The Students Who Survived Florida's Shooting Have Slammed Politicians' 'Pathetic' Response To The Massacre

19 February 2018, 17:46

By Nicky Idika

"We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around."

Last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school has left the community of Parkland, Florida grieving, following the deaths of 17 students and members of staff.

Despite the freshness of these emotional wounds, students at the school are using their trauma and organising for change in a way we've never seen before.

Vigils and rallies took place over the weekend as student organisers continued to call for a change in US gun legislation.

Survivors of the shooting expressed frustration that this issue was being left to high school students instead of the adult legislators whose job it is to protect them.

"We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around," one student, Cameron Kasky told CNN.

Another student, Emma Gonzalez, earned headlines after challenging the "BS" surrounding the US gun debate.

"The people in the government who are voted into power are lying to us, and us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and are prepared to call BS."

In a separate interview with CNN, fellow student organiser David Hogg asked, "If you can't get elected without taking money from child murderers, why are you running?"

This action and activism comes days after students were barricaded into their classrooms, fearing that they would never see their families or friends ever again. This group of grieving, traumatised, and vocal students are using this new found spotlight to make sure they are heard by politicians bullied into silence by contributions from the NRA.

People are calling these survivors brave, not only for making it out alive, but for being an example to their generation.

The students are organising a march on Washington called 'March For Our Lives'.

A national school walk out has also been planned by another organisation to coincide with the anniversary of the Columbine high school shooting.

People witnessing this moment shouldn't be surprised by how poised and articulate these young survivors are.

These students are digital natives with an inherent sense of justice and fairness. They know what change looks like. They know how to organise, and they have first-hand experience into how empty rhetoric and inaction can cost young lives.

The survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting are true heroes who prove that, with a government full of corrupt adults, it's the teenagers who will usher in real change.