It’s been just over a year since he died. And while media pundits on both side of the aisle continue to debate the influence of the man, his death, and his legacy, I can tell you that children have turned it all into a meme. Because…of course they have.
Teen boys pass his name to each other like currency. They whisper it in the halls, in the classroom, to each other. They listen to songs about his death. They post his picture as the profile of their google classroom.
Girls do not do this. Girls are not immersed in the manosphere. In fact, the only time I’ve heard girls utter his name is when they’ve been in an argument with a boy about his legacy. This is not to say girls are not being influenced. It’s just simply a topic they rarely engage in.
However, girls and boys all saw the murder live on their phone. They saw it replayed time and time again as the algorithm pushed it to them. They watched pundits and news reporters and influencers scream into their screens. Children saw the blood. They saw the death, the gore, the carnage.
News is not like it used to be. When the terrorist attacks unfolded on September 11, we all sat with each other watching the TV as the towers tumbled down. We hugged our friends, called our families. We cried, but we cried together.
News has become more isolated. It’s pushed onto individual phones and watched alone. Especially amongst children. Imagine for a moment being 14 and processing the terror attacks on your own. That is what children are doing every day. But where we saw tumbling towers, they see brains and blood.
The days after the murder were bad at school. Tempers were hot. fights broke out. And, because kids are kids, no one quite understood the reason they were angry. No one could coherently describe their hatred. They simple felt and reacted.
Though, I suppose that was the same for adults as well.
Right wing influencers say that teachers are indoctrinating our children. That’s a lie. Everyday teachers deal with the aftermath of disasters streamed live for your viewing displeasure. How can a teacher do their job when 75% of their classroom watched a man get shot over and over and over again? It’s ridiculous to think that we ahve the time to have rational conversations about the legacy — good or bad — of the man. Because we are simply trying to deal with the trauma of a child who just watched a human die on their phone.
Teachers are not indoctrinating children. Social media is. And, if for one second you think “No, not my kid…” I’m here to tell you… yes… probably your kid. Even if your kid doesn’t have a phone, their friends do. They see it. They see it. They see it.
Teachers are not indoctrinating children. But you’re all too poloarized to hear us as we scream into a void. The children are not ok.
The. Children. Are. Not. Ok.
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