TikTok teacher fired for showing students how to dance on social media platform

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A primary school teacher has been dismissed after she taught her pupils TikTok dances, an employment tribunal heard.Georgia Rogers found herself out of a job following an incident on the last day of term in July 2021.

It emerged that her year five class expressed a desire to show her a TikTok dance, which led to her participation.The tribunal heard that Rogers was terminated for violating the school's safeguarding procedures by not reporting the children's use of TikTok.

Employment Judge Victoria Butler described Miss Rogers as "undoubtedly a committed teacher who enjoyed her job" and noted her previously spotless disciplinary record.The teacher began her role at West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in September 2019.Upon her dismissal, Miss Rogers was reprimanded with the words: "The panel therefore felt this could be seen as condoning pupils to use a social media site that was not appropriate for 10 year olds.

Furthermore, despite knowing the students were using TikTok you did not raise this as a safeguarding concern, which you acknowledged you should have done." Further testimony revealed that on another occasion, when the pupils were denied permission to film a TikTok video by a different teacher, they protested, "Well Miss Rogers did", reports the Mirror.After the summer break, it was revealed that Miss Rogers had been engaging in "borderline unprofessional" communication with one of her students and the student's mother via Dojo, a digital platform utilised by the school.