Pennsylvania middle-school teacher-turned-GOP congressional candidate Neil Young has been at the forefront of a social-media scandal that enveloped his Chester County middle school, making national headlines this month. The New York Times first reported on July 6 that a quarter of the school’s faculty members were victims of online harassment conducted by students via TikTok. Fraudulent content circulated to hundreds of students’ TikTok pages depicted the teachers in various defamatory scenarios, including fake teacher accounts rife with pedophilia innuendo, racial memes, homophobia, and made-up sexual hookups among teachers.
Young, a veteran social studies teacher on sabbatical while running for Congress, is among the victims, having been depicted as being involved in a sexual situation with another teacher. He described the fraudulent picture that was circulated by students as “unacceptable.” Young is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which covers Chester County and part of Berks County.
Houlahan addressed the scandal on the House floor last Thursday, calling students’ actions “inappropriate” regardless of circumstance. However, she did not acknowledge that her GOP opponent was one of the teachers victimized by fraudulent TikTok posts — something Young was quick to capitalize on in his criticism of Houlahan’s handling of the scandal.
Young also took issue with the Great Valley School District’s response to the scandal, stating that they missed an opportunity to set a strong precedent against this type of behavior and make it clear that they would not accept such actions under the umbrella of free speech. He expressed concerns about government-mandated social media restrictions for children, but emphasized the importance of involving teachers in the decision-making process when creating such legislation.
The Great Valley School District may have been acting on advice from its solicitors that taking serious action against student perpetrators of the social media posts could lead to lawsuits regarding conduct outside the classroom. However, Young feels they missed the mark by not supporting their teachers and faculty. As a result, the community feels like they were in the dark, with parents and teachers feeling unsupported.
In order to prevent similar abuse in the future, Young suggests involving educators and parents in the process rather than leaving it solely to politicians. He believes that if legislation is going to exist addressing this issue, it should definitely have input from teachers.
