Eight years after Parkland, youth engagement is more important than ever | Opinion

It’s been eight years since a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and killed 17 students, teachers and staff members. That day — Feb. 14, 2018 — radically changed the trajectory of my life, setting me on a path to lead March For Our Lives, a movement advocating for gun violence prevention.

Parkland became a generational inflection point, exposing how quickly gun violence can shatter lives.

However, this uniquely American problem didn’t start with us. Gun violence has long devastated Black and brown communities, thanks to structural racism and chronic disinvestment. Waking up in a new reality that so many Americans had long lived in, we came to realize our trauma was not unique, and we had to act.

In the aftermath, March For Our Lives mobilized millions of young millennials and Gen Zers to confront gun violence, not as an isolated tragedy, but as a national crisis that prioritizes gun industry power over human life.

Eight years after Parkland, the fight to end gun violence is more critical than ever. Today’s political landscape is unrecognizable from what we faced years ago, and the opposition is hellbent on rolling back hard-won protections.

During our first years of mobilization, we made great progress, resulting in the creation of the White House Office of Gun Control under President Biden. But those gains proved fragile. When Donald Trump returned to the White House, much of that work was swiftly reversed, and state legislatures are following suit. Presently, in what is a personal affront to Parkland survivors, Florida’s legislature is poised to reverse crucial provisions in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act during this legislative session.

Whether progress continues will depend on sustained youth engagement from Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Ahead of the 2026 midterms, we urge all young people to redouble their efforts in the fight for a future free from gun violence. As this manmade horror continues to extinguish lives, disengagement carries real consequences.

And we have good reason to keep fighting. We’re currently witnessing gun-related deaths of civilians by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers join the growing list of types of gun violence present in our country. Last month’s killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were not aberrations, but the natural consequences of a system that authorizes lethal force while obscuring responsibility.

All forms of gun violence — whether in schools or at the hands of federal agents — share common enablers: the gun lobby. However, the gun industry’s power didn’t stop us before, and it won’t stop us now. After Parkland, March For Our Lives held classroom walkouts, organized nationwide marches and took on pro-industry lawmakers because we know that our lives mattered more than gun industry profits. Today, we feel a renewed sense of urgency for this mission.

The 2026 midterms are a chance to make gun safety a defining issue again. That requires showing up to vote, to organize, and to demand accountability. It’s tempting to tune out when it feels as if we live in an echo chamber of bad news. But democracy doesn’t reward bystanders. We cannot wait for historically unaccountable lawmakers to act on their own. We must elect people who will actually fight for our lives, not just claim to care about them.

The Parkland anniversary is somber. It marks eight long years without beloved community members and with a shattered sense of safety. But remembrance alone is not enough. Honoring those we lost requires sustained action to protect lives and defend the progress we’ve made. Without that commitment, the consequences are not abstract. They are measured in lives cut short.

Jaclyn Corin is the executive director and co-founder of March For Our Lives. She focuses on growing the power of young people to reshape the systems and narratives that have allowed gun violence to persist in the United States. As a Parkland survivor, her work is rooted in the conviction that young people deserve a future defined by safety and possibility.