Teachers Union Urges TikTok, Facebook, Other Big Tech to Stop Spread of Viral Challenges

The letter points to challenges and threats faced by educators, students and families at the start of the current academic year, when many students are returning to the classroom for the first time in more than a year and a half. 

A viral TikTok challenge last month involved students vandalizing or stealing from school bathrooms. Educators now warn of a potential new challenge that dares students to slap teachers. 

Simultaneously, opposition over safety protocols such as mask-wearing and Covid-19 vaccine mandates and over critical race theory have sometimes spurred vitriol against school leaders, prompting a group representing school boards to seek federal assistance in managing an influx of harassment and acts of intimidation toward board members, educators and students.

“Online ‘trends’ and false information that have spread like wildfire throughout social media platforms–from stealing school property and hitting school staff, to conspiracy theories on curriculum and coronavirus protocols–have helped create a culture of fear and violence with educators as targets,” Ms. Pringle wrote, according to a copy of the letter.

“Educators are still working through a pandemic after two years,” she said in the letter. “We’re all exhausted, stressed and stretched so thin it feels like we’ll crumble — and now we’re facing  growing violence fueled by corporations with no oversight and no accountability to the communities they harm.”

Representatives for  TikTok, Facebook and Instagram didn’t respond to a request for comment on the NEA’s letter. A Twitter representative said the company received the letter and plans to respond.

The letter follows public scrutiny in recent weeks on how Facebook handles its platforms. A set of internal documents, which formed the foundation of The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files series, exposed research showing how harmful its social media platforms can be, particularly for teenagers. Facebook has faced a questions from the public, lawmakers from both parties, and others over how its platforms operate and what effects they have on users and society at large. 

Educators say the viral challenges and level of anger they face over Covid-19 mandates have been compounded by the difficulties of a third pandemic school year. Many of the nation’s more than 13,000 school districts that were closed for in-person learning for most of the past year have now reopened.

Some educators say the return to routine has been a challenge for students, some of whom are catching up on schoolwork or emotionally impacted by the pandemic.

Recently, teachers unions and school officials sought to get ahead of a rumored “Slap a Teacher challenge,” as well as other alleged viral dares that could cause harm or damage to educators or schools. The origin of the “Slap a Teacher challenge” rumors isn’t known.

“The rumored ‘slap a teacher’ dare is an insult to educators everywhere,” TikTok wrote in a Twitter post. “And while this is not a trend on TikTok, if at any point it shows up, content will be removed.”

The effort follows a viral challenge last month called “devious licks,” where students stole items or vandalized school bathrooms. That challenge had gained popularity on TikTok, and, in mid-September, the company said it had removed the content and any related hashtags or search results.

Police in Covington, La., said Thursday they arrested an 18-year-old high school student after she allegedly punched a 64-year-old teacher who is disabled. The Covington Police Department said the incident, which was recorded on video, may have been influenced by the rumored viral challenge. 

Earlier this month, Lancaster County School District in South Carolina said an elementary school student hit a teacher in the back of the head. The district suggested in a note to parents published on its Facebook page that the incident might have been related to the challenge. 

Teachers unions in Connecticut, California, South Carolina and Florida have recently warned about the harm and consequences of the potential challenges. Many of the unions say they are unaware of incidents involving students striking their teachers but hoped to get ahead of any potential violence.

The National Education Association letter also said misinformation shared on social media platforms has informed “a small but violent group of radicalized adults who falsely believe that graduate level courses about racism are being taught in K-12 public schools,” referencing the academic concept critical race theory.

The letter also cited recent harassment and acts of intimidation toward educators across the country over Covid-19 safety protocols. 

Earlier this week, in response to the request from the school boards group, Attorney General

Merrick Garland

directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation to work with law enforcement to address the uptick in threats.

Connecticut Attorney General

William Tong

said he met with TikTok representatives this week after he sent a letter to the company urging them to identify ways to prevent dangerous challenges from occurring on the platform.

A TikTok spokesperson declined to comment on the letter and wasn’t immediately available to comment on the meeting. 

In an interview, Mr. Tong said vandalism at a Connecticut high school inspired by the “devious licks” challenge led to more widespread chaos that prompted officials to temporarily close the school last month. 

He called social media a common thread in the extreme behavior or actions seen in schools or elsewhere in communities.

“The ‘devious licks’ challenge was bad enough and it is not a big leap to say there are probably more out there or coming,” Mr. Tong said.

Write to Jennifer Calfas at jennifer.calfas@wsj.com