Showing off wealth on social media is obscene

Teacher turned Tiktok star Shabaz Ali on the dark side of social media and why all kids should have access to free school meals

We all love a good scroll on social media. But research repeatedly shows there’s a dark side to it, with usage linked to low self esteem, distorted body image expectations and more.

Secondary school teacher turned Tiktok star Shabaz Ali hoped to provide a reality check when he started posting to his social media. His funny videos poking fun at excess wealth went viral and he now has 1.6 million followers on Instagram and 1.9m on Tiktok.

Shabaz, 31, who lives in Blackburn and still teaches, was inspired by his pupils.

“I taught in a very low income area, and when I watched videos on social media of people boasting about their wealth I thought, this is crazy, there are people in school who can’t afford to buy new shoes or have lunch. This isn’t right.”

The way children absorbed online content also worried

Shabaz. “It was their perception and what they were seeing as normal. Unrealistic relationships, body, beauty and productivity expectations. The kids didn’t see it as a performance, they saw it as fact. It was worrying.

“I talked to the kids about it at lunchtime, trying to explain that social media isn’t real, that the videos they watch on there are performances. In the end I felt like the message needed to be wider than my classroom.”

Food is a topic Shabaz covers a lot, poking fun at and in some cases downright damning displays of over the top wealth.

“Food is a basic human right. You don’t need to have beauty products or the latest fashion, but food you certainly do need.

“So the idea that you need to eat a certain way is wild to me. The craziest things I’ve seen are someone spending £32,000 (€37.5k) on a pudding, £475 (€555) on a cheese toastie, and £10 (€11.70) on one strawberry. It’s obscene when there are people struggling.”

Stats show that poverty and deprivation is getting worse, with food insecurity twice as high as it was in 2021.

“I’ve been teaching for six years and both the amount of kids joining breakfast club and those not eating lunch has skyrocketed.

“Free school meals are great, but as a household you have to earn under €8,660 to access them, so not many households do.

“That means there’s a lot of parents out there who can’t afford to pay their bills, or buy food, and their kids still aren’t getting free school meals.

“At our school, teachers and staff bring in food and leave it in a box in a busy area where lots of people pass by. Children can pick something up when they’re hungry without it being a big deal or somebody noticing.in the morning it’s full to the brim with bread, milk, cans, everything. Every night it’s empty.

“I’m working with Save the Children to get new legislation passed, starting with trying to get people on universal credit to access free school meals. And I hope to work up from there.”there also needs to be more legislation around if something is edited on social media, says Shabaz.

“We’re not moving fast enough when it comes to policies that could protect us and our children.

“You have to declare if something is an advert, and I think you should have to declare if something has been edited too.

“It would help show kids what they’re seeing isn’t real.”

This month saw the release of Shabaz’s first book, I’m Rich, You’re Poor: How to Give Social Media a Reality Check.

“It’s not about bashing social media, which can be brilliant, especially when it comes to a sense of community. It’s not about tearing down the rich either. It’s about how people behave with what they have, and how we make people feel,” says

Shabaz.

“I want people to ask themselves, will this make others feel good? If not, why am I uploading it? And if you’re watching something that makes you feel bad, why? Put the phone down.

“Social media is a performance, in the same way reality TV is scripted entertainment.

“Once you know it’s not real it will reduce the impact it has on you, and you can pass that message down to your children.”

I try to tell kids that stuff on social media isn’t real – it’s a performance