TikTok Campaigns Prompt Students to Vandalism and Violence: Educator
TikTok challenges have incited acts of vandalism throughout Georgia schools, with some teachers worrying that a recent "slap-a-teacher" challenge will make violence the next step.
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Already dealing with reacclimating students to classrooms this fall, Georgia schools are now being forced to confront social media posts daring children to destroy school property and even hit teachers, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Fulton County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney recently told his school board that he has stepped up security after a social media platform hosted calls for vandalism and assault in schools starting in September.
Cherokee County had to discipline students after bathroom soap, toilet paper dispensers, ceiling tiles and teachers’ classroom supplies were stolen, according to a spokeswoman, with two cases producing misdemeanor juvenile charges of criminal trespass. In neighboring Forsyth County schools, families were charged up to $500 in restitution after students acted on TikTok challenges at the majority of the middle and high schools. U.S. law does not treat internet service providers as the publishers or speakers of the content they host, so they are not civilly liable, said Thomas Kadri, an assistant professor of law at the University of Georgia. Beverly Rice, who teaches at Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School in Atlanta, worries about the potential for escalation with the October challenge to “slap a teacher.” Another Atlanta teacher said social media is merely stoking a pre-existing problem. She estimated that one or two teachers have been assaulted by students at her school each year. China-based TikTok said in that report that it is removing content that promotes or enables criminal activity.
