The Righteous Anger of the Parkland Shootings Teen Survivors
Students have mourned and rallied the public after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High that left 17 dead.
[by] Robinson Meyer
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/parkland-shooting-teen-survivor-tweets-righteous-anger/553634/
Something was different about the mass shooting this week in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three adults were killed.
It was not only the death toll. The mass murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High became the deadliest high-school shooting in American history (edging out Columbine, which killed 13 in 1999).
What made Parkland different were the people who stepped forward to describe it. High-school studentsthe survivors of the calamity themselvesbecame the voice of the tragedy. Tweets that were widely reported as coming from the students expressed grief for the victims, pushed against false reports, and demanded accountability.Link to tweet
[ "We are too young to be losing friends like this." -- @Javier_Lovera_ ]
On television, on social media, they were unignorable. Many of them called for legislation to address the violence.
We are children. You guys are the adults. Work together, come over your politics, and get something done, David Hogg, a student who survived the killing, told CNN.
Another student was more pithy:Link to tweet
[ "OMG, teen from #MarjoryStonemanDouglas on @npr just now, Im not a Russian computer, so I cant vote but will push elected officials on gun control." -- @MiekeEoyang ]
3Hotdogs
(12,440 posts)I hope the students can keep it together and come up with focused plans that will bring change.
Where to go? I believe we need to focus on the N.R.A. blood money and the people with blood on their hands. Someone posted the amount of money that elected officials received from the N.R.A. The information was incomplete.
Where can we get that list so we can look up our local congresscritter?
N.R.A. grades representatives and Senators. I tried to find the grades on the N.R.A. website. It is closed to non-members. It needs to be public. Call your representative and ask what their N.R.A. grade is. If they are graded highly, are they now proud of that?
This information needs to be presented at pickets outside the congressional and Senate offices on the day of the walkout. Alert newspapers to the data that is going to be presented. The goal is to thwart them from accepting future N.R.A. donations. Make those donations toxic.
Signage at events need to say thinks like, "Are Our Kids Next?" "It Can Happen Here."
This next one requires some caution and consideration.... The N.R.A. website has names of people who have volunteered to act as local coordinators for political activity.. Should they also be shamed for having blood on their hands?