Blue-check Tom Watson wanted to give the Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz a (consensual) pat on the back for her excellent reporting on the woman behind the Libs of Tik Tok Twitter account. Lorenz, who was just crying a couple of weeks ago about the PTSD she suffers from online harassment, apparently wrote that the owner of the Libs of Tik Tok account boasts that several teachers have been fired as a result of their own words being amplified to a larger section of the public.
"Raichuk boasts that several teachers have been fired as a result of being featured on the account." Excellent reporting by @TaylorLorenz. https://t.co/PP5rIrwluX
— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) April 19, 2022
That’s not always true, though. For example, the middle school teacher who told students “I’m your parents now” and said “f**k them” if they don’t love and support you for who you are had already been placed on administrative leave when he was featured on Libs of Tik Tok, so in that case, the school had taken disciplinary action before the video had ever been reposted. So who’s to blame in that scenario? Shouldn’t “tech reporter” Lorenz track down school officials and interview them?
Anyway, the comments section probably didn’t look the way Watson thought it would.
They were fired for publicly admitting they are grooming kids.
— Jimni27 (@jimni27) April 19, 2022
I should hope it’s more than several
— Harry Morant (@HarryMorant2) April 19, 2022
FTFY: Several teachers have been fired for posting videos on their public social media bragging about having sexually explicit conversations with their students & talking about their gender issues to young kids. Journalists would prefer if these predators still worked with kids? https://t.co/kh3Yk0M2PN
— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) April 19, 2022
Don’t forget, too, in the case of the teacher telling kindergarteners through second graders that the doctor “makes a guess” at a newborn’s sex and is sometimes wrong, that the school took itself private after the video gained traction. A school that thought it had nothing to hide wouldn’t have done that.
So you believe that adults should be having sexually explicit conversations with children …got it.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 19, 2022
— TheRealMirCat (@TRMirCat) April 19, 2022
More like excellent work by @libsoftiktok
— justburt (@anonymou5e_1) April 19, 2022
No. They were fired for what they posted on social media – not because someone RT’d it.
— Kate Paul Dillon. (@KatePaulDillon) April 19, 2022
Teachers grooming children is what you're defending here. Just clarifying.
— Roshan Coelho (@roshancoelho1) April 19, 2022
My favorite is the one who asks how to get permission to talk to kids about sex without their parents knowing.
— CG (@CGbk113) April 19, 2022
What exactly was the fireable offense?
— Patrick Staunton (@PatrickinNOLA) April 19, 2022
They were fired for fireable offenses that they willfully did and posted.
— TJ Waggoner (@tjwaggoner) April 19, 2022
So you would prefer that these teachers, who were judged based on posts that they made to their public social media accounts, not be fired? Weird take Tom.
— Chris Flynn (@chris_flynn1) April 19, 2022
Is it really because they were featured on the account? Or is it because they were dumb enough to post their depravities on social media?
— Don’t Hassle Me, I’m Local (@FightUsers) April 19, 2022
Fired for grooming, groomers. Show the videos in question if your position is so strong.
— There Are Four Lights (@UtleyYATM) April 19, 2022
Good. They should act more appropriately and stop having conversations that aren’t for the classroom.
— BayouGuy (@PonchyJohn96) April 19, 2022
Ok… pic.twitter.com/5SQ19vLs3I
— Danny Archer (@spransch) April 19, 2022
Hey Tom, can I have your home address? I have a few questions for you. Since you think this if fine reporting, what about your kids? I have questions for them too.
— Brown Dog (@tractor_teacup) April 19, 2022
Jeeze Tom. Reread what you just posted. So did Libs of TikTok force the author of the post to post it? Would you rather the fired teacher still be working after commiting such an offense.
— MBarco436 (@mbloh436) April 19, 2022
Tell us why they got fired, Tom. Don't leave out the details.
— Nationalist Captain Jellico (@JellicoCaptain) April 19, 2022
As they should have been for violating their school policies and being stupid enough to post the violations online
— SoCo & Coke (@SoCo_Coke) April 19, 2022
Ratio pic.twitter.com/2d3ZoneSRJ
— Robert (@BpwackoRobert) April 19, 2022
Amazing that, in your mind, the villain in this story is not the adult grooming children, but the whistleblower.
— Stig is posting his L's again (@HesNotTheStig) April 19, 2022
Perhaps Watson would like to go through the @libsoftiktok timeline and defend some of the teachers who were featured. They certainly weren’t all fired. Which ones should have been?
Related:
School goes private after first-grade teacher tells kids that sometimes the doctor is wrong when he makes a guess as to baby’s sex https://t.co/tfSWoCfYNb
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 11, 2022
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