How Do Students Experience Cancel Culture?

When it started, the cancel culture phenomenon was popular in the realm of public figures and the media. It is now spread beyond that realm and found a place in educational institutions and the community. At the political and celebrity level, people call out public figures to disagree or challenge their statements or actions. What the public seeks is to grab their attention so that they can realize their mistake and correct it. These are public figures, and the citizens have a right to correct them. At institutions of learning, cancel culture is experienced at a different level.

What is cancel culture?

Cancel culture is a modern-day culture where someone is called out publicly to reprimand him. After calling them out, the rest of the people publicly refuse to interact with that person. It can be a refusal to talk to the person or socializing with them. The reason for distancing from them is because the person said or did an unacceptable thing. It can also be due to certain unethical behavior, personal disagreements, or due to lawlessness. It is important to understand how cancel culture impacts students in different ways. The magnitude of the impact depends on how the individual experienced cancel culture.

Culture has a significant effect on education, learning, and teaching approach. It defines student customs, values, and ideologies. Culture can affect how college students relate to each other and could negatively impact them. It is a deep-rooted issue, but its practice can be altered by writing attractive essay topics on culture. When a student wants to excel in writing academic assignments about culture, it is often important to read cancel culture essay examples. One of the places to get free cancel culture essays for students is the EduZaurus website. The essays about culture help a student get ideas on the kind of information they should look for to get writing inspiration.

How do students experience cancel culture?

Cancel culture is experienced at different levels in schools. The experiences depend on who is calling out, how they do it, and the reasons. There are no defined procedures for calling out people in schools. Many students have expressed concerns about their safety beyond cancel culture. The impact many times is negative and beyond measure.

Cancel culture in institutions of learning have varying dynamics that often cause stress to affected students. The level of brutality can be extreme, considering that schools have other negative issues to deal with, such as racism, sexual harassment, and gender issues.

Common cancel culture issues among students

Students do not make critical decisions that affect a country, like political figures. They don’t impact society as much as celebrities do. However, there are many cancel culture issues surrounding student life in college. Mainly, their issues revolve around spilling personal conflicts into the public within student communities.

Use of videos: A student can record a video of another student caught in a compromising situation. It can be in terms of relationships, wardrobe mistakes, or a messed presentation. The student would not want such situations to be known among the student community or otherwise. The student who records it intentionally shares it with friends in student social media groups. What follows next is humiliation by an entire student community.

Social media: Social media is a great tool when it comes to spreading cancel culture in schools. A student can be called out because they commented or did something negative. It can be due to racism or insensitive comments. The intention could be right, but the victim could suffer emotionally. This is why safety beyond cancel culture is very important.

Effects of cancel culture among students

Many students have told their stories about their experiences and how cancel culture can have devastating aftermath. The effects can be both positive and negative depending on the individual and how it is done against them. A student that is reprimanded about their racism or gender insensitive comments can see their mistake and correct it. Some make an apology and move on. More often, this is not the case for many students.

In December 2021, New Port Academy in Bethlehem, Connecticut, did a study on mental effects on teenagers due to cancel culture. The report noted cancellation done as public shaming is harsh and damaging. Teenagers are very sensitive to what their peers think about them because they are still maturing.

The thought of rejection and humiliation by their peers triggers anxiety in the teenager. Many teenagers distance themselves from the groups that canceled them. Their relationships get affected the rest of their time in college. There are a few circumstances where canceled students changed schools because they could not stand the humiliation.

What is the best way to deal with cancel culture in schools?

Cancel culture has positive impacts but what makes the difference is how it is done. A student who wants to humiliate another one because of a private issue needs to reconsider their action before sharing a video or post in public. A lot of students who cancel others do not seek to constructively criticize the person. Instead, they seek to direct a personal attack on the person.

It is best to approach the person directly and inform them about their behavior or action. The person would understand better, unlike when they suddenly see their name trending for all the wrong reasons. The origins of cancel culture are often well-intended but how it is delivered often goes to the extremes. The person suffers insults, disparaging, ridicule, and all sorts of humiliation.

Conclusion

Cancel culture was originally common in public figures and celebrities. They were reprimanded for their actions, words, or behavior. It soon found its roots in the institutions of education and has been misused overlay. Its intention should be to help the person realize their mistakes and change. Unfortunately, students often approach it wrongly, leaving the victims hurt and emotionally affected.