TikTok Challenge Daring Students To Slap Their Teachers Prompts Warning From The California Teachers Association
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — TikTok challenges are all the rage among young people these days, but the latest trend is so alarming that the California Teachers Association has issued a warning about it.
As if last month's "devious licks" challenge to vandalize public school restrooms and destroy school property wasn't enough, there is now reports that students are being challenged to slap their teachers and get it on video.
Reports of the challenge don't appear to have caught on widely, but the CTA says that there's been at least one incident in South Carolina.
"Slapping a teacher, regardless of whether it results in injury, is assault and battery and is completely unacceptable and illegal," CTA's statement said. "In addition to potentially serious harm to victims, a student perpetrator could face serious consequences, including expulsion or criminal prosecution."
The CTA acknowledges that such "challenges" are not sponsored or authorized by TikTok, but some parents believe that the social media giant should be held liable.
"It's absolutely TikTok's responsibility," parent Paula Russell said. "That's their platform. They are the ones feeding the children this information, they should be responsible for what they are feeding the children."
In a statement, TikTok said that the challenge is "an insult to educators everywhere." The company says the challenge is not currently trending on TikTok, but if such content does show up, it will be removed.
