In the current political climate and with new cellphone bans, schools have tried to push social media and controversial topics to the sidelines, saying classes should focus on basic academics.
Kirk’s shooting upended all that.
Graphic footage of Kirk’s shooting on the Utah college campus was available almost immediately online, captured by cellphones from several angles.
They couldn’t escape the videos popping up on their social media feeds or being passed to them by friends and classmates.
Some teens posted warnings that urged people not to click on the Kirk videos, saying they wished the visuals had come with trigger warnings.
In the middle of class, a few students watched the video. Some took out their phones as they left school and found themselves repeatedly watching the videos. To discuss the horrifying news, a few educators halted their classes.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday at Utah Valley University, and the news, which was caught on camera in graphic detail, shocked classrooms all over the world almost immediately. Because Kirk was well-known to all teenagers, regardless of their political beliefs.
As soon as the students in Spanish Fork, Utah, high school classes heard about the shooting, they started to speculate about Kirk’s survival. Due to a cell phone ban, many students were unaware of Kirk’s fate until the last bell, delaying difficult class discussions until the following day.
“I was exhausted at the end of the day,” English teacher Andrew Apsley remarked. On Thursday, he spoke about the shooting with each of his four classes at Landmark High School, which is located roughly 15 miles south of UVU.
Schools have attempted to push social media and contentious issues to the sidelines in light of the current political climate and new cellphone bans, arguing that lessons should concentrate on fundamental academics. All that changed when Kirk was shot.
Nearly instantly, graphic video of Kirk’s shooting on the Utah college campus, which was recorded by cellphones from multiple perspectives, was made available online. Both slow motion and real-time speed videos capture Kirk being shot directly, with his body trembling and blood streaming from his neck. Finding the videos on X, TikTok, and Instagram was simple.
According to many teenagers, what they witnessed has traumatized them. They were unable to avoid the videos that kept showing up in their social media feeds or that friends and classmates shared with them. Some teenagers wrote cautions advising others not to click on the Kirk videos, expressing their wish that trigger warnings had been included.
A friend sent a graphic video of Kirk’s death to Apsley’s 19-year-old child. According to Apsley, the video was “pretty traumatic” for his autistic child, who struggles to process emotions. Apsley’s pupils used that incident as a teaching opportunity.
“We want to be first, I know that. As Apsley recalled telling his classes, “I know we want to be the one to share the information that other people rely on.”. However, not everyone is prepared to deal with something that violent and graphic. “.”.
Pupils worldwide tuned in, emphasizing the global nature of social media.
In a writing class at a Canadian college, Aidan Groves came across a Reddit headline stating that Kirk had been shot. Groves, a student at Calgary’s Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, said, “my heart sank, and I was immediately on edge,” even though he did not share Kirk’s political beliefs. As he swiftly skimmed through the comments, he was overcome with fear and horror. He still went out of his classroom to watch the video, though.
Although Groves, 19, grew up watching his father play violent video games, he was taken aback by the video’s urgency and the frenzied response of the audience. “Everyone in this crowd had just witnessed that,” he said, adding, “and I’ve never seen anybody die.”.
The shooting news had everyone preoccupied when Groves returned to class ten minutes later. Pupils distributed their phones. A few of his classmates showed surprise. Jokes were made by those who didn’t agree with Kirk’s opinions.
The professor continued his lesson in spite of everything.
Kirk’s social media presence introduced him to teenagers worldwide, regardless of whether they admired him or not. Kirk, a conservative activist and close friend of President Donald Trump, gained notoriety at speaking engagements on college campuses and online, particularly among young men, thanks to his astute use of social media to record his witty answers to liberal inquiries.
Although he didn’t share all of Kirk’s views, San Francisco teen Richie Trovao respected the activist’s “really stood on his beliefs.”. The 17-year-old Trovao had considered becoming politically active himself, but the assassination has made him reconsider. He fears that voicing his opinions could endanger him.
A friend messaged the senior in high school on Discord to inform them that Kirk had been shot. Since Trovao initially didn’t believe it, he went to X to make sure, and a video of Kirk’s death started playing automatically. He felt his stomach turn.
“I never imagined that someone who is essentially an influencer would experience something like that,” Trovao remarked. Particularly startling were some remarks on social media that appeared to rejoice over Kirk’s passing.
According to Prakhar Vatsa, a senior at a Connecticut high school, the video’s reaction has brought attention to the political polarization and divide that exist among American youth. Following Kirk’s passing, that was the primary subject of conversation among his AP Government classmates.
Vatsa, 17, who grew up in a time when violent imagery was readily available, claimed that being less sensitive to gore, he wasn’t particularly impacted when he came across the video while browsing social media.
He claimed, “I’ve seen worse, but it was a little traumatizing.”
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