Parkland shooting prompts teen voters to get involved

Teenagers are thinking about the Parkland shootings as they head to the polls this year, with a recent survey showing that school shootings, as well as guns and gun control, are their most pressing social concerns.

The Education Week survey of 1,339 18- and 19-year-olds from across the country, completed in September, showed nearly two-thirds planned to vote in the Nov. 6 general election.

“I don’t think it’s reaching 2016 levels of buzz around campus...but it’s certainly more than any mid-terms I’ve seen in my adult lifetime,” said Brett Feller, a 22-year-old University of Central Florida senior who’s a member of Young Americans for Liberty, which describes itself as a libertarian and conservative organization.

But many young voters know little about the candidates on their ballots, the survey suggested. Nearly half couldn’t identify a single one. Just 5 percent could name more than three. The teens said they were most likely to get information about issues and candidates from their families, TV news, or YouTube.

Among those who said they planned to vote, 41 percent said they planned to do so, in part, because it’s “good for the country.” Nearly a third said they wanted to “cast a vote in favor of/against the direction of the Trump administration.”

That’s consistent with whatUCF junior Brandon Derrig, 20, said he hears on campus. A lot of his classmates say they want to vote, at least in part, to voice their disagreement with President Donald Trump.

“He’s not the most popular person in the world with young people and a lot of the policies he’s championed have gone against what people in our generation believe is fair and just,” said Derrig, president of College Democrats at UCF.

The survey showed that the largest share of teenage voters, 31 percent, are registered as