There are all kinds of lectures that teachers give their students. Most of the time, it is the sort of talk that young people quickly tune out, since the material often feels dry, repetitive, or simply unrelatable. But for one California teacher, the lesson he gave was far from ordinary. It was rooted in a harsh, real-life tragedy that no student could ignore. Recently, Los Angeles examiners finally managed to identify the unknown female body that had been discovered inside the Tesla belonging to singer D4vd. Her name was revealed to be Celeste Rivas, a 13-year-old girl. Shockingly, she was not just a name in the news. She had once been a student in this very teacher’s classroom.
Normally, stories like this remain distant headlines that students barely pay attention to. But this teacher decided to do something different. He chose to bring Rivas’ story directly into his classroom, transforming it into a lesson his students would not soon forget. He told them, plainly and without sugarcoating, that Rivas had sat in the very same classroom they were sitting in now. He shared how she had gone missing a year earlier while he was still teaching her, and how her life spiraled after she met a Los Angeles rapper, likely D4vd, online and ran away from home.
Though she was found a month later and brought back to school, her return was short-lived. Not long after, she disappeared once again. According to the California teacher, the rapper D4vd, whom she had connected with, had first reached out to her through social media. And now, tragically, her body was discovered dismembered and hidden inside a Tesla.
The California teacher’s purpose in recounting this grim story was clear: to emphasize the real dangers of online interactions and to warn his students about the seriousness of internet safety. Many young people today underestimate the risks, assuming that things like grooming, predatory behavior, or manipulation only happen to “other people.” His point was that this is not some far-off cautionary tale. It was something that happened to someone who once sat just a few feet away from them.
While some might argue that using the death of a former student as teaching material is morbid, many internet users who heard about the lesson praised the teacher’s decision. They believed that presenting such a raw and personal example would make students take the message far more seriously than if it were just another generic warning. One commenter wrote, “Good teacher for setting an example. Play stupid games, hide behind your phone, and win really stupid prizes.”
Others, however, stressed the importance of balance in the lesson. They hoped the teacher would not frame the tragedy as purely the girl’s fault for running away, but would also highlight the role of grooming and manipulation. After all, Rivas was just 13 years old, an age where it is tragically easy for an adult to exploit a young person’s emotions.
One user put it this way: “I don’t have the full lesson context here, but I feel like talking about signs of grooming is also extremely important. Making this solely about social media safety comes across as vaguely victim-blame-y. Kids can make mistakes online, but when something bad happens, the responsibility always lies with the abuser, not the child. That said, we absolutely need more internet safety lessons in classrooms. Teachers should also help kids understand what grooming looks like and what they can do if someone in their life starts crossing boundaries.”
