David Hogg, author
David Hogg has been in the news since that fateful day in February when 14 students and 3 staff members were killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
In the aftermath, he and his classmates have made a name for themselves by championing gun control. You’ve seen them in interviews on major news networks and as headliners at the March for Our Lives.
Today marks another activist milestone – David and his sister have written and released a book to serve as “a guide to the #NeverAgain movement.”
This means the media will turn their attention back to the Parkland shooting and the issue of gun control, and you should prepare to answer questions about it.
Here’s what not to do:
- Don’t attack the kids. Doing so hijacks the conversation and turns attention away from the issue we should be debating.
Here’s what to do:
- Start by acknowledging how great it is for young people to be exercising their free speech rights, and then pivot to solutions.
It’s a simple equation, but it works. Acknowledge the kids’ involvement as a good thing before you talk facts and figures. Otherwise, you make news by attacking victims of a school shooting, and that’s never a good look on anyone. Just because we can’t imagine the horror and tragic aftermath doesn’t mean we should skip over the emotion and their efforts to deal.