A teacher who posts videos of himself shirtless and doing TikTok dances says he has been placed on leave from his job because of his videos.
Christian Shearhod (@xiivn) posted a TikTok on Tuesday announcing that he was put on leave from work after posting a video of himself at a human resources office only a few hours before. Shearhod says that after “Karens” called his superiors and told them about his TikToks, he was put on leave and will not be able to say goodbye to his students.
Shearhod has amassed over 565,000 followers for his videos about teaching and his personal life. On Wednesday, his video about being put on leave had almost 320,000 views.
@xiivn #teachersoftiktok #fypシ ♬ Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) [2018 Remaster] – Kate Bush
The TikToker’s past videos address criticism of his videos. In a video posted on Sunday, Shearhod says he’s been told to not post shirtless videos of himself because he’s a teacher. The TikTok then shows Shearhod’s shirtless silhouette with the overlay text stating, “And?”
Shearhod said that his favorite videos to make are the ones that feature his students, and that he makes TikToks to “connect with his students and other teachers.”
Commenters on Shearhod’s videos had mixed reactions. Some were sympathetic toward his situation.
“As a fellow teacher, I am so sorry this happened. It was so uncalled for,” @whitneysummer commented. “People need to normalize teachers having an outside life!”
“YOU ARE AMAZING and all you do is spread love and positivity,” @edenthedoll wrote. “These schools should be encouraging and helping you not stopping you.”
“This angers me! I am a teacher too, and I definitely support your content!” @misshuweshangout commented. “Keep being true to you.”
Others indicated that Shearhod was wrong for what he posted on TikTok.
“We all saw this coming,” @wehead_instead wrote.
User @teachhistorycreatively urged Shearhod to “learn” from being put on work leave.
“You are great at what you do,” they commented. “I hope you find the perfect balance on how you use your social media for positivity.”
“They cant put you on leave without a good reason so im not saying you did something but it wasn’t without reason,” @j.enna444 wrote.
At the end of his video about being put on leave, Shearhod sent a message to his students.
“I know they’re awesome and they’re gonna do great things regardless,” the TikToker says. “It’s been a great year.”
Update, 4:30 CT, June 9: In a message to the Daily Dot, Shearhod said that teachers are expected to be “perfect” 24 hours a day, when they only get paid for 8.
“We, teachers, are people too,” he told the Daily Dot. “I think it’s incredibly important for the community and our students to see us that way too.”
He said he makes sure that none of his social media posts surpass a “PG13 standard,” and that he maintains “healthy boundaries” with his students.
Since posting about being put on leave from work, Shearhod says he’s received more than 50 job offers, and plans to work in a district near his home.
“I aim to inspire my students and I will continue to do so wherever I’m at,” Shearhod said.
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