Us Kids Parent Guide

On Valentine’s Day, 2018, Sam Fuentes was just another student at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. Then she got shot in the legs, had her face pierced by flying shrapnel, and watched her friend Nicholas Dworet die. Speaking later that year, she reflected, “Not only has the shooting almost taken my life, it’s taken away my sense of safety, it’s taken my sanity…It took everything.” These feelings of loss, grief, devastation, and rage fueled a wave of student activism that is remaking the landscape of American electoral politics.

Us Kids follows the most well known Parkland activists – David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky – as they call for change in the days after the shooting. It surveys their work on the first March for our Lives protest and their summer Road to Change bus tour. Through all the events, the documentary explores the teens’ deep commitment to gun reform, their support for each other, and the ongoing toll taken by their experiences.

Despite its topic, Us Kids doesn’t have a lot of violent content and thankfully has no footage of the actual school shooting. It does contain over three dozen profanities, mostly spoken by stressed or frustrated teens. And given the level of their trauma, the swearing isn’t a surprise. The teens freely admit that they’re psychologically scarred by the shooting. They talk about their sense of survivors’ guilt and their depression and anxiety. Sam Fuentes is so terrified of being shot that she throws up while speaking at the March for our Lives protest and later at an awards dinner. Cameron Kasky talks about reaching his breaking point after hearing story after story of gun violence. And David Hogg reveals that “The capacity for that sadness, that hole of sadness has gotten deeper in how far it can go. And honestly, I don’t know if it has a bottom.”

It’s a tribute to these young people that this documentary doesn’t induce depression in audiences. To the contrary, the dedication and kindness of these kids is heartwarming. They’re determined to spread their message and to communicate respectfully with those who disagree with them. It’s a hopeful sign for the future of American democracy that young people are willing to devote their time and energy to making change within the system. Even viewers who disagree with their beliefs on gun control will appreciate their commitment to peaceful change. Anyone interested in the future of American politics should watch this film. As Cameron Kasky says, “We are smart and we are woke and we are awesome. So let’s create a new generation of politicians who are smart and woke and awesome.” These kids have time on their side and just might achieve their goals. It’s a good idea to understand what those are.