It’s been a year since the horrendous shooting at Parkland and what has been changed since then?
February 14, 2018-- a day that was supposed to be about love, turned into every mother, father, guardian, teacher, and of course student’s worst nightmare. On this day, a gunman shot and killed seventeen people and injured seventeen more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Amidst this tragedy, teen activists lept into action to call for the end of these horrible shootings giving mottoes like “Enough is Enough,” “The Young People Will Win,” and most famously “Never Again.” Were the news interviews, pleas from heartbroken parents, statics from non-profits enough to make Parkland the last home of a school shooting? The simple answer, no. Since that day in February, there have been 40 shootings on school campuses according to a non-profit organization called Everytown for Gun Safety. Since there are still school shootings, has anything really changed since last year? In Florida, there was legislation that raised the age to buy guns from 18 to 21 and made the selling and possession of bump-fire stocks to illegal. In addition to the other 67 state laws, one of the accomplishments was getting more funding for mental health assistance in schools. On the state level, the activists are pleased with what has been done in Florida but are still seeking more action to be taken. On a federal level, 2018 did not bring with it the sweeping change young people were asking their representatives to bring. David Hogg told CNN, "I plan to make sure that nobody else, no matter the ZIP code, has to live in constant fear of gun violence." The young people in America are tired of being afraid of going to school, they are tired of worrying if they will get to see their friends ever again when they are going into different classrooms, and they are tired of not being listened to. Teenagers have begged and pleaded for stricter gun laws, and they aren’t the only Americans who have asked. Three-quarters of Americans believe that there should be stricter gun laws than there are today, so when will gun laws change? A lot of hope now hangs in the newly confirmed Congress. New bills are said to be introduced soon to help restrict the amount of school shooting that happens in America. While 2018 did not bring a lot of change on the federal level, the idea that the young people are not finished yet is important. Representatives have to remember that young people will not back down from this fight if it gets hard because to the young people, this is a fight they have already watched their classmates, teachers, and friends die from making it a fight they have to win.
Sources:
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2018/02/celebrities-support-student-activism-after-high-school-shooting/
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