Common Core State Standard L.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: Video of a current news event is presented for discussion to encourage student participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the video. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.
09/15/2025
‘Social media is a cancer,’ says Utah governor
After gruesome video of the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk spread across the internet last week, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called social media “a cancer on our society right now.” He said we as human beings are not “capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” and he encouraged us to “log off, turn off, touch grass.” The Republican governor also asked whether political foes would “escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” He called that “a choice that everyone gets to make.”
■Class discussion: Are extremely graphic, violent images on our computer and cell phone screens harming us mentally and morally? Can exposure to violence in movies and video games make us more likely to become violent or fantasize about it? How much real-life violence have you seen online? Does social media programming highlight violence to keep us online? Does it encourage political divisions? Cox praised efforts to “find our better angels” in politics. How did other politicians react? Could you “log off, turn off, touch grass?”
