We Need To Talk About The Newest TikTok Crime Spree Going On In Schools

Editor's Note: This is a part of YourTango's Opinion section where individual authors can provide varying perspectives for wide-ranging political, social, and personal commentary on issues.

Schools are no joke. I’ll go so far as to say that some prisons are safer than some schools — much to community chagrin. You don’t have to worry about the inmates coming in locked, loaded, and armed. Sadly, the same cannot be said of American schools.

School shootings are serious and alarmingly common. What most people aren’t aware of is that there’s a new type of crime hitting teachers. The crime in question? It’s accusations of sexual assaults that never happened. 

In recent years, a disturbing TikTok trend emerged surrounding students accusing teachers of sexual assault.

Students are now impersonating teachers on social media — and then using those fake profiles to frame them for hitting on minors. The teachers, in these cases, are innocent and often unaware of what their students are doing.

It doesn’t take much for these social media profiles to be made. Artificial Intelligence can impersonate people and make them say things they never said. Photos can be stolen. And from there, people can impersonate you as they see fit. For students, this may seem like a quick laugh or a way to get a teacher written up. For teachers, the implications of being victimized by this crime can be life-ruining.

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The most recent case of falsifying evidence in sexual assaults happened in Pennsylvania.

The New York Times reported that a group of middle school students were caught falsifying TikToks, Instagrams, and other profiles to make it appear like teachers were saying lewd, homophobic, and racist slurs.

The superintendent’s spokesperson told CNBC, "The District worked within the parameters of the law and our legal rights to enact discipline where we have been able. [They] also must protect the confidentiality of [their] students and are limited in the details we can provide about the specific discipline action taken.”

In other words, the students were not arrested and charged with a crime. The spokesperson also mentioned that the social media accounts were an expression of students’ “freedom of speech.” This is revolting. In a sane society, the students would be expelled.

Teachers are finding themselves targeted with their hands tied.

Administrators and parents are not protecting those teachers. Law enforcement is just treating this abhorrent behavior as "kids will be kids," despite it being a clear case of harassment.

So, on Reddit, teachers do what they can to protect one another: warn each other. A recent post even warned teachers against eating bananas at school because students may use a photo of them to create a false allegation against them. (If this seems outrageous to you, congratulations. You’re a normal human being who realizes that the working conditions of teachers are appalling.)

I can’t imagine the betrayal teachers feel when they read stories like this online. For many people, teaching is a calling. It’s something you want to do because you want to help people. You want to be the teacher who saves a kid’s life or helps them turn around their lives. You want to be that coach. It is a major slap in the face to find out that students are not only ungrateful but actively looking to ruin your life.

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These students also hurt their fellow students when they falsely accuse teachers.

This type of harassment also tends to make others not believe students who actually were assaulted by teachers. So, not only are they hurting teachers, but they’re also hurting students who were, in fact, assaulted by school staff. 

But, let’s just put that aside for a moment. Let’s hypothetically say there was no one single kid victimized by an adult at a school where this happens. OK, maybe the students aren’t victimized by having claims not believed.

Here’s where it also will likely hurt kids: those teachers might be an LGBTQIA+ student’s only ally. Those same teachers might be the only teacher who a minority student can connect to. Those same teachers might be the only ones who shield abused kids from their parents.

As a student, you don’t know which classmates need those teachers in their lives. I ought to know. One of the only reasons I didn’t drop out of high school was because of a teacher who understood what I was going through.

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Education is not a right; it’s a privilege.

If you harass your teachers, actively try to harm their reputations by falsifying information about them, or attack your teachers, you should not be in school. You don’t deserve an education if that’s how you choose to act.

Students are driving teachers to quit. They’re affecting their teachers’ health. They are also ruining reputations and causing serious depression in the very people who truly care about their futures.

Being a teacher is such a noble and selfless career option, but sadly, this latest school trend proves that it’s not only a thankless job but also a form of martyrdom that remains unappreciated. 

If you want to help children of the future, go teach abroad. Until parents and admins get the memo, the idea of working in a US school is little more than madness at this point.

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Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer on Medium, Substack, and more. She is also the founder of RaggedRiches, a personal finance site for people who don't fit the typical wealth mold.