Scarlett Lewis’ guest is reformed school shooter, Jon Romano, who discusses his state of mind when at sixteen years old, he walked into his East Greenbush, NY high school and opened fire. A teacher was shot and injured as staff tried to wrestle the gun away from him. Jon pled guilty and spent the next 17 years in several federal prisons, in the general population. He reveals how he faced depression and a sense of despair at the time of the shooting. Jon wants to raise awareness and resources to direct our attention to the prevention of school shootings by social emotional learning so students can identify their own emotions and communicate with others who are struggling.

We can listen to Jon’s story and see him as a human being in pain. When we understand his thought process, unmet needs, and level of pain, we learn how and why school shootings happen. Instead of simply blaming, we can proactively prevent school shootings by offering assistance to kids like Jon who are struggling. Scarlett and Jon discuss positive action steps that we can take today.