Parkland, Florida high school students turned tragedy into triumph and mobilized for change. After the Feb. 14 shooting at the school, survivors decided to turn into activists and began demanding gun reform. They became increasingly popular, even gaining more followers than the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a matter days. These students are sensational, here are some of the Parkland students' best tweets.
In a Feb. 26 tweet, Gonzalez pointed out that it's not just the students that school shooting effect. The teachers are also burdened with the feeling of having to protect their students. Possibly as a clap back to President Donald Trump who suggested arming teachers, Gonzalez doesn't want the teachers to have to worry about having to defend their classroom in the event of a mass shooting. The only things teachers should be worried about are their own personal home lives and educating their students, "and maybe sometimes planning ice cream parties," she wrote.
Gonzalez is one of the survivors who has been in the public view the most. She created her Twitter account @Emma4Change four days after the Parkland shooting on Feb. 18. A little over a month later, Gonzalez has 1.25 million followers and uses her account as a platform to talk about gun reform, protest, and March For Our Lives.
After the Valentine's Day shooting, Hogg called out lawmakers during a CNN interview. "We're children. You guys are the adults, you need to take some action and play a role," said Hogg. "Work together, come over your politics, and get something done." Hogg continues to be very outspoken and call out lawmakers he feels are in the pocket of the NRA.
His appearance on CNN and his remarks garnered a lot of attention and rumors started to fly among conspiracy theorists that Hogg was not a real survivor but a "crisis actor" paid by anti-gun movements. The Washington Post suggested that the conspiracy theories might have sprung up due to the fact that his father is a former FBI agent, and theorists speculated he might have been coached on what to say.
But Hogg did not let any of that get to him.
Kasky is the student who made the impassioned speech on television announcing the March For Our Lives. He appeared on ABC and said "People are saying that it’s not time to talk about gun control, and we can respect that. Here’s a time: March 24, in every single city."
Since that time he has not been shy about calling out government hotshots and pundits on their inability to understand why these students have become activists for gun reform.
He is also the best at being super salty.
Especially when standing up for his friends.
Chadwick is not only a fierce activist but she has garnered a lot of attention for serving up a whole lot of shade with her activism. She is snarky as hell, and it's truly amazing.
She also called out the conspiracy theories that the student activists are paid actors with some hilarious snark (and light roasting of her friend).
Following the Parkland shooting, Trump tweeted a formulaic "thoughts and prayer"-type message saying no teacher or child should feel unsafe in school. Wind was the first student to call the president out on the irony of saying you want safe schools but are also lax on gun control.
Wind never wasted an opportunity to call the president out on other things, either...
I have to say that Deitsch's Twitter bio is everything. "Surprisingly one of a handful of teenagers trusted with changing the world." I mean, come on. And like his peers, he is very adept at throwing major shade while also trying to change the world.
He also looks like a lost Weasley child, which his fellow Parkland activists are more than happy to point out.
On March 21, Corin wrote a powerful article in Seventeen talking about why she has chosen to help organize March For Our Lives and be an activist for change. It's a really interesting look into how it feels to go from a normal teenager to the survivor of a school shooting. I suggest you all read it. She wrote,
I began to advocate for the people of my community and the victims we lost. But as time progressed, I realized that my classmates and I needed to fight, not only for us, but for those who experience gun violence on every level.
She is definitely fighting for those who need it and standing up to any adversaries that comes her way: like people who think Corin and her fellow student activists are in the pocket of lobbyists.
Also, she just saw snow for the first time. Congrats, Jaclyn.
These Parkland student activists are strong-willed and are a force for change in this country. Follow them on Twitter, keep up with what they're doing, and help support them any way you can. They might be younger than me, but I would be happy to be any one of them when I grow up.
