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Today’s Headlines Hold Teachable Moments for American Children

Adults are discussing some of the biggest headlines today and expressing shock, confusion and, in some cases, repulsion.
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December 18, 2024
Suspected shooter Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing Dec. 10, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Journalists write for adults. Find me a 12-year-old who reads The Washington Post daily and I will gently nudge her in the direction of a playground so she can still access childhood moments before she’s old enough to vote. 

The average American teenager consumes news from social media, especially TikTok. According to Pew Research, 63% of teens today report using TikTok, while four out of 10 adults under 30 receive their news from the platform. In case you’re wondering, 3% of Americans ages 65 and older regularly consume news from TikTok.

If you pay close attention, these statistics reveal more than just how American youth receive their news today; one must also wonder whether this affects how young Americans may be developing their values.

Adults are discussing some of the biggest headlines today and expressing shock, confusion and, in some cases, repulsion. But these headlines hold within them profoundly teachable moments that adult news consumers, especially parents and relatives, should discuss with young Americans who are old enough to understand, and to hopefully incorporate the meanings of such lessons in their own young lives. 

News of major events will almost always trickle down to children, and when they process such news to scan for big takeaways, they can either approach parents and caretakers or turn to the internet and social media. The latter is hardly a comforting thought. 

Here are some teachable moments for adults in America to discuss with younger generations (I recommend no younger than 12 years old), based on today’s most ubiquitous headlines:

Despite What the Internet Says, Never Glorify a Killer

I have a suspicion that older American adults are horrified by Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old app developer charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The average young American? Perhaps not so much. 

People have performed ballads for Mangione on TikTok. Others have dedicated playlists to him on Spotify. In New York City, there were Mangione look-alike contests. On social media, he was called “The Adjuster.” When his identity became known, his X account gained hundreds of thousands of followers and there were immediate hashtags of “Free Luigi.” Mangione merchandise is being sold on Amazon and Etsy. And now, a Mangione legal defense online fundraiser has raised tens of thousands of dollars. 

The fandom of an alleged killer who turned a wife into a widow and rendered two children fatherless (weeks before Christmas, at that) merits its own column. For now, I leave that to other writers, including the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal, who recently wrote, “It’s a dreadful sign of the times that Mr. Mangione is being celebrated in too many places as a worthy avenger instead of an (allegedly) deranged killer. But that is how our culture has degraded — egged on for political purposes or audience ratings by many who know better.”

For now, I am more interested in what the average young American, especially teens, will take away from this repulsive fandom. Parents and caretakers must sit down with older kids and ask them two questions regarding Luigi Mangione: What types of reactions are you seeing to Mangione on your phone or device, and how is he being described? And what do you think/do you agree with how many people are portraying him in a positive light? (Regardless of the answer, adults must unequivocally denounce this fandom and make it extremely clear that Mangione is not a hero, but a murderer. No excuses.)

Older kids are owed an honest discussion about the often-maddening state of healthcare in this country. But I hold passive parents who allow social media to form their kids’ burgeoning values about when and how murder is justifiable accountable for every single future Mangione, Ted Kaczynski and or any other “misunderstood” lunatic who may find glory on the mainstream internet after deciding he is going to violently liberate America from social and economic injustice.

For American Jews, it is especially worth noting that the deeply misguided values that are enabling some Americans to excuse Mangione’s evil act at best, or defend it at worst, are the same values that now make it acceptable for people to justify the murder of Jews and Israelis. Would we be surprised if someone wearing a “Free Luigi” tote bag or face mask (both available on Amazon) also sported a “Free Sinwar” T-shirt if the terrorist mastermind had been captured and held in an Israeli prison this year, instead of killed in Gaza?

The deeply misguided values that are enabling some Americans to excuse Mangione’s evil act at best, or defend it at worst, are the same values that now make it acceptable for people to justify the murder of Jews and Israelis.

Our country is currently facing a watershed moment of vital significance: Either the next generation of Americans processes the murder of Brian Thompson with the ambiguous messaging of “murder is okay if …” or it understands through a strictly binary lens that healthcare and the power of executives are complicated matters, but murder is not. 

The Highly Accomplished Time Bomb

Speaking of Mangione, young Americans should understand that he belonged to a well-to-do family that owns a country club, a conservative radio station, and more than a dozen home and assisted living facilities in Maryland. Mangione was valedictorian at his 2016 graduation from a prestigious all-boys prep school. He attended an Ivy League school (University of Pennsylvania), where he obtained both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science. 

Why would any of this matter to a teenager? It’s simple: More youth in this country need to understand that accomplishments do not equate emotional stability or mental health. America needs another murderous valedictorian from an affluent, power-wielding Baltimore family as much as it needs another teenage mass shooter from a struggling family in which parental supervision was lacking.

Fly High and Burn Fast

The life-saving lesson that accomplishments and power do not render someone a better or more well-adjusted person may also be found in last week’s bombshell news that Tal and Oren Alexander, two prominent real estate brokers, and their brother, have been arrested and charged with running a sex trafficking scheme since 2010. Of course, parents should decide whether to discuss this story at all with their older teenagers because it involves sex and rape. But it still holds invaluable lessons, especially for those in their 20s who are dreaming of success without leaving space for morality. 

The Alexanders and their brother Alon are being charged with baiting, drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women. According to federal prosecutors, they worked together and collaborated with other men “to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape dozens of victims” in cities such as New York and Miami. 

But I bet they posted great Instagram reels about their glamorous lives. 

According to CNN, “authorities say they used their wealth and status as elite brokers to lure women whom they promised travel, luxury rooms at high end hotels, and access to events.” The men used those events and trips to repeatedly rape women and, authorities said, they sometimes offered their victims travel or concert tickets after they assaulted them. 

Here is a teachable moment, especially for the young men and teenage boys in this country: Money and power are not endgames. Your well-curated social media presence doesn’t matter if you commit evil acts in your day-to-day life. Crimes will always catch up with you. Oh, and rape is immoral and evil, and you should never rape a person — period. You should also never rape someone, then offer them concert tickets. From where did these brothers form their values regarding money, power and women? 

For at least four decades, boys in this country have been led to believe that sex and champagne on private yachts or glamorous vacations, whether you’re a music mogul or a real estate developer, is a dream to be chased relentlessly and at the exclusion of all ethical behavior. How much more potent is the dream of that yacht or those fabulous vacations today, when everything is photographed for validation on social media?

Is Bashar al-Assad a Type of Middle Eastern Cheese?

And finally, as part of an honest discussion of the world’s top headlines and teachable moments, it might be good to help younger Americans identify Syria on a map. Or to help them learn that all power is fragile, even that of dictators, and more importantly, that the fall of one evil actor is never the guarantee of the arrival of a better one. 

I also hope more young Americans who take even a few minutes to learn about Syria today understand that the safety of Americans and American troops should always remain the priority of this country in dealing with foreign turmoil. Perhaps that will ensure that future generations of American leaders actually take the issue of American hostages abroad more seriously. But for now, whether they watch a TikTok video or speak to a parent, I will be content if even a quarter of teens in this country know on which continent Syria is even located.


Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael.

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