By Chloe VanOverberghe
Exactly a year ago on February 14th, the students at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and people all over the country suffered from a devastating mass shooting.
The gunman went in the school, starting in the freshman wing and making his way to the upper building killing 17, leaving many injured and many hearts broken. Over the past year a lot has happened to the community of Parkland and to students of Stoneman Douglas High School.
A few days after the incident, many of the Stoneman Douglas students began to plan for “March For Our Lives,” a march for stronger gun regulations. On March 24, 2018, many kids took the stage stating their thoughts and how they may have known the 17 people who lost their lives. According to CNN Online, there was a GoFundMe campaign to support the rally. There was $1.7 million raised in three days.
After the students hard work for a month, Florida passed new laws regarding gun control, but they were soon declined due to concerns about the laws affecting Second Amendment rights. After the laws were declined, the students took even more action and gave more speeches, according to the Today Show Morning News.
Many students have also taken charge, not only in Washington, but in their community. Students have influenced schools in their communities and all over the United States to get better security cameras and more protection in and outside of the school. Since last year Stoneman Douglas received over 20 new cameras and now have a tall fence surrounding their school. According to local police many cameras were down last year when the shooting occurred.
Many students said that February 14th will never be the same to them. Since last year, the school has comforted students by bringing in dogs as support animals and it has been proven to help many of the students at Stoneman Douglas. The students have also rushed to finish their yearbook from scratch. They are dedicating one page for every victim. Many of the Studnets say they have gotten stronger over the year as individuals.