A group of high school students in Pennsylvania created numerous fake TikTok accounts, posing as teachers with captions that show adults making inappropriate comments.
A group of eighth-graders in the Great Valley School District (GVSD) in Chester County created about 20 fake teacher TikTok accounts filled with pedophilic and homophobic comments, racist memes and rumors about sexual connections between employees. according to The New York Times, which first reported the fake profiles.
“I reiterate my disappointment and sadness that our students’ behavior has caused so much pressure on our team. Seeing GVSD so prominently in the news because of behavior like this is also disheartening,” said Daniel Goffredo, district superintendent.
A teacher at the school told the Times that seeing the bills was “very disheartening” and that she “can’t believe I still get up and do this every day.”
The outlet found a TikTok video of two high school students claiming that teachers were exaggerating the situation.
“Go ahead. Learn to play,” said one student about a teacher. “I’m 13 and you’re 40 and almost 50.”
The district suspended several students but emphasized in its statement that there is not much more administrators can do.
“While it may be easy to react in a way that suggests students should have been more disciplined in school, some, but not all, of their behavior is protected by the right to freedom of speech and expression,” Goffredo said.
“After consulting with our legal counsel, and based on each unique post, the district enacted as much discipline as it could, communicated with families and implemented measures in an effort to prevent future behavior like this,” he added.
The problem adds a new layer to schools that are beginning to address AI bullying in schools and deeply fake photos and videos of students and teachers.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
