10 Questions for the Present: Parkland Student Activism

About This Lesson

In this lesson, students will analyze how a 2018 high-school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, spurred a group of student survivors to become passionate activists against gun violence. They will examine the tools used by their peers on the front lines of a burgeoning social movement—including their engagement with social media and journalism, their electoral strategies, and their internal organization. 

Students will put themselves in their peer activists’ shoes and use the 10 Questions Framework to examine in detail how the Parkland students led the way for the nationwide #NeverAgain protest. In the process, they will explore their own feelings toward their Parkland peers and the lessons they can learn from them.

Guiding Questions

• How have Parkland students tried to influence Americans to take action on gun violence? In what ways have they been successful?
• What obstacles have the students encountered?

Learning Objectives

• Students will identify strategies and tools the Parkland students have used to raise consciousness and influence Americans to take action to reduce gun violence.
• Students will discuss risks faced by the Parkland students and safeguards that might protect them from those risks in their future civic-political participation.

Activities

Activity 1: Introduce Parkland Student Activism

Introduce the lesson by briefly explaining to students that in February of 2018, a gunman opened fire at a high school in Parkland, Florida. In response, student survivors of the shooting raised their voices for school safety and against gun violence, refusing to let the incident be remembered as just another tragedy.

Share the VICE video How Parkland Students Went from Teens to Activists (09:35). Before playing the video, pass out the handout 10 Questions Framework: Parkland Viewing Guide and tell students that they will be trying to answer as many of the questions from the framework as they can. Time permitting, show the video twice so that students have plenty of time to complete the handout.

Ask students to share their answers, first in a Think, Pair, Share and then as a class.

Activity 2: Explore Parkland Activism through the 10 Questions

Next, have students read four readings on the Parkland student movement using the Jigsaw teaching strategy. Begin by dividing the class into four “expert” groups, and pass out one of the following readings to each group:

• How the Parkland Students Pulled off a Massive National Protest in Only 5 Weeks (CNN)
• After Parkland, States Pass 50 New Gun-Control Laws (PEW)
• Parkland Students Find Themselves Targets of Lies and Personal Attacks (New York Times)
• "More in Common Than We Thought" – Chicago, Parkland Youth Stand in Solidarity (Chicago Sun-Times)

Project or write on the board 10 Questions Framework Poster and tell students that they will be referring to these questions throughout the lesson:

1. Why does it matter to them?
2. How much do they share?
3. How do they make it about more than themselves?
4. Where did they start?
5. How do they make it easy and engaging?
6. How do they get wisdom from crowds?
7. How do they handle the downside of crowds?
8. Are they pursuing voice or influence or both?
9. How do they get from voice to change?
10. How do they find allies?

Explain to students that each “expert” group will read together the group’s assigned reading, pick one question from the framework that they believe is especially relevant to the article, and discuss how the Parkland students addressed the question, using evidence from their reading. Then divide the class into new “teaching” groups. The members of each “teaching” group should all have read a different reading in their “expert” groups. Instruct each student to summarize his or her “expert” group’s reading for the new “teaching” group and share their selected question from the framework as well as highlights from their group discussion. Reconvene as a class and ask a member of each “teaching” group to share their article and discussion with the class.

Activity 3: Connect Parkland Activism to Students’ Lives

Transition into a whole-class discussion in which students reflect on the following questions:

• How did the Parkland students use media to raise awareness about gun violence? What results did they achieve in addition to raising awareness? What other strategies did they use, and how did they use them?
• What lessons can we draw from their experiences that might inform our own civic participation?