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Catholic Schools Foundation

Friday, July 25, 2025Culture

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Let us hope that our example will remind young people that everyone is better than their worst moment and that we always have a choice in how we act and respond.

Michael
Reardon

Unless this is the first time you are engaging in any media since July 16, then you are aware of the now infamous "Kiss Cam" incident during the Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium. If you are not aware of this incident, consider yourself among the fortunate, and feel free to stop reading here and move to another article! For those of us who have watched a never-ending media circus, please do read on.
This incident has been used as an opportunity to judge, moralize, and mock. The memes, parodies, and updates have been relentless. I am not defending the actions, but as Jesus says in John 8:7, "He who is without sin ... let him be the first to throw a stone."
In this light, this moment is nothing more than watching in real time as lives are being ruined.
Having spent my entire career working in and around Catholic schools, it makes me wonder: What lessons does this incident teach our students? More importantly, what should they learn from this incident?
Let me be clear, this is not a defense nor judgement of the couple in the video nor is it a defense or judgement of the people who took to the internet to pile on, mock, and judge. Instead, this is a challenge for us all to think about the lesson to young people in this viral moment and what lesson we want them to take away from this incident.

One lesson for students is that there is no such thing as privacy in the digital world; that is merely an illusion. Anything captured on video, an online comment or post, an unfortunate picture, or anything done on a device such as a phone, tablet, or computer can be made public and is rarely ever truly deleted.
Another critical lesson is to think before acting and remember that behind every screen is a real person. Would you make these comments to the person if they sat across from you? Or are you emboldened by the anonymity behind the shield of a screen? Will students recognize the pain and suffering caused by this moment? Will they have empathy and remember that there is real pain for everyone directly involved in this incident?
With school out for the summer, adults in the community have a larger and more important influence in shaping the character and values of young people. How we respond to situations like this, and how we treat people in our daily lives, teaches them what is appropriate or not.
Trust me, if you have not seen them, some of the memes and parodies are creative and funny -- until you remember behind them are people suffering. There are families, co-workers, and investors whose lives were upended in less than five seconds. This moment will fade publicly but the pain and suffering for so many will continue, some for the rest of their lives. Young people must learn from our example and remember that we are called to love one another and remember that "He who is without sin ... let him be the first to throw a stone."
Let us hope that our example will remind young people that everyone is better than their worst moment and that we always have a choice in how we act and respond. Most of all, let us hope they remember that everyone deserves love, even in the face of mistakes and sin. If that is good enough for Jesus, seems it should be good enough for us.

- Michael B. Reardon is executive director of the Catholic Schools Foundation, www.CSFBoston.org.