Teens from Florida’s school shooting are calling for gun control on Twitter

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‘Why was a student able to terrorize my school Mr President?’

TextKemi Alemoru

It’s no secret that mass shootings in America are common. Though it's only February, there has been 30 of them so far in 2018. When a gunman opened fire on students and staff at a high school in Parkland, Florida earlier this week, killing at least 17 people, it was the 18th school shooting of the year.

What makes Florida’s school shooting on Wednesday markedly different has been the victims' and witnesses' determination to take control and dominate the narrative. Despite their young age, many of the students who were trapped in the shooting have used social media to take on Donald Trump and right wing commentator Tomi Lahren, in the process articulating America’s policy problems better than most adults could.

Lahren took to Twitter in the wake of the tragedy to bash the left: “Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gun owner agenda? My goodness. This isn't about a gun it's about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting”.

Parkland students used their accounts to reply to her directly:

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Similarly, President Trump took a soft stance on guns in response to the news, instead choosing to target the shooter's community. “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behaviour,” he wrote. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”

Again, when Trump addressed the nation to offer his condolences, students used their online voice to steer the conversation towards gun control. “I don’t want your condolences you fucking price [sic] of shit, my friends and teachers were shot. Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead. Do something instead of sending prayers,” Sarah Chad wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “Prayers won’t fix this. But Gun control will prevent it from happening again.”

These tweets have been liked and shared hundreds and thousands of times, making the voices of the victims heard. It'll take a lot to steer America in the right direction towards gun control, but thank God for these brave and well-informed teens who, in the wake of huge loss, are taking on Trump directly. If you want to help advocate for gun control, no matter where in the world you are, read our guide here.

PoliticsNewsgunsDonald TrumpAmericaGun control
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