A video of high school students protesting to get their principal fired racked up 1.5 million views on TikTok in less than 24 hours.
The video, posted by TikToker @toxiccpunkdee, shows clips from Monday’s protest at Kathleen High School in Lakeland, Florida, that led to the arrest of more than a dozen students.
The video shows crowds of students walking around the school’s campus, security guards, and even police.
The video ends with what appears to be the principal talking with two officers. The TikToker captioned the clip, “This man really leaving” and several cry-laughing emojis.
In the comment section, @toxiccpunkdee lists the reasons for demanding the firing of the principal, Daraford Jones.
“Since the new principal has been there we have been feeling like prisoners,” the TikToker wrote. “He locks the doors during school! Which makes us late for class.”
The TikToker added that a student was assaulted despite letting school authorities know that she had “a feeling it was gonna happen.”
Treatment inside the classroom is another issue for @toxiccpunkdee. “We also told him bout a teacher that would call students ‘ESE’ when asking for help & he did NOTHING,” the TikToker wrote. Exceptional Student Education is the Florida Department of Education’s program for students with disabilities.
The TikToker wrote that the principal has canceled school social activities due to COVID-19. But @toxiccpunkdee alleges that the principal “doesn’t wear his OWN MASK around school!”
The last reason @toxiccpunkdee lists alleges that the principal has an unsettling history. “This is the same principal that got fired from another high school for being accused of have ‘sexual relationships’ with a student,” the TikToker claimed.
According to WTVT, hundreds of students showed up, some before dawn, to oust the school’s new principal. Fifteen students were arrested during Monday’s protest.
One TikToker commented, “I ain’t never seen a school come together like this.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Kathleen High School and @toxiccpunkdee for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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