Never Again: The Tragedy that Started a Movement

Portfolio // ESJ Talon Times

At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 17 people were killed and 14 people injured with a semi automatic AR-15. It was legal for Nikolas Cruz, the 19 year old suspect in the shooting, to buy a civilian version of the military’s standard rifle. In the wake of this traumatic event, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have taken to the streets, the news and social media to protest the reckless manner that the state and federal legislature has attempted to shrug responsibility off of its shoulders. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, there have been around 300 school shootings, averaging nearly one a week, according to the Huffington Post. While gun violence prevention organizations say there’s been steady progress at the state level, Congress has consistently failed to pass federal gun control legislation.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas have shown their determination to change that pattern. Within four days of the shooting, the students created Never Again, a movement with a clear policy goal (stricter, more holistic background checks for gun buyers) and a plan for nationwide protest (the March for Our Lives scheduled for March 24th). These young activists have firmly kept their agenda clear: the primary issue is not mental health or insufficient guns, but the irregularity and the inconsistencies in firearm distribution. The students quickly and fearlessly began calling out politicians and the NRA for continuing to be complicit in school shootings. David Hogg, reporter for the MSD school newspaper said to ABC and CNN, “[T]he NRA is completely broken…[a]nd I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. These are children's lives. That's the end of the line.” In many of his television interviews, he strongly emphasizes the need for bipartisan accountability.

The overwhelming majority of responses to this movement have been positive, garnering support from big names in political activism, but some politicians and members of the NRA (namely spokeswoman, Dana Loesch) have responded by frantically attacking the students’ motives for marching and speaking out. Many critics have called these teens “crisis actors” which claims that the activists are paid actors. But paid by whom? They can’t tell us. These same critics support President Trump’s idea that teachers should be armed in the attempt to increase safety measures in schools. Other critics claim that teenagers have no right to express an opinion in these matters, that students are too young and immature to be involved in this type of discussion.

ESJ’s Michael Barker ‘19 understands the difficulty for kids to be the vanguard of such a large movement, but he thinks “input from younger people is so valuable and it only makes sense that this generation’s response should influence decisions made by the people in power.” Michael also firmly believes that arming teachers is not the solution to this nationwide issue, saying, “I would never truly feel comfortable at school knowing that there is a gun in the room.” This sentiment is shared by Caroline Anderson ‘19, who recalls the events of March 2012 on the ESJ campus. She remembers “being terrified… Having more guns on campus would only increase the chances of something like that happening again.” Caroline was referencing the on-campus murder of Head of School, Dale Regan, by a distraught teacher with an AK-47 assault-style rifle. Caroline asserts “This is obviously not an isolated incident, so I think these students [from Marjory Stoneman Douglas] have every right to be upset and to campaign for the action they want. It’s an inspiration that they can take this pain and look to make changes through it.” Mr. Alex Nichols says “it’s heartening to see students get involved, their point of view is powerful and often ignored.” When asked about the validity of students’ arguments he replied, “The point of history class is to provide the tools that these students are using. I think it’s a powerful thing, and they have every right to demand action.”

It will be curious to see the Congressional response to the student walkouts on March 14th and 24th, and it is important that ESJ as a community remembers that no one is invulnerable to a tragedy of this magnitude. The school prides itself on producing, intelligent, successful members of the society, and the students should pride themselves on being trailblazers and activists for causes that are close to the community's hearts. If there is one thing to learn from the members of Never Again, it’s that any student is capable of inciting real change regardless of age and lack of political experience.