Teacher Claims She Was Punished for Teaching Students About Constitutional Rights
Published June 6 2023, 3:41 p.m. ET
Many claim teaching is a fulfilling and rewarding profession, but unfortunately, that's far from the truth these days. If you haven't been following, the teacher shortage crisis is at a breaking point, and it's largely due to the abuse several educators were subjected to at the hands of their students on a daily basis.
However, administrators are just as at fault, according to TikTok user @soph4president. On March 21, 2023, the Texas teacher uploaded a video and claimed she was punished for teaching her third-grade students about their legal and constitutional rights. Keep scrolling to learn more about this outrageous situation.
A teacher claims she was punished for teaching her students about their constitutional rights.
In a text overlay of the viral video, which has amassed over 3.2 million views on TikTok, the OP wrote, "POV: you're a teacher in Texas." She started off by stating that she had a meeting with her administrator at school, noting that the higher-up soon pulled out a long list of concerns that she wanted to bring to the OP's attention.
With the list in the background, the OP pointed out her "favorite" concern: "We've noticed an intentional attempt in teaching your students about their legal and constitutional rights."
The OP offered a sarcastic grin before shoving her face toward the camera and saying, "That's the concern, they're concerned — why are you concerned? Why is that a concern? Why is that concerning?"
The same day, she posted a follow-up clip featuring a text overlay that reads, "In Texas, it's a crime to question the pledge of allegiance." In the two-and-a-half-minute video, the OP said that this particular concern "came about after they started to notice my third-grade students [were] sitting during the pledge of allegiance."
The OP disclosed that her students decided to do that "after learning during Holocaust Remembrance Week about propaganda and the Hitler youth, and why Hitler targeted young people — students and children in particular — to spread his ideology."
Naturally, the students became curious about where the pledge of allegiance came from; when they learned that the United States pushed it onto children following the Civil War as a way to bring the country together, the kids "decided amongst themselves" to protest the pledge of allegiance.
"My admin doesn't believe that they are staying seated for reasons that they can fully articulate and fully understand and is concerned that I am 'indoctrinating my students,'" the OP shared.
She concluded with an epic mic drop moment, stating, "I am just so grateful that I am finally getting acknowledged for all the hard work I have done this year to 'indoctrinate my students' into being critical thinkers and making decisions for themselves and not just because an authority tells them that they have to."
Many fellow TikTokers were equally upset with the administrator.
As expected, many fellow TikTokers (and teachers) took to the comments sections of both videos and said they were upset with the notion that teaching young students about their own rights is wrong.
"Former Texas teacher here. This is why I can't anymore," one person declared. "Also, leaving Texas this summer." A second TikToker wrote, "Unreal... just unreal to me. My sister left teaching due to similar reasons. Utter BS."
Another sarcastically commented, "How dare you give them knowledge and let them ask questions and be willing to do research with them so they can be their own people!"
"The idea that [the students] can understand pledging themselves to their country but not capable to choose not to is a terrifying line of logic to think about," a fourth said, and we couldn't agree more.
Others shared their appreciation for OP, stating that they wish there were more teachers like her in the world.
"I wish there were more teachers like you. Maybe our country wouldn't be such a mess. It's a tough, thankless job, but I appreciate YOU," a TikToker expressed. Another penned, "You're doing an amazing job [teaching] your students about their rights .... keep up the Great work as a teacher! Don't let them stop you!"
