Tech

TikTok ‘Slap a Teacher’ Trend Prompts Connecticut Attorney General to Intervene

BAD KIDS

The challenge has seen teachers from Missouri to South Carolina get slapped by students.

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Loic Venance/AFP via Getty

TikTok trends have grown so serious that now even state attorney generals have gotten involved. Connecticut State Attorney General William Tong urged the company to “control the spread” of its teen-targeted challenges after its most recent one urged teens to slap their teachers. The plea came after teachers in South Carolina and Missouri reported being slapped by students in various locations, including behind the head, per The Washington Post. An earlier trend dubbed the “devious licks” challenge inspired students to steal anything from pens to toilets from their schools. “In CT, vandalism closed schools and the new ‘Slap a Teacher’ challenge may put educators at risk,” Tong tweeted Monday, publishing a letter he sent to TikTok. “I am urging TikTok to come to CT to meet with educators and parents and commit to reforms that stop this reckless content.”

The company said that it would work to remove any teacher-slapping content from its platform, but that it has “not found related content on our platform, and most people appear to be learning about the offline dare from sources other than TikTok.”

Read it at The Washington Post