The reputation of teacher JaQ Lee was destroyed in May 2024 after a video showing him interacting with students went viral. The video showed his female middle school students undoing his hair.
Lee would usually make videos of himself at the school where he worked and upload them on TikTok. A number of these had him playing dart games with pupils or just making videos while seated in front of his class. Nevertheless, a TikTok livestream quickly attracted unwanted attention from the middle schoolteacher’s channel.
On Friday, May 3, 2024, Lee posted a video clip from his livestream. The TikTok video lasted for four minutes and twenty-four seconds and featured four of his female students undoing his hair in the last few minutes of the class.
Lee told us that he had a hair appointment “right after school” and could not let it down before that. He informed us that there was a crew on campus that day shooting a promotional video for the school, which meant he would have to be “presentable” if he wanted to wait until later to take out his hair.
When finally Lee found time to put it down after doing a promotional video, he said he couldn’t remove the braids himself. In return, he would give them a chance to leave class 10 minutes before the final bell if they helped him take his hair out.
However, Lee argued that he did not think it was wrong to ask students to unweave their hair, but this caused quite a backlash on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). On X, one user @TanelleIrene uploaded the clip and told black parents that she wanted their opinion. The tweet went viral and according to another TikTok from Lee himself, the middle school fired him because of that video.
Comments could either support Lee or be outraged and agree with the school’s decision of him fired. On Reddit, a science tutor commented “The guy is doing a live video on district time (he should be teaching, and the students should be learning or at least working independently). That alone would violate his contract and be grounds for termination or non-renewal. Additionally, recording students touches on numerous privacy issues and may also violate FERPA.”
Another teacher on Reddit added, “Our country nowadays has become so poisonous that we are questioning existing values established by our ancestors in America while smearing them with this wicked talk. We are the problem… In the past there have been many times when teachers could bond with their students like this; it is even seen in movies such as The Game Plan, Mr. Nanny, Daddy Daycare, Kindergarten Cop, etc. So why all the outrage NOW? We have evolved into a deranged society that only looks for the worst in people and uses its hate, bigotry and shaming to destroy those against whom it has prejudices. And thus we sow dragons.”
Some did not see any problem with him removing his braids but thought that filming and posting the act was inappropriate. “To post pictures or videos of other people online, you must ask for permission from the child’s parent before doing anything on the internet. You still need to be judicious in your sharing even when such consent is given. It would not be wise of an instructor to publish a clip of participating students on a networking site like Facebook as it demonstrates poor judgment,” said a Reddit user.
Lee then went on video after being let go from his job and read some of the messages his students sent him after they found out he had been fired. He cried while talking about how so many of them have been there for him, have supported him throughout the years and know who he is.
There were also those students who called Lee names like “bestie” and claimed that he helped them during depressing moments in their lives while teaching at the same middle school. Despite all the outrage, some commenters came out in support of Lee, stating that what he did was wrong but should not cost him his job.
“This isn’t fair,” one commenter wrote below the video. “We need more educators like you who truly care about their students. This is so heart-wrenching.”
Elizabeth Randolph, writing for Distractify, noted, “..for example as a person without kids and also I would have issues with Lee’s demand that his students unravel his braids. Some teachers at my school always acted like a refuge for me but they never asked me to groom them. On the other hand, JaQ is hurt by these charges and the termination of employment which makes me sad since his closest friends will no longer get to see him.”
Additionally in this case, while mentioning that it was on Friday and all his middle school students did well in their class projects, he said that he let them ‘have fun’. He let out his students earlier than usual; it was then that some of the classmates who had volunteered to help him with his hair started plaiting him. As far as these aiding students are concerned, there were those coming out from his class and others from different classes who also had good performance in their assignments hence given leisure time.
He wanted to know if such comments would be the same in case he was a girl and whether his contact with the female learners would also be termed as being “strange.” However, Lee insisted that there was nothing strange about letting students undo his braids despite the criticism. For him, it meant a chance to establish deeper connections with students beyond class.
Lee said, “I don’t think this is weird at all. I mean people are like ‘Oh that is too close’. It’s just a hair to me. There doesn’t need to be anything wrong or out of place here. Some have not had cool teachers before and you can tell. I strongly believe that effective teaching stems from building an authentic relationship with students. I ensure my learners understand and feel my concern for them beyond assignments and other requirements I impose on them. Because it matters, I spend time relating outside academics.”
According to Lee, many parents of these kids who follow him on social media know what was happening in the livestream video, while some others appreciate the unique bond he has built between their children and himself through his social media account The school administration also knows about his social media presence and “loves” everything he puts up there.
That being the case, and assuming that he had produced this video with prior knowledge of its content, he was let go because of this particular video going viral. It is a convoluted topic and I believe that if it were not caught on tape for people to make a judgement about, the teacher would still be employed. That does not mean it was right or wrong, but I also refrained from having any physical contact with my students as a teacher lest they be touched either through hugging or patting their backs even. We are living in a different world and I love Lee’s relationship with his students albeit he took an unawares move.