We’ve been tremendously impressed by the activism of high school students across the country in the aftermath of the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. The student-inspired protest march in Washington DC on March 24, in which an estimated 800,000 people participated, was not only the largest protest against gun violence in our nation’s history, it was the largest protest in our nation’s capital on any issue, and it was replicated on a smaller scale in hundreds of other cities across our country and around the world.

We're offering the essay contest as one way to help foster and reward ongoing activism and critical thinking among our youth in the area of gun violence prevention.