When I walked into school the Monday after the Grammy Awards, I had a conversation with my friends about the outcome of the show. I expressed my frustration that neither Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” or Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” won Album of the Year. Yet I was hesitant to share this opinion with others for fear of backlash because of the amount of debate surrounding the category.  

This feeling, known as cancel culture, is defined as the removal of support for an individual or organization due to an action or an opinion that the party that is “canceling” them deems wrong or offensive, or simply choosing not to express an idea out of fear of being canceled. 

Cancel culture has become a toxic force fueled by social media and anonymity that prioritizes public shaming over valuable dialogue, as well as promoting a mob mentality. It began as a way to hold figures accountable and educate people about their actions but has shifted into a way to find any incriminating detail (opinion or action) and aggressively exploit it without the willingness to forgive, as well as suppressing honest debate. 

Cancel culture is nothing new. It has been rooted in society for hundreds of years. Today, cancel culture can be seen in pretty much every fabric of culture. From politics and social media to educational institutions, journalism and daily conversations, it influences how people navigate their public and private lives, often shaping the way ideas are expressed and criticized.

A survey by the Cato Institute in 2020 found that 62% of Americans choose to “self-censor” their political views for fear of offending others or being canceled, and only those who identify as strongly liberal believe they can speak their mind. This number has risen 4 percentage points since 2017. 

Around the time of November’s election, I found myself, and the people around me, often tiptoeing around the topic of the election. I chose to only vaguely talk about it, rather than openly discussing the prominent issues surrounding the election to avoid possible tense and uncomfortable conversations. It became clear that many of us were more focused on avoiding discomfort and even the topic of the election entirely than engaging in meaningful discussion out of fear of being canceled or upsetting others.  

Pew Research Center found that 58% of American adults say that calling out others on social media is more likely to hold them accountable, but 38% say it’s more likely to punish people who don’t deserve it. Republicans are more partial to the latter: 56% of conservatives see it as a punishment versus the 75% of Democrats who see it as accountability. 

Cancel culture in the media has become a form of nitpicking and exaggeration. It’s no longer a form of education and a way to hold people accountable for their actions, but a way to shame people and potentially ruin careers. 

More specifically in a school environment, it has restricted the ability for differing opinions to be expressed, and it creates an environment where people are afraid to speak out. This consequently limits speech and meaningful conversation. Without differing opinions or ideas, how are we supposed to have honest conversations that challenge our perspective?