Recent tensions between Iran and America stemming from Trump’s authorization of the killing of General Suleimani have caused Americans to turn their attention to what their futures might look like. Unsurprisingly, many teens and young adults have gone to social media platforms such as Twitter and Tik Tok to voice their concerns. From World War III memes about the draft and apology ‘letters’ to Iran distancing civilians from President Donald Trump, this coping mechanism has left viewers laughing but slightly uneasy.

Tik Tok user and Oakton High School senior, Bhadra Nair, commented that the “videos that once started out as harmless fun are actually legitimate issues that we shouldn’t be sugar coating”.

Considering America’s history of war and death it is concerning to some that people have become so desensitized to the idea of danger. Popular Tik Tok creators have made clips portrays them dancing on green screen battlegrounds and burning ‘draft letters’ to avoid going to war. Twitter users have seen the trending of #WorldWarIII and while these tweets also seem to have a more serious side, the same trend of joking about wartime persists.

While these posts have helped to lighten the mood about America’s current state of affairs there is concern that they could spread false information or take out the severity of the situation. To debunk the current information, World War III has not started yet and unless the government were to pass a new law reinstating the draft, there will be no draft. The situation has not yet progressed to a need to renounce American citizenship and flee the country and the popular Tik Tok creators and Twitter users are not experts on the situation.

While it is unlikely that this turns into World War III or that we bring the draft back, there are very real issues that we should not be ignoring. The situation in Iran has progressed and the tensions between our countries are very real and very serious. The memes are fun for now, but there is another side to the situation.