Wednesday will mark two weeks since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. While lives in the Parkland community have changed forever, not everyone is experiencing the same kind of change. As families continue to grieve for lost loved ones, and as several students recover from their emotional and physical wounds, other students – who may also still be going through the grieving process – have become activists and celebrities virtually overnight.

In a high school with more than 3,000 students, a select few are being thrust in front of the media’s cameras and booked for interviews because of the views they hold. As a result, they’ve been verified on Twitter and are gaining social media followers at a rapid rate. They’re using these platforms to slam politicians, the National Rifle Association (NRA), gun owners, and Second Amendment supporters. And while they place blame on virtually everyone but the shooter for the 17 deaths at their school, they, themselves, are being shielded from criticism.

The ages of the students vary, as some of these new, young activists are still kids. However, some of them are young adults and are of voting age. Their opinions and their votes can, and will, affect the direction of the nation, and their voices should be heard. But considering the students are still in high school, it puts many Americans who disagree with their rhetoric in a tough position.

Criticism of their views has already landed many on the political right in hot water. But if the students’ opinions are going to be heard in the public forum, there is no rule that their perspectives must go unchallenged. Political commentator and conservative Ben Shapiro rightly stated that survivors and witnesses of the Parkland shooting are either moral leaders who are stepping up to take responsibility where adults have failed, or they are merely victimized children whose perspectives cannot face criticism.

The Parkland shooting witnesses are taking moral leadership of the gun control debate, filling in the gaps where the adults have abandoned their responsibilities.

You must never criticize their perspective because they are victimized children.

Pick one.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 26, 2018

As mentioned earlier, several of the high school’s students are now verified on Twitter and are amassing hundreds of thousands of followers. One student, Emma González, has almost one million followers and is speeding past NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch’s following. David Hogg, another student at the school, is appearing on television sets across the country as political commentators ask for his opinions on gun control, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s leadership, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s actions following the shooting, and Loesch. González and two other students from her school, Jaclyn Corin and Cameron Kasky, were even guests on Ellen DeGeneres’ show to talk about their upcoming march in Washington, D.C.

These students are making change happen right now. Be a part of it. https://t.co/aKXsO4vgBl @Emma4Change @cameron_kasky @jaclyncorin #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/vQZnYlPan5

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) February 23, 2018

During CNN’s town hall where Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-22) took questions from students, teachers, and those who lost loved ones in the tragedy, Cameron Kasky, one of Ellen’s guests, told Sen. Rubio that when he looks at him, it is as if he is staring down the barrel of an AR-15 at the school shooter. This disgusting rhetoric is the strategy that several of these individuals are employing. Many have questioned whether or not Dana Loesch cares about the safety of children. Their activism appears to be more about demonization and forcing people and companies to bow to their gun control agenda. Hogg, for example, is actively calling for people to boycott companies that work alongside the NRA.

I say we keep pressuring @amazon until they fully end their relationship with the NRA

— David Hogg 📢 (@davidhogg111) February 26, 2018

Due to their celebrity status, the students’ activism does not always stay in the realm of gun control. Their reach is already starting to extend far beyond it.

Here's a radical idea, how about we don't spend money on arming teachers we spend it educating students in S.T.E.M. so people like @KyleJeter can do more cool stuff and we'll be able to create jobs in renewable, clean and independent American energy like wind and solar.

— David Hogg 📢 (@davidhogg111) February 26, 2018

If the mainstream media is going to continue to give these young activists face time, they need to understand that they are opening these students up to public scrutiny. What other media outlets can and should do is give a voice to those who have been affected by the shooting but have a different perspective from those who have now reached instant fame.

Breaking from networks like CNN and ABC, Fox News interviewed a student who may find himself in the media spotlight shortly. The student, Kyle Kashuv, was asked about his opinion on the aftermath of the school shooting, the Broward County Sheriff’s lack of leadership, and how he feels about his fellow students pushing the gun control agenda. Kashuv’s perspective differs greatly from that of his peers.

.@KyleKashuv, Florida school shooting survivor: "On the @CNN town hall, we had the sheriff who was virtue-signaling against the @NRA and against guns when he didn't even act properly. The armed officer outside… let my classmates die when he stood outside and waited." pic.twitter.com/yK9k9BJzUv

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 26, 2018

As a majority of the victims use their First Amendment right to push for liberal gun control policies, conservatives need to be smart when it comes to critiquing their viewpoints. Some political commentators have made mistakes when it comes to analyzing and picking apart these students’ arguments. Disgustingly, an outlet and individual who will not be named pushed a conspiracy theory that these students were “crisis actors.” Others on the pro-gun right are wording their disagreement in ways that shut down the discussion just as much as rhetoric about banning AR-15s and the NRA and Republicans having blood on their hands does. Some have wrongly called for the students to simply shut up.

Thankfully, others on the right are giving well-reasoned critiques. Below are just a few examples of conservatives and Second Amendment supporters effectively countering the media’s gun control narrative and countering points made by the students and the left.

This is the key point. If suffering conveys moral authority, then the kids who disagree with Hogg should of course have equal status and should have equal time. It’s painfully obvious that he’s so inspiring to adults in part because he’s saying what the media adults want to hear. https://t.co/2QlqzUDYut

— David French (@DavidAFrench) February 26, 2018

Hogg’s argument doesn’t make any sense at root. His view, stated on TV on Saturday, is that the cop shouldn’t have gone in because the shooter had an AR15. Now he blames Gov. Scott for the cop not going in. But if the cop shouldn’t have gone in, what’s there to blame Scott for?

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018

I think we should listen to everybody. What we shouldn’t do is inoculate certain people against pushback, or decline to respond when we disagree. He’s wrong, and he’s been wrong frequently in the last few days. That should be noted. https://t.co/gGYhqKXMpv

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 26, 2018

This is immoral. What you’ve been through does not give you the high ground to falsely attribute impure motives to those who disagree. https://t.co/KLu1aCIqEj

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 25, 2018

So, the new hotness is to defend the Sheriff’s deputies who sat by and listened as kids were shot in order to continue the grossly misplaced attack on the NRA. Okay. https://t.co/GCcpm1jxXi

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 26, 2018

Angrier with the NRA than the armed professional who deliberately shirked his duty while a sicko shot up a school. Interesting. https://t.co/PoRZuAwZQF

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 25, 2018

The Washington Post is reporting the March for Our Lives organizers are planning to bring AR-15s into DC in order to destroy them but possession of AR-15s is illegal in DC so I don't see how that would be possible. pic.twitter.com/FBawe1NafR

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) February 23, 2018

The irresponsible adults around @cameron_kasky who allowed him to go on national television and compare @MarcoRubio to a mass killer should be ashamed of themselves, and the adults at @CNN who allowed it should be fired.

— Dr. Michael Knowles, BA (@michaeljknowles) February 22, 2018

Facts will always win out.

As students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas return to school this week, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be going back to a productive learning environment. All of them will be experiencing various emotions. Many will be talking to counselors, others will be sharing their memories about students who have passed away, and others will be discussing their fellow students’ newfound nationwide notoriety. The hope is that despite their political differences, these students will return to a school that will be free of political conflict. But it appears that wish may not become a reality as students are already pushing back against one another’s comments.

Please be fake news. https://t.co/wwQtSXvJck

— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) February 26, 2018

The way the media has covered this horrific tragedy has done more harm than good. Unlike previous mass shootings, the attack in Parkland, Florida is not fading from memory, as it shouldn’t. But this national discussion should be truly open and unite the American people rather than deepening the existing divide between us.