This is the moment British schoolchildren were left gobsmacked after US students told them that they ‘all have guns’ back at home.
In the latest episode of Channel 4’s Class Apart: The Great US School Swap, pupils travelled more than 4,000 miles for an exchange programme between Elmgreen School in Lambeth, south London, and the southern US town of Mena.
The two groups of teenagers had previously barely set foot abroad – and were quick to notice stark differences between the multicultural comprehensive school in the UK’s capital, and the mainly white Christian high school in rural Arkansas.
During the experiment, the teens lived with each other’s families, hung out with each other’s friends and attended each other’s lessons.
School life in the US and in the UK immediately seemed different – with the US visitors shocked that they had to hand over their phones at the start of each day.
Meanwhile the UK students revelled in their newfound iPhone freedom during lessons, but struggled to pry their attention away from their screens long enough to listen to the teachers.
However, the most divisive issue for the students appeared to be the difference in gun laws – as in Arkansas, residents over the age of 21 may openly carry firearms without a permit.
The children at Elmgreen School were shocked when the visiting US students revealed that they ‘all have guns’ back home.
This is the moment British schoolchildren were left gobsmacked after US students told them that they ‘all have guns’ back at home
One student, Waylon (left), said that his family own around 20 guns, which they use to kill deer, squirrel and rabbits to eat.
One student, Waylon, said that his family own around 20 guns, which they use to kill deer, squirrel and rabbits to eat.
‘Have you guys seen guns before?’ one UK student asked their guests, while another asked, ‘Is it normal?’
Waylon was quick to respond: ‘I shot a raccoon before I came here! I have my 22 revolver, then I have rifles, I got a 270, I got a 243, I got a 4570, I got my muzzleloader. That’s all the ones I own. I have a shotgun. And my dad has a whole bunch more.’
Another student added: ‘I have guns back at my house’, while another said: ‘All of them do!’
Waylon said he’d also killed ‘monster deer’ and would eat any ‘game’.
Josh and Dylan, students at Elmgreen in Lambeth, couldn’t believe what they were hearing, telling cameras: ‘That’s crazy. After school, we would go shopping, and Waylon is hunting!
‘He gets the gun and shoots them. That was crazy when he told us.’
Back home, Waylon’s parents Justin and Stephanie admitted that ‘just about everyone’ has guns, and proudly boasted that Waylon had shot his first when he was just eight years old.
Waylon was unimpressed by London life, saying there were ‘too many people’ and that it’s ‘not the best’ after visiting Brixton market.
Cameras followed Waylon to his home back in Arkansas, where he showed off the weapons in his room
Josh and Dylan, students at Elmgreen in Lambeth, couldn’t believe what they were hearing and said it was ‘crazy’ Waylon had access to the weapons
Instead, he had a ‘bucket list’ of animals he wanted to shoot back home, and said he wanted to visit Canada with the intention of killing a moose.
Of his home back in Arkansas, he added: ‘If you’re 21, you can have a firearm on your belt and just walk around town.’
It was a sentiment shared with the teachers back at Mena High School, with principal Mr Maxwell stating: ‘We are a right to carry state, so some of our citizens do. There are people out there who can harm you, so we have firearms to protect ourselves.’
Mrs Labertew, another teacher at the school, added she was a ‘very firm believer’ in the right to carry guns.
But seeing the culture different was, for the UK students, ‘uncomfortable’ to witness.
One, Naomi, noted: ‘Guns are so normalised there. Even like kids have guns and they get them for presents’.
Meanwhile, Magda said the other students had proudly shown her photos of their guns.
Even Elmgreen teacher Mr Thomas described the laws in Arkansas as ‘a mess’. He added: ‘When you’ve got teenagers telling me they’ve got 20 guns at home, it’s too much.’
The principal of the school in Mena, Mr Maxwell, said Arkansas is a ‘right to carry state’
Other visiting students from the US said that their parents are owners of guns
In the show, students stated that Arkansas had not experienced a school shooting in the past 25 years.
But according to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, the southern state had the the eighth highest firearm death rate in the US in 2021, with nine mass shootings in 2023 alone.
In 2024 alone, there were 83 school shootings across the US, while four have been recorded so far in 2025, according to CNN.
Elsewhere in the episode, US students battled London tube strikes to get to school on time, and were perplexed when their phones were taken away before the day started.
They were also given their first taste of religious education and had never learned about Islam before – with students gushing that what they had learned was ‘super cool’.
Grace, who described her family back home as ‘very religious’, said she wasn’t allowed to swear, listen to bad music or even read Harry Potter – and was shocked when she could read Stephen King’s IT while visiting the UK school.
The teenager explained that certain books were banned in the USA, and hadn’t realised it wasn’t the same in the UK.
Last week, two Black British teenagers were left in shock after being subjected to horrific racism during a school trip to rural Arkansas as part of the new TV experiment.
Waylon was unimpressed by London life, saying there were ‘too many people’ and that it’s ‘not the best’ after visiting Brixton market
Dae-Jaun and Richae, both 14, joined other children in travelling more than 4,000 miles to the southern US city of Mena.
The region, which has been described as ‘very conservative’, came as quite a shock to the duo as most of the school’s population is white American.
During the trip, the students headed to an American football game in a bid to enjoy the local culture.
While watching the game, a girl from a neighbouring school called him the N-word.
‘I’m not from here so I don’t know what I was supposed to do or how I was supposed to react,’ he explained.
‘So I didn’t really say anything.’
Fellow Londoner Richae was also subjected to racial slurs in the hallways of Mena High School, where two boys said: ‘Tell that n**** to go home. We don’t want any n***** around here.’
‘I was a bit shocked,’ she revealed. ‘I was like, ‘I thought you lot were nice.’
Mr Thomas, the head of year at Elmgreen school said: ‘I have to be honest, the first few days I was nervous and worried, everyday leaving school and going,’ he admitted.
‘I remember the police followed me to school one morning and I was panicking.
‘The drive is about three minutes but that was a long three minutes that police car was behind me for. I was worried and I thought ‘This is it’.’
‘I’m fuming. Are people hiding it? This is a 14-year-old kid. It’s not the first time they’ve had racist comments and that’s the sad thing.
‘If we were at home that would be a different situation but we’re not at home and I feel like we have to be careful. America is known for some crazy things that happen at school with young people so I would not want to push it and make something crazy happen.’
The teacher reported the comments to Vice Principal Mrs Ashcraft and said they felt ‘a bit unsafe’.
Channel 4’s Class Apart: The Great US School Swap airs on Tuesdays at 8pm. The first two episodes are available to stream now.
