanied children. Henry's journey to the U.S. Henry, whose father was deceased, crossed the border with his mother at age 13, both as undocumented migrants. The details of his first years in the U.S. are not completely clear but a source told the Herald he was initially released into the custody of an uncle. Multiple sources said both Henry and his mother had endured enormous trauma during the journey. At some point, Henry moved in with his mother, but he did not remain there long. It appears Henry's mother was arrested and jailed somewhere in Texas, and then deported back to Honduras. The teen found his way to Pensacola, where his brother lives, seeking employment. He found it, working for $10-per day. He 'realized he was being overworked, and ran away,' records show. Henry may also have been 'labor trafficked.' By the winter of 2024, Henry had been in Pensacola for several months. A report was made to DCF's child welfare hotline in November alleging the teen, who was not yet 17, was homeless, and 'did not have a caregiver available.' Henry was then placed with a local family, where he remained for 11 days before leaving after disagreements over a visitor and when he was supposed to sleep, records say. Another hotline report followed on April 21: The month before, Henry had run away from Lutheran Services Florida Currie House, and he was not 'welcome' to return, records say. On March 28, DCF was told Henry was 'staying in a shed and was homeless and may be a runaway and possibly labor trafficked.' On April 24, DCF filed what's called a 'shelter petition,' asking an Escambia County child welfare judge to designate the teen a dependent of the state. Henry was placed in foster care, where he remained until this summer. On June 6, sources told the Herald, a DCF administrator reported Henry to ICE. Three days later, Henry was taken from his foster home – in handcuffs and leg irons – by ICE agents, a source said. The boy is now in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which handles cases of unaccompanied kids. ICE does not detain unaccompanied minors in its own facilities; they are generally housed by ORR. A source told the Miami Herald the teenager does not have a deportation order. A policy shift? DCF administrators did not respond to queries from the Herald about the decision to report Henry to ICE, which appears to run counter to previous state policy. In response to litigation, DCF passed a governing procedure in 1995 called the Undocumented Child Rule. The lawsuit had been filed in federal court by 'Jane Doe,' a 14-year-old migrant from Haiti who had entered the U.S. in 1985 without permission. Collateral damage in a tug of war between Florida and federal immigration authorities, the girl was about to be tossed out of foster care. Among other things, the rule requires the agency to screen and respond to child abuse hotline calls 'without regard to the immigration status' of the child or family at the center of the report. The rule states, in part: 'No such status check or other contact shall be made for the purpose of seeking the child's or the family's detention by [immigration authorities] or the initiation or resumption of deportation or exclusion proceedings against the child or the child's family, irrespective of the outcome of the dependency proceeding. No Department of Children and Family Services staff member may attempt to place any alien child in [immigration] custody.' Robert Latham, associate director of the Children & Youth Law Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, said DCF appears to have violated that rule by reporting Henry to ICE. 'Every administration since then has followed' the rule, he said. 'If this is a policy decision, it is a huge deal.' Latham said DCF keeps records of which children in state care are undocumented, partly because Medicaid, the state's insurer of disabled and impoverished Floridians, will not pay for their healthcare. Most foster children are insured by Medicaid. 'It's unconscionable of DCF to cooperate in a way that puts children at risk of harm,' Latham said Monday. 'They are entrusted with caring for these children and should do everything they can to protect them.' Fear of suppressed reports One of Latham's greatest fears – and that of other children's advocates – is that immigrant communities will decline to report suspected child abuse or neglect for fear that child protection authorities will report a youngster's immigration status to ICE. People who become aware of maltreatment may fear deportation more than they fear abuse. 'If people don't report, DCF can't respond, and children and families will be left at higher risk of harm.' Latham added: 'I suspect that's the point. The whole push over the past few months has been to destabilize immigrant communities. This seems like another way to do that.' DCF's action could discourage relatives, neighbors and others from seeking help from the state when they fear a child is in danger, said Ron Davidson, former director of Mental Health Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago who consulted with that state's Department of Children and Family Services for more than 20 years. 'Florida and every other state must rely on the implicit trust of private citizens to come forward and report harm to children in the community. Whenever that basic trust is violated — as it appears in this case — then the risks of harm to children are dramatically increased,' Davidson said. Florida has one of the largest populations of undocumented immigrants among the 50 states, according to Department of Homeland Security Data. Estimates of Florida's undocumented residents range from 590,000 to 1.02 million people. That includes nearly 165,000 undocumented children under 18, according to the Center for Migration Studies of New York. 'If DCF's public policy changes from refugee care and resettlement… to deportation, our vulnerable migrant communities across the state will no longer look to DCF for help for abused, abandoned and neglected children,' said Allegra, who headed the Our Kids foster care agency for a decade. She added: 'These children will suffer more harm under this policy shift and abuse will go unreported.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Suspects accused of bringing contraband to Fulton jail annex, cutting through fence
Sheriff's deputies captured three people they say attempted to sneak in drugs, phones and food to inmates at the Fulton County Jail South Annex. Malachi Abdul-Baqi, Matthew Abdul-Baqi and Asia Henry each face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit a felony and interference of government property. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] A deputy found the three suspects Wednesday after discovering a hole in the fence during a perimeter patrol, according to the arrest affidavit. He said he saw the three people lying down near the opening, along with a pair of bolt cutters. RELATED STORY: Drugs, cheeseburgers: Raid inside Fulton County Jail reveals contraband operation, officials say They were taken into custody, and a bag they were carrying contained contraband including 70 grams of marijuana, cigarettes, cell phones and phone chargers, the investigator said. Other items included cheeseburgers, candy and vapes. They were held in Fulton County Jail and appeared in court Thursday. Malachi Abdul-Baqi and Henry each received bonds totaling $30,000, Matthew Abdul-Baqi's bond totaled $25,000. Henry posted bond Thursday, according to jail records. All three were also charged with purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution or sale of marijuana, and Malachi Abdul-Baqi and Henry received an additional charge of possession of tools for commission of a crime. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Ex-Fox News star Ed Henry hit with restraining order by Jennifer Eckhart ahead of high-profile sexual assault trial
Jennifer Eckhart, a podcaster and former Fox Business producer who is suing Ed Henry for allegedly sexually assaulting her, filed an injunction for protection against stalking in a Florida court that was granted Wednesday against the former Fox News anchor just weeks before the civil case goes to trial. According to the injunction order, Henry is required to stay at least 500 feet away from Eckhart and her family. Additionally, he has to relinquish any and all firearms and other weapons. A detective for the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office attempted to serve Henry Thursday at the Boca Raton headquarters for Newsmax, the right-wing network where Henry currently works, but was told that he was currently at Newsmax's offices in New York City. Eckhart has since requested that the injunction be served at Henry's current location. 'The predator who once thought he owned me is about to face the woman who can't be broken—this time, in front of a jury,' Eckhart said in a statement to The Independent. 'Today, I was granted an Order of Protection—not just for myself, but for my family and loved ones being targeted through legal harassment. Survivors should never have to shield their families from the very system meant to protect them. Soon, he—and the institution that protected him—will be forced to reckon with the truth they tried to bury.' The restraining order, which was spurred by Henry's legal team issuing a subpoena to Eckhart's family to appear as witnesses for the defense in the New York-based trial, also included a bombshell claim by Eckhart that the FBI visited her last year to discuss potential allegations surrounding Henry. A lawyer for Henry did not respond to questions about the injunction that was granted this week. 'On May 13, 2024, Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited my residence as part of an active investigation into sex trafficking allegations against Respondent,' Eckhart wrote in an exhibit attached to the petition for injunction. According to documents and emails shared with The Independent, two special agents for the bureau's office in West Palm Beach, Florida, were in communication with Eckhart last year about Henry. 'We appreciate your time today and thank you for your patience,' FBI Special Agent Marisa Morris wrote Eckhart on May 13, 2024. 'A criminal case is different than a civil matter in that we will not be able to update you as often as a civil attorney would, and I realize that can be extremely frustrating.' Morris, who was responding to a message from Eckhart acknowledging the meeting earlier that day, added that 'we take these types of cases very seriously and will update you as much as possible through the process.' The agent concluded the email by telling Eckhart that 'we will review everything and follow up as appropriate.' In follow-up emails that Eckhart sent Morris and fellow Special Agent Gennady Julien, she summarized much of what had been detailed in her lawsuit, which accuses Henry of raping her and subjecting her to sex trafficking while both were employees at Fox. Henry has vehemently denied the allegations against him, claiming that he only engaged in consensual sex with Eckhart. Besides sharing publicly available exhibits that have been filed in her civil case, she also provided the names of other women who have filed sworn affidavits testifying that they've also been subjected to harassment and sexual assault by Henry. Morris would also acknowledge receipt of a June 25, 2024, email in which Eckhart shared a Mediaite article detailing a human resources complaint filed by a female staffer against Henry during his time at Real America's Voice, a fringe conservative news network. The unnamed staffer alleged to RAV that 'through a series of escalating comments, Henry established a 'grooming' relationship with her,' according to Mediaite. 'This article was just published today and brought to my attention about Ed Henry grooming another victim at his former workplace here in Palm Beach County,' Eckhart wrote, prompting Morris to respond: 'Received, thank you!' The Independent attempted to contact Agents Julien and Morris directly. A response from the Miami division's public affairs officer requesting that all questions regarding any communications with Eckhart be directed to him or the agents' supervisor. 'The FBI has strict procedures governing our employees' interaction with members of the news media,' the public affairs officer added. 'We are aware of your inquiry and interest in the FBI, but as a matter of policy, the FBI does not confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation except in rare circumstances where the public's assistance is requested,' Special Agent Willie Creech responded in a separate email to a series of questions related to Henry, echoing the bureau's standard response to media requests. The injunction against Henry, which was granted by a judge on Wednesday, was initially filed by Eckhart in response to a subpoena sent to her elderly mother, who also lives in South Florida. The subpoena, which demands Eckhart's mother to appear and testify on June 25 at the Manhattan courthouse where the civil trial is taking place, incorrectly cites Fox News as the defendant in the case – an error Eckhart cites in her petition for the injunction. 'The subpoena my mother received was issued under the misleading header 'Fox News,' despite the fact that this particular litigation is solely between myself and the Respondent, Ed Henry, in his individual and professional capacities,' the petition states. 'This created unnecessary fear and confusion, especially considering the traumatic context, and further demonstrates the coercive and intimidating nature of the Respondent's tactics.' While Fox News was initially a defendant in Eckhart's lawsuit, as she claimed the network downplayed the severity of the risk Henry posed to female employees and retaliated against her by firing her in June 2020 after she complained about a hostile work environment, Fox News was dismissed from the case in March. 'The caption for the case is Eckhart v. Fox News Network, LLC et al., 20-cv-5593,' Henry's attorney Eden Quainton told The Independent. 'Jennifer should have understood this because she has recently made filings herself with this caption. I encourage you to look up the case on PACER.' Quainton did not respond to additional questions regarding the granting of the injunction or the claims made by Eckhart about the FBI's visit. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams said there was 'no direct evidence that Fox News was aware of Henry's alleged harassment of Eckhart before it occurred.' Additionally, Abrams agreed with Fox's legal team that 'no reasonable jury' would find the network liable for preventing 'Henry from harming Eckhart.' 'We are pleased with the court's decision to dismiss FOX News from this case, which speaks for itself. Upon learning of Jennifer Eckhart's allegations in 2020, FOX News promptly conducted an investigation by an outside independent law firm and terminated Ed Henry within six days,' a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. 'Discovery in this matter confirmed that FOX News was not aware of their relationship or of Ms. Eckhart's allegations until after she left the company. The only people who know what happened between Mr. Henry and Ms. Eckhart are the two of them.' Eckhart also reiterates many of the accusations she had raised in her lawsuit against Henry – such as claims that he sex trafficked and 'violently raped' her – to assert that Henry has a 'documented history of harassment, stalking and repeated threats to physically punish' her as part of an 'ongoing campaign of retaliation.' Additionally, she cites a pretrial motion filed by her lawyers on May 12, which sought to deny Henry's efforts to subpoena her mother and personal acquaintances, claiming it is 'purportedly because they will testify that Ms. Eckhart did not tell them that Mr. Henry raped her prior to her termination from FNN.' Eckhart's legal team argued that this was tantamount to 'harassment and intimidation' on Henry's part due to the 'risk of unfair prejudice.' '[T]he Respondent subpoenaed my elderly mother, who has zero involvement in my ongoing federal rape lawsuit, as a means of harassment and emotional manipulation,' the petition states. 'He has also made legal threats to subpoena my ex-boyfriends and best friends – individuals with no bearing on the case – as part of an apparent campaign to punish and isolate me.' Eckhart also argues in the petition for injunction that she lives in a 'constant state of anxiety and fear' for her personal and physical safety, adding that she's been 'diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Respondent's past acts of rape and sex trafficking.' She adds that Henry's 'recent efforts to destabilize' her are 'inflicting deep psychological harm' and have impacted her ability to prepare for the trial. Other than lawful communication between her and Henry's legal counsels, the Florida court granted Eckhart's request that prohibits Henry from contacting her and her family, and keeps him at least 500 feet away from her except for during the upcoming legal proceedings in New York. According to the granted injunction, Henry and Eckhart will be scheduled to appear and testify before Judge Laura Burkhart on June 12 to discuss whether the court will make the injunction permanent. In her lawsuit against Henry, Eckhart alleges that the former Fox News anchor 'groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced' her into a sexual relationship while referring to her as his personal 'sex slave.' Eventually, after she 'would not comply voluntarily' with his sexual demands, she claims he violently raped her in 2017. In a motion filed last fall in the case, her attorney Michael Willemin laid out a series of new allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct against Henry, including accusations that he sexually assaulted a second woman during his time at Fox News. Following those revelations, current and former colleagues of Henry's told The Independent that they didn't understand how he was able to continue to find employment in the media industry. 'Ed Henry being in Florida has him out of sight, out of mind most of the time,' one Newsmax employee said at the time. 'However, after that most recent court filing, some people are wondering: how the hell does this guy have a job?' Meanwhile, a year after exiting Fox Business, Eckhart launched the interview podcast series Reinvented, which focuses on conversations with 'people who have overcome serious obstacles on their path to success.' She's sat down with multiple celebrities over the years, including a newsmaking interview with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who revealed he discusses his childhood trauma with his young kids.
