Getty Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz during a hearing on April 27, 2018.
The father of a Parkland shooting victim took to social media on Friday to share his outrage about a new school assignment for Broward County students.
Andrew Pollack, whose 18 year old daughter, Meadow, died during the shooting at Stoneman Davis, tweeted, “This is absolutely despicable. Broward schools is now giving assignments to students on the shooter that murdered my daughter and 16 others.”
He shared a photograph of a quiz that the school system is giving out to students. You can see that, and his original tweet, here:
This is absolutely despicable.
Broward schools is now giving assignments to students on the shooter that murdered my daughter and 16 others.
Does anyone @browardschools have a brain? @RobertwRuncie
The quiz references a magazine article about Nikolas Cruz and asks, “Does Nikolas Cruz Deserve to Die?”
Many people are outraged that students in Broward County are being forced to think — and write — about the Parkland shooting, which is still a very fresh and horrific memory. But social media users also expressed anger that the quiz’s focus is not on the shotter’s actions. Instead, the quiz is all about the death penalty and the many possible problems associated with the death penalty.
The quiz prompts students to write about common arguments against the death penalty. It also includes a number of multiple choice questions about “botched executions,” the 8th amendment (which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”) and the number of countries around the world which have banned the death penalty.
Many Twitter users responded to Andrew Pollack’s tweet with disgust, writing that the quiz is just another reason why people should be home schooling their children. Others denounced the quiz as part of a liberal agenda aimed at turning young people against the death penalty. You can see some of their reactions here:
After his daughter, Meadow, was killed in the Parkland shooting, Andrew Pollack became a strong supporter of a bill that would put guns into the hands of school staff. He was in the gallery when the Florida School Safety bill was passed in March. Speaking to reporters after the vote, Pollack said he hopes no parent ever has to experience what he did:
“My precious daughter Meadow’s life was taken and there’s nothing I can do to change that. But make no mistake, I’m a father and I’m on a mission. I’m on a mission to ensure that I am the last dad to ever read a statement of this kind.
“If you want to help me and keep our children safe I want you to follow me because there’s strength in numbers.”