'Us Kids' Shows a New Side of the Parkland Survivors

Today, the issues we care about can sometimes feel like a huge boulder in our path— intimidating, blocking the sun, and impossible to climb. It’s hard to feel like there’s hope when every time you take a step in the right direction there’s another obstacle.

    In February of 2018, someone took a gun to a high school in Parkland, Florida. Two years later, many of the survivors are still active and speaking out for gun control. Some of the most well-known are Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg, neither of whom are much older than I am. Both have been in the spotlight on this issue since the shooting, and at the center of the controversy, along with many of their peers. Us Kids, directed by Kim Snyder, shows the aftermath of the shooting for the survivors.

    Last summer, a group of kids from Parkland decided to go on a bus tour around the country in support of gun control. They made huge strides and got a lot accomplished, but the mental health of a lot of the kids deteriorated. It was only months after the shooting, and an event like that causes serious trauma. The subjects of the documentary were rightly upset and still grieving. Through this, they were strong enough to continue to make their voices heard in a crowd that sometimes seemed like it was just pushing them back.

    Kids can change the world. Just look all around you— it’s happening before your eyes. Kids are amazing, and we’re the future. But the fact that kids like Emma Gonzalez and Greta Thunberg are forced to fight for their human rights just means the adults have failed us. 

Us Kids reminds us that tragedies should not be unloaded onto children without remorse. It reminds us that these people, these kids in the film, really are just kids like the rest of us. They’re doing incredible things— but they never should have had to. What happened at Parkland, and what continues to happen all around the country, is shameful. They’ve become activists because they feel they have to, because of what happened to them due to mistakes people have made. They are doing this because nothing like that should ever happen to anyone again. Ultimately, Us Kids says that it’s okay if you’re not ready to take on the world. You don’t have to be. You just have to do all that you can, and that is enough.