Cleveland news station Channel 3 (WKYC) posted and later removed from their website controversial footage of Nick Vujicic’s assembly at Revere High School after members from the Revere community received it negatively.

Vujicic travels around the world speaking in front of thousands of people including high school students, spreading awareness of teen bullying and suicide. He is especially passionate about this subject since bullies targeted him because of his appearance for most of his childhood; he was born without all four limbs.

On October 8, Revere High School hosted one of Vujicic’s speeches and live-streamed the event to over 100,000 people. As Vujicic spoke out against bullying, he touched upon suicide, a growing issue among the teen victims of bullies. With the students, he shared his personal story about how he attempted to take his own life at the age of ten and then conducted a blind survey. Vujicic asked students to bow their heads and raise their right hands, opening their palms. He then proceeded to ask whether any of the students had thought about or attempted suicide. If the answer was “yes,” he asked the students to close their hands.

Before he conducted the survey, however, Vujicic took time to gain the trust of the Revere students and assure them that no cameras would be recording and that the camera used to live stream his speech would be pointed at him only. Unbeknownst to the students, a WKYC news camera was recording this survey, and they would later broadcast the footage on television and online, showing the faces and responses of some students. Channel 3 later removed the video from it website.

This raises the question: is it acceptable to broadcast minors in a personal moment such as this one when trying to raise awareness for an issue?

Monica Robins from Channel 3 news explained they were trying to show the importance of Vujicic’s message.

“We didn’t intend on showing any faces. The intent was to show that this is a huge issue and what [Vujicic] was trying to accomplish,” Robins said.

Robins also noted that the piece was approved and that there was no ill-intent when choosing to broadcast the video.

Revere principal Phil King, however, noted that Vujicic was very clear that he did not want the kids on camera during the survey. He expressed his disapproval of WKYC’s decision to share the footage and he also noted that Revere will have trouble trusting any news team in the future.

“We contacted Channel 3, and they removed [the video] understanding that we were very disappointed with their portrayal of students on [television] in that private situation,” King said.

Revere superintendent Matthew Montgomery explained that he was shocked when he discovered that Channel 3 had broadcasted the video. He noted that while he believes that the news station was trying to spread awareness, he disagrees with their use of the footage on television and the internet.

“While I was certainly glad Channel 3 attended the assembly to broadcast [Vujicic’s] message, I was alarmed when they showed several images from what was supposed to be an anonymous moment,” Montgomery said.

Nick Vujicic was unavailable for comment.

Students, minors especially, should not be broadcasted on television in a personal moment such as that, not because it is illegal, but because it is unethical. An emotional subject such as suicide should not be taken lightly. While it is very important to spread awareness on issues like this, it should be done carefully and ethically.

The showing of that video upset many students, and it should have – Vujicic promised them anonymity, a promise that he and his own cameras kept. If only the same could be said for Channel 3.