There is a long-held stereotype that teenagers spend a lot of time online, uninterested in real life events.

People who say that clearly haven’t seen them on TikTok, where they are engaging in the unexpected: teaching history lessons.

Nadia Jaferey, a former staffer for Kirsten Gillibrand, drew attention to the phenomenon in October, when she tweeted out a thread of her favorite TikTok history re-enactments. She linked to several short videos where teenagers played out key points in history, with special effects and audio to boot.

I asked a history expert to watch the videos and comment: my old history teacher, Izzy Jones, who is now vice-principal at my old high school in London.

She is delighted to see teenagers use the platform this way. “The ones that I really liked were the ones on the international relations in the 20th century,” says Jones, adding: “I’d use some of those videos in class.”

She explains how the most powerful videos use human beings to personify world actors – such as countries – in major historical events.