Why Some of Our Kids Just Shake Their Heads at Us Adults When It Comes To Digital Literacy - The Coldplay Concert Video!

CAVEAT - We’ve come across hundreds of posts made by adults, and even other digital literacy advocates, about the Coldplay concert video showing a CEO and his HR manager sharing an intimate moment, despite both being married to other people. Yes, the video raises valid concerns around infidelity, workplace power dynamics, professional ethics, and even consent and privacy issues. However,  we want to approach it from another angle, what message are we sending to youth and teens when adults publicly share and comment on this kind of content?

When it comes to digital literacy and internet safety, many parents, educators, and well-meaning adults love to preach values like kindness, consent, and integrity. We tell youth and teens to pause before they post, to consider how their words or actions might hurt someone else, and to get permission before sharing someone’s image online. We even remind them not to join the digital mob when someone is being publicly shamed or ridiculed.

These are good messages, and they matter!

However, here’s the issue, and it’s one our youth and teens recognize, even if we adults miss it. Many adults don’t follow the same digital advice they give. In fact, we often contribute to the very online behaviour we say is harmful. Take the current example of a viral video of a CEO and his HR manager in an intimate canoodling embrace at a Coldplay concert in the U.S. that was captured on a jumbotron and has gone viral both online and in legacy media offline.  

Through the internet, we have learned that both individuals are married to other people, but the provocative nature of the video has fuelled its rapid spread online. Since then, internet sleuths have dug into these two people’s personal lives, families, and coworkers, sharing that information publicly. Their faces have been splashed across mainstream media headlines, social media is flooded with moral breakdowns of the incident, and people are even selling meme-inspired “cheating CEO” merchandise based on what happened.

We get it, the video raises legitimate issues such as infidelity, power dynamics between a boss and an employee, and questions around workplace ethics. But there’s another side that often gets ignored in the rush to share and comment, that being the real collateral human impact on the families involved.

Behind that viral clip are spouses, children, and extended family members who are now caught in a storm they didn’t ask for. Kids might be facing whispers at school, the partners of these two concert goers are now dealing with public humiliation, and extended family members are fielding questions they can’t answer. What started as a “salacious video” for laughs, likes, and retweets, or even as a learning lesson for some, has now turned into something deeply painful for people who had nothing to do with the choices made by these two consenting adults in that moment.

It’s easy to justify sharing the video as a purity test by pointing to accountability or public interest, but if we’re serious about teaching empathy, respect, and digital responsibility to our youth and teens, we have to ask ourselves, “are we practicing those values ourselves?” When we amplify content like this, are we helping, or just adding to the harm?

Youth and teens are especially sharp when it comes to spotting hypocrisy. They’ve grown up in the onlife world. They know what digital citizenship looks like, even if they’re still learning how to practice it. So when they hear adults lecture about empathy, but then watch those same adults publicly mock two strangers at a Coldplay concert, post embarrassing content without consent, or pile on during an online controversy, they take note.

We tell youth and teens not to post something in anger, yet adults frequently rage-post on Facebook about politics, school boards, or other parents.

We tell youth and teens not to spread gossip or pile on when someone’s down, yet adults often fuel outrage online by sharing memes, comments, or articles meant to shame or humiliate.

We tell youth and teens to ask for permission before sharing a photo or video, yet how many adults post images of their kids, or someone else’s, without consent, all in the name of a laugh or a viral moment?

We adults need to take a hard look in the mirror.

The irony is glaring. We tell youth and teens to “be kind online,” then model cruelty, sarcasm, or passive-aggressive posts. We ask them to think about how someone else might feel, but forget to take our own advice when we post about a neighbour, a teacher, or two strangers at a Coldplay concert.

If empathy and integrity are values we want to pass on, then we have to live them out, especially in digital spaces. Youth and teens aren’t just listening to what we say. They’re watching what we do, and when there’s a gap between those two things, our credibility disappears.

Digital literacy isn’t just a youth or teen issue, it’s an everyone issue. It’s about modelling the kind of online behaviour we want our youth and teens to adopt. That means being thoughtful about what we share. It means calling out our own biases, and refusing to weaponize social media to score points, prove a grudge, or spread fear.

It also means recognizing the power of our platforms, no matter how small. A Facebook post, a TikTok rant, or a screenshot passed in a group chat can do real harm.

So when a youth or teen shrugs off a parent’s warning about online behaviour or ignores yet another “tech talk,” it’s worth asking ourselves some of these questions, “Have we given them a reason to trust us? Do we walk the talk, or are we simply holding them to a standard we don’t live by ourselves?”

Let’s stop assuming that digital literacy is something “we” teach and “they” learn. Instead, let’s treat it as a shared practice, something we all have to commit to, regardless of age.

Before you post:

• Ask yourself if you’d be okay with your child posting the same thing about someone else.

• Think about whether your comment adds value or just fuels outrage.

• Be honest, did you get consent to post that image or story?

• Are you lifting someone up or tearing someone down?

Our youth and teens are watching what we do both online and offline. The question is, “what are we teaching them through our example?”

If we want youth and teens to pause before they post, then we need to model that pause. If we want them to act with empathy online, then we need to start doing it ourselves. If we want to raise a generation that takes digital literacy seriously, then it has to begin at home. Otherwise, we can’t blame them for shaking their heads, tuning us out, and doing the same less than desirable things online as we do as adults!

Digital Food For Thought

The White Hatter

Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech