An Orlando teacher was placed on leave after parents discovered he would involve his students in several TikTok skits, which included white students bowing down to black students.
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A Howard Middle School teacher, Ethan Hooper, posted videos to his personal TikTok page. According to the New York Post, Hooper taught language at the school, and one of the videos shows several white students feeding, fanning, and bowing down to their black classmates in honor of Black History Month. Another video showed Hooper’s students criticizing Gov. Ron De Santis’ policies on books deemed unsuitable for children.
Hooper snatches several “banned” books from students as they read them in the video and announces that any books about race or black history have been removed from schools. Hooper was accused of forcing politics in the classroom and recruiting students to participate after parents saw the videos.
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After the video went viral on Twitter, several users had different opinions about the clip and expressed concerns about what students are learning in the classroom.
Another concern was Hooper posting his student’s identity on his personal page which many schools throughout the country prohibit. Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez said in a statement that she was appalled by the videos and called them “exploitative.”
“I am appalled at the behavior and judgment of the teacher who posted the inappropriate videos using his students as political props. This not free speech — it is the exploitation of our students for political purposes and it will not be tolerated in our school district.
Some parents have defended Hooper and said he’s dedicated to teaching their children and didn’t deserve to be punished for the videos. However, he could be terminated due to the nature of the video’s content.