A substitute who was fired after sharing a TikTok video documenting “my daily life as a teacher” at a school in Mississippi says the incident stems from a mere “misunderstanding.”
As first reported by WREG, the video in question, which remained live as of this writing, detailed a “typical day” for the substitute and included a voiceover in which she referred to one of the students as “shorty.” While the report zeroed in on this aspect of the voiceover, the substitute teacher, who is also a content creator, has since said she was “automatically mischaracterized” by critics.
“Damn, shorty. … These school kids trying to take me down, man,” the voiceover says at one point. “Then I look so young so I look like one of them.”
Elsewhere in the video, a school official is heard telling the substitute “you look like a student.”
WREG says the video was taken at Mississippi’s Lake Cormorant High, a school that’s part of the DeSoto County Schools district. In a statement shared with the outlet, a DeSoto County Schools rep said that officials had “informed Kelly Services today that the person is no longer allowed to be a substitute teacher” for the district.
Complex has reached out to DeSoto County Schools reps for comment. This story may be updated.
In a follow-up video shared Wednesday, Oct. 22, the teacher argued that it’s “honestly so sad how sick the world is” while clarifying the nature of the video.
“As I explained to Lake Cormorant when I first arrived, this was my very first time subbing ever,” the content creator said. “I had absolutely no idea that I couldn’t record students or else I definitely wouldn’t have done it.”
Deeper into the video, she apologized and said she is “by far no predator or anything close to it,” calling such reactions “insane.” She also pointed to the “awful amount of hate” she says she’s received as inspiring her to speak out.
“They are shorties, they are young,” she said. “That absolutely means nothing with flirting. My terminology is much different from you guys. I said the kids were going to take me down as in a phrase of the kids all together. That absolutely did not mean anything sexual. That is sick to even think of that.”
According to the teacher, her status as a content creator meant she was viewed as “famous” by some of the students.
“They were all entourage-ing me at one time,” she added. “That’s what I meant.”