Teacher Sparks Controversy After Sharing Video Of Female Students Taking Down His Braids

Teacher Sparks Controversy After Sharing Video Of Female Students Taking Down His Braids

One teacher’s classroom actions have sparked a heated debate online.

Earlier this week an educator, who goes by the TikTok handle thilluminatin1, shared a video of some of his female students helping him unbraid his hair. In the clip, which has over 2 million views and almost 500,000 likes, the teacher says,

“Let’s go ahead and stir the pot a little…last Friday, 1o minutes before dismissal time, I decided to live stream my students helping me take my hair out. It was quite the discourse in the chat, which had people saying this was inappropriate and other people saying this was completely fine [and] there was nothing wrong with what I was doing, people were just making it weird.” 

@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

? Chopin Nocturne No.2 Op.9-2(1391533) – 314P

After explaining he had his students help because he needed to have the braids out before his hair appointment after school and the task didn’t pull away from their school work, he continues,

“If I was a female teacher [critics] wouldn’t be in the comments saying  ‘Oh, this is weird, this is inappropriate.’ ‘Cause me personally, I don’t think there’s anything weird about this. People are saying ‘Oh, that’s too intimate.’ To me, it’s literally just hair.” 

He also notes that he has a great relationship with his students and most of their parents follow him on social media. However, despite his commentary on the 4-minute and 24-second video, the public still seems to be torn over the hair moment.

One person wrote in the comment section,

“I see nothing wrong. Some of them may not have a father figure or big brother at home, so keep it up. Be there for them.”

Another person expressed similar sentiments with,

“A safe space is important. It takes a village.”

However, as with all content shared online, the teacher couldn’t stop the video from landing on the side of the internet filled with people who disagreed with what occurred. Over on X, formerly known as Twitter, someone wrote,

“I don’t care how much I love a teacher, why would I want to be rewarded by taking his hair down? I wouldn’t even want to put my hands in his hair, idk this is weird”

Another added to the conversation,

“Stop recording things and posting them on social media. This is the reason why y’all get caught up doing things that aren’t even negative because people on social media are going to take things and blow them out of perspective, especially as a teacher.”

While there are rumors the teacher was penalized by the administration for the situation, nothing has been confirmed. It’s also important to note that he has since shared more videos of himself with his students, which could prove that all is well on his end. In a separate TikTok responding to those who questioned if he’d allow his child to take a teacher’s braids down, he says

“If I had a daughter, with a good heart like myself, good spirit, sound mind, no, I would not mind if [she] took his hair [down.]”

@thilluminatin1

Replying to @Richie ??? let me know if you made it through this whole clip ?? #teacher #teachers #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teacherproblems #middleschool #millenialsoftiktok

? original sound – JaQ Lee

See more of what people had to say below:

What are your thoughts on this entire situation? Do you think taking a teacher’s braids down is inappropriate? Tell us in the comments below!