After the horrific school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, David Hogg has emerged as a loud voice, representing gun control and youth. However, since his spat with notable public figures like Laura Ingraham, one has to wonder: who is this kid, really? He knows how to leverage social media to get the reaction and solutions he's looking for, but is he ready for that kind of power?
His reddit account was exposed by Infowars, and his comment archive reads like a private diary. I personally would not want to keep my Reddit account active for all prying eyes to see, but it really does prove one thing: David Hogg is like any other kid his age.
He's young, full of aspirations, and a bit confused about life in general.
David Hogg's comments on Reddit
Reading through his past Reddit comments, I learned many things about Hogg, some information which explained precisely why he was so upset at Ingraham's snide remarks about him "whining" about not getting into college. Apparently, as long as he gets into a UC or Cal State school, he can attend tuition-free because his dad Is A disabled vet. Also, he is dyslexic, which may have made regular schoolwork more of a challenge for him. He complained about the SAT, and also describes how he moved to Florida when he was a Freshman.
"I moved in the middle of Freshman year in HS and have 3 friends out here 90% of people at my HS are liers that cannot be trusted and only look out for themselves and the people are so mean and unfriendly its super depressing." - Reddit.
There's many great things about youth being empowered to share their opinions with the public. We need more of that, because the youth are our future. Especially after a horrific event like the school shooting in Parkland, hearing from the students at the school is important. Undeniably, the students who survived are also heavily affected in ways that the public cannot understand.
David Hogg's missed opportunity
Unfortunately, Hogg's opportunity to represent his generation has been smeared by his campaign to end Ingraham's career, which has resulted in both strong backlash and praise. In the midst of the controversy, people seem to have forgotten the important underlying issue: the school shooting, the people who lost their lives, and how we, as a nation, can move forward from the tragedy and effect whatever change necessary to prevent more school shootings.
In the meantime, everyone ought to take a step back and consider that David Hogg is still in high school, still a teenager, and just starting to learn about himself and the world. It may be entertaining to watch him go back and forth with prominent figures, to make conjectures about him through conspiracy theories, or to read his Reddit comment history. However, we're all missing the point.
David Hogg and the mainstream media
Let's remind ourselves that the power that Hogg has was given to him by mainstream media, which chose to raise his voice above everyone else's. And if he doesn't know how to wield that power correctly, who's fault is it, really? In the meantime, Black students at the school are asking to be heard, the students are reportedly unable to grieve correctly due to the high level of media attention, and minority students feel like they're being racially profiled by the newly installed security at the school.
