Using the below information, please answer the questions listed at bottom.

Modern teens are often portrayed as lazy and self absorbed$.$ According to this stereotype, they care little about current events or the needs of others. This stereotype certainly doesn't apply to students at Florida's Marjory

Stoneman Douglas High School. After a former student killed $17$ students and staff at their school, survivors decided to take action. They lobbied Florida legislators for stronger gun laws and met with President Trump. They also

created the #NeverAgain m ovement and organized the March for Our Lives. The group hopes to institute u niversal background checks and to ban high$-$capacity magazines and assault weapons. The March for Our Lives ral ly at $800$ cities around the U nited States is believed to be the largest youth led protest since the end of the Viet Nam War. The group also called several nationwide student walkouts.

Stoneman Douglas survivors are eloquent spokespeople for their cause. At the Washington, D$.$C$.,$ March for Our Lives rally,

senior David Hogg urged first$-$time voters to

defeat pol iticians who fail to pass gun control

legislation. $"$We will not stop," he declared,

"until every man, every woman, every child and

every American can live without fear of gun

violence.$\text{'}\text{'}1$ Junior Cameron Kasky lamented the

fact that members of his generation had "spent

our entire l ives seeing mass shooting after mass

shooting.$\text{'}\text{'}$ He called u pon listeners to "create a

better world" for generations to come.

Senior Emma Gonzalez has been a partic$-$

ularly effective advocate. When speaking at

a Florida rally in front of the Broward county

courthouse, she repeatedly called $"$BS$"$ on those

who belittle teens and gun supporters. At the

Washington rally, she used silence to move her

audience. After naming her fellow students who

were lost in the shooting and describing what

each would never do again, Gonzalez went

silent for four minutes, standing with tears run$-$

ning down her face. Then a timer went off. She

then announced that six minutes and $25$ sec$-$

onds had passed, the length of time it took the

shooter to terrorize the school and then calmly

walk away. She ended by declaring, "Fight for

your lives before it's someone else's job."$2$

The Stoneman Douglas activists haven't

hesitated to take on the powerful National Rifle

Association and its political allies, urging the

electorate to vote out those receiving money

from the organization. Gonzales declared, $"$To

every politician who is taking donations from

the NRA, shame on you."$3$ Another claimed that

every politician who receives money from the

NRA has "chosen death."$4$ Stoneman Douglas

students wore price tags reading $$1\mathrm{.}05,$ to point

out how much Florida Senator Marco Rubio

took from the NRA for every student in the

state of Florida.

Since the NRA and gun manufacturers

pour money into political campaigns and

gun rights supporters are more l ikely to vote,

Stoneman Douglas students face an u phill

fight. Nevertheless, the tragedy at Stoneman

Douglas and the #NeverAgain movement

may prompt the passage of stricter gun mea$-$

sures. Florida passed a gun control law which

raises the minimum ownership age and cre$-$

ates a three$-$day waiting period. $($ However, the

bill failed to ban assault weapons and high$-$

capacity magazines or strengthen background

checks.$)$ And businesses are changing their

gun policies in response to the Stoneman

Douglas tragedy as well as previous massacres.

Citibank and Bank of America stopped doing

business with gun manufacturers and other

customers who continue to sell military style

weapons, bump stocks, and high$-$capacity

magazines. Dicks Sporting Goods, L$.$ L$.$ Bean,

and Walmart will no longer sell firearms to those under $21.$ Kroger discontinued gun sales

in its Fred Meyer stores. Dick's will no longer carry assault$-$type rifles. Delta airlines discon$-$

tinued its NRA credit card.

$1.$ What is your reaction to the March for our Live and other #nveragain activities? Have you participated in any of these events?

$2.$ Did the Stoneman Douglas march organizers and speakers put on beautiful leadership performances? Why or why not?

$3.$Do you think that the #neveragain movement will succeed in passing stricter state and national gun laws? Explain your answer.