#Never Again

Over the summer when I was at Sleepaway camp, my mom bought me a book for my Bar Mitzvah project. It was written by David and Lauren Hogg, two survivors of the Parkland school shooting. It really broadened my understanding of the issues around gun control and gun violence by speaking through the victim’s perspective.

 

The book starts off with how Lauren and David’s usual days were at Stoneman Douglas High school, and then explained where they were when the shooting happened. Lauren was in her journalist class while everything was going on. David didn’t specify where he was. They explained what was going on in their minds while the shooting was happening. It was really hard to believe something like that could happen. It was hard to imagine how I would feel in a situation like that.

David and Lauren then describe what it felt like after the shootings and what they have tried to accomplish to get justice and action for better gun control. They write about how they tried to get interviews on local TV’s and to try and spread their message. Their message was that if we don’t put a stop to this starting now, nothing will ever change and mass shootings will keep happening. I have not seen any of their interviews on TV, but I know they have been on a lot of shows and news stations. They see that adults are not doing anything to try and stop this, they are not making stricter laws or focusing on improving background checks.  They want to encourage younger people, even younger than voting age, to get involved and make noise.  They hope this will make change.

I really suggest reading this book, as it inspired me even more to help make a change. They have different perspectives on what adults will be able to change, but David and Lauren made a great point; adults aren’t doing enough to stop gun violence and it’s now someone else's turn to make a change.

From a review, I would give this a 8/10 stars for two high schoolers writing a book. It was very well written, and David and Lauren did a great job of discussing the changes we need to make.

I’m imagining that it took a lot of effort for David and Lauren to write this book. It made me wonder what they want to do when they grow up? Do they want to keep making a statement in the anti-gun community, or something completely different? If you read the book, what are your thoughts or opinions? If you didn;t read this book and saw an interview with David and Lauren, what was your opinion of their points?

Please feel free to leave a comment down below.

If you are interested in donating to help fight gun violence, please click on the link below:
My Fundraising Page for Coalition Against Gun Violence