David BrooksOver the past year and a half, the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have handled themselves with a fervor and commitment that has, most of the time, inspired the nation.
One of those students was Kyle Kashuv. Despite the trauma of the shootings and a busy impromptu career as a school safety advocate, Kashuv was able to graduate second in his class, with a weighted GPA of 5.345, according to the Daily Wire (how is that even possible?). Along with his classmate David Hogg, he was admitted into Harvard.
Most of the famous Parkland students lean progressive and support gun control laws. Kashuv leans conservative. He’s appeared on conservative media, got to meet Donald Trump and lobbied for the STOP School Violence Act, which would create an annual $50 million grant to schools for training programs and reporting systems. He became a student face for the gun rights crowd.
He’s handled himself with an earnest sincerity. When Vox asked if he’d worked through what happened on the day of the shootings, he said, “Honestly, I don’t think we’ll ever have it all worked through.”
The Miami Herald asked if he should be spared criticism on account of his youth. He responded: “When you’re pushing policy, the protections as a kid are gone. I’m rightfully not granted that. I think even David and Emma truly … want to stop gun deaths and school shootings, and that shouldn’t be delegitimized, ever. They want the same end result that I do, they just do it through different means.”