A teacher is going viral after letting some of his female students remove his braids. The middle school science teacher, who goes by JaQ Lee on TikTok, is facing heavy criticism after broadcasting a livestream of the girls preparing him for his upcoming hair appointment. While some critics said it’s inappropriate for the teacher to let the girls take out his braids, Lee told his TikTok followers that he was rewarding his “best friends” for showing good behavior in class.
Lee responded to the criticism in a video he posted after going viral. The teacher said it’s disappointing to see that people consider his interaction with the girls too intimate.
“We as a people have to abandon this idea of sexual intimacy being tied with getting your hair done,” the teacher said. “Y’all can see there’s nothing suggestive going on. It’s like family, it’s like community… this is simply a wholesome, innocent community-oriented activity.”
@thilluminatin1 Replying to @Richie 😮💨 let me know if you made it through this whole clip 🙏🏽 #teacher #teachers #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teacherproblems #middleschool #millenialsoftiktok
Lee also explained why he didn’t prepare his hair for his appointment the night before.
“That Friday, we had a camera crew coming in to shoot a promotional video, and I was one of the ones being interviewed,” he said. “I had to look presentable, so I had to take my hair out. I didn’t have the time to do it all myself.”
As he continued to defend himself, Lee called out the critics for hypocrisy.
“If I was a female teacher, those people wouldn’t be in the comments saying, ‘Oh, this is weird, this is inappropriate.’ Because me personally, I know think there isn’t anything weird about this. People are saying, ‘Oh, that’s too intimate.’ To me, it’s literally just hair,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be weird. Some people have never had cool teachers, and it shows.”
The main objective, Lee said, is to build a strong bond with his students.
“I take the time to get to know my students outside of academics because caring for the whole child is what’s important,” he said.
Amid the backlash, Lee also received praise for his teaching methods. Many of his followers wrote raving comments, saying the teacher didn’t do anything wrong and he deserves praise for showing real love to his students.
Lee added that he strives to be the type of teacher who will have a long-lasting impact on his students.
“What I strive to do as an educator is be the teacher I wish I had growing up,” he said. “I strive to be the teacher that makes my inner child happy, someone that my inner child will be proud of. I wanna be the teacher that my students reflect back on 20, 30 years down the line and think like, ‘Dang, that teacher I had in middle school, he was the s**t.”
What do you think of the clip?
@thilluminatin1 Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Teaching is a work of heart. Comment your thoughts #teacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherproblems #millenialsoftiktok #middleschool
