# What do you think of the claim that the students from the massacre are 'too young' to speak?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 28, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733 "2018-02-28T05:23:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BloodStalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BloodStalk)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/1 "2018-02-28T05:23:50Z")
I’ve had some people tell me that the students are too young to know what they are talking about. What are your views on this claim?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/2 "2018-02-28T05:28:19Z")
Since this is a highly controversial subject, let’s move this to Great Debates.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/3 "2018-02-28T05:29:59Z")
I think they may be too young and too emotionally traumatized by what happened to be able to properly weigh whether the populace as a whole is safer with gun ownership as it is or with it as the proponents of gun control desire it to be. I think they’re also too young to recognize and take into account the slippery slope that undoubtedly exists once gun control should get underway in earnest, and/or to judge whether the result of that slippery slope once it takes effect is ultimately beneficial or harmful.
I also think they’re too young, too unsophisticated and too underfunded to be organizing nationwide rallies.
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### Author:  [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/4 "2018-02-28T05:38:50Z")
What does too young to speak mean? How does that work?
They are invalid? Their experiences are invalid? Isn’t the idea to shut them down, as the president tried to do by diverting the debate to armed teachers?
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/5 "2018-02-28T05:42:30Z")
The people saying they’re too young simply don’t like what they’re saying. There is no other reason. It’s purely an ad hominem argument.
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### Author:  [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/6 "2018-02-28T05:48:28Z")
It’s bullshit, the reality of their lives and the issues that they face are no less real because they’re young. If these students were advocating something that the people making this claim agreed with, as **RickJay** says, they would be championing the kids instead of dismissing them.
I don’t think it’s going to coalesce into any kind of real political force, though; I don’t think this “moment” is going to last long enough for gun control proponents to get much political capital out of it. A handful of telegenic spokespeople doesn’t translate to a movement. Call me pessimistic, I’m pretty sure I’ll be proven right.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/7 "2018-02-28T06:01:56Z")
Some of these kids are old enough to vote in November, so the claim that they’re too young to have political opinions is downright laughable and nothing more than excuse to try and avoid discussing the issue.
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/8 "2018-02-28T06:03:02Z")
It’s a distraction. The NRA supporters will say anything they can to distract the public right now. Mental health. Young kids too stupid. Fatherless families. They must be praying for a volcanic eruption or some other disaster to take center stage.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/9 "2018-02-28T06:28:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> Some of these kids are old enough to vote in November, so the claim that they’re too young to have political opinions is downright laughable and nothing more than excuse to try and avoid discussing the issue.
Well, I don’t know. The overwhelming consensus about the country is that most of them by far are too young and immature even to decide to have sex with, with those under 18 commonly referred to as ‘children’ whenever the subject comes up. Thus I think it’s possible that many of the people who voice the belief that these students are too young have themselves been swayed by this line of thinking, and therefore, believing the kids are indeed too young/immature to think for themselves, they suspect that these kids are being manipulated by outsiders with an anti-gun agenda.
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### Author:  [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/10 "2018-02-28T06:40:03Z")
Those that are saying that we don’t want to hear what the students have to say are wrong. The point that’s being made is that it provably isn’t wise to base government policy on opinions by young teenagers who are still freshly traumatized by a tragic event.
The fact is s teenagers lack experience and wisdom and I sure don’t want them dictating policy on this issue or any other. That certainly doesn’t mean that their views cannot be taken into consideration. But the anti- gun side is trying to strongarm policy makers with raw emotion. Long term decisions about anything should never be made with raw emotion.
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### Author:  [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/11 "2018-02-28T06:40:53Z")
Maybe they are smart enough to understand that the slippery slope is the first step in a very long campaign. How long has it been since the US of A has gone down the slippery slope?
I’m thinking young people are smart enough to say BS to the propaganda that banning military-grade weapons will lead to mass confiscations and every gun owner in the US being shipped off to camps like the Japanese internment post Pearl Harbor.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/12 "2018-02-28T06:44:56Z")
> [@obbn](#):
>
> … Long term decisions about anything should never be made with raw emotion.
Agreed. If people want to listen to their stories, that’s fine. If we ultimately decide to go a different way with our public policy, that’s ok too.
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### Author:  [@RingsOfPylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RingsOfPylon)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/13 "2018-02-28T06:50:07Z")
Well, they’re young and traumatized, so they get to say what they want. They’ve endured an awful event and this is partly a public therapy session.
On the other hand, I’m not giving them the keys to the car, either metaphorically or in actual practice. It’s easy to understand the horror of the experience, but they are still adolescents when all is said and done. While some adolescents are bright and have significant potential, they are too naive and unseasoned to be the last word on any subject.
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### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/14 "2018-02-28T06:53:17Z")
Oh, for heaven’s sake, they’re not too young. How do I know this? Let’s see…25 years teaching high school English and history, haring and reading the texts of well over a thousand student-written, student-delivered speeches …judged speech meets most of that time…critiqued most valedictorian/salutatorian speeches. Some kids are crummy speech writers. Most are pretty good with some effort and feedback, and some are terrific, again with effort and feedback.
One of the factors that makes for a good speech is passion about the subject. Those kids felt pretty passionate about their subject matter.
I have no doubt the kids who spoke had others–fellow students, parents, maybe even speech team coaches–make suggestions and give feedback. So what? That’s not writing the speeches for them.
This whole ridiculous concept ticks me off. It’s a way of trying to delegitimize what these high schoolers have said. It’s a way to delegitimize the young people themselves. And it’s a pretty rotten trick. I suspect a lot of those who are suspicious aren’t very well-written or well-spoken and hate thinking a high-schooler could show them up.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/15 "2018-02-28T07:31:25Z")
So let me get this straight - Old enough to get shot but too young to speak. Is that it?
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/16 "2018-02-28T07:37:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> So let me get this straight - Old enough to get shot but too young to speak. Is that it?
I haven’t seen anyone in this thread say they’re too young to speak.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/17 "2018-02-28T08:08:01Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I haven’t seen anyone in this thread say they’re too young to speak.
Did you read the title of this thread?
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/18 "2018-02-28T08:22:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Did you read the title of this thread?
The OP said “I’ve had some people tell me …”. He seems to clearly be skeptical of the claim, he’s definitely not the one telling them they’re “too young to speak”.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/19 "2018-02-28T08:39:26Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> The OP said “I’ve had some people tell me …”. He seems to clearly be skeptical of the claim, he’s definitely not the one telling them they’re “too young to speak”.
Yes, that’s what the OP said, that’s how I interpreted it also. Did you have some point in mind?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-claim-that-the-students-from-the-massacre-are-too-young-to-speak/809733/20 "2018-02-28T08:46:41Z")
Somehow I don’t remember the First Amendment mentioning anything about age…
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