Teacher Fired over Viral Twerking Video Raises some Interesting Questions
A 24-year-old primary school teacher, identified by local press as Miss
Clarissa, was recently forced out of her job after a grainy video showing her twerking as part of a holiday dance competition in Cabo San Lucas went viral.
Miss Clarissa was employed as a teacher at the prestigious Cumbre del Noroeste Institute in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, when she decided to take a break in Cabo San Lucas. Encouraged by friends to join the light-hearted dance competition, Miss Clarissa obliged and ended up winning the £185 ($260) prize on offer. What she wasn't fully aware of, however, were the smartphone cameras capturing every moment of her seductive dance routine.
As Miss Clarissa soon discovered upon returning home, the video went viral. After viewers identified her as a teacher, she was bombarded with Facebook friend requests from unknown men and almost immediately summoned to a meeting with school head Leticia Valle and a lawyer. The pair strongly suggested that Miss Clarissa resign in order to "cool things down" after they apparently received numerous complaints from concerned parents. Faced with little choice the young woman relented, and left as quickly as possible. This account of events is somewhat contested by Adriana German, deputy director of the Cumbre del Noroeste Institute, who asserts that Miss Clarissa resigned over "personal reasons," but in the wake of the facts on offer this claim holds little merit.
Speaking to Mexican newspaper Reforma, where she identified herself as Carla, Miss Clarissa shared her views on the situation:
"It was a dance competition, something like this doesn't define me as a person, it was my free time and we're in the 21st century. It's not something to be afraid of, I'm not naked, I'm not having sex or taking drugs or disrespecting anyone."
Miss Clarissa was employed as a teacher at the prestigious Cumbre del Noroeste Institute in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, when she decided to take a break in Cabo San Lucas. Encouraged by friends to join the light-hearted dance competition, Miss Clarissa obliged and ended up winning the £185 ($260) prize on offer. What she wasn't fully aware of, however, were the smartphone cameras capturing every moment of her seductive dance routine.
As Miss Clarissa soon discovered upon returning home, the video went viral. After viewers identified her as a teacher, she was bombarded with Facebook friend requests from unknown men and almost immediately summoned to a meeting with school head Leticia Valle and a lawyer. The pair strongly suggested that Miss Clarissa resign in order to "cool things down" after they apparently received numerous complaints from concerned parents. Faced with little choice the young woman relented, and left as quickly as possible. This account of events is somewhat contested by Adriana German, deputy director of the Cumbre del Noroeste Institute, who asserts that Miss Clarissa resigned over "personal reasons," but in the wake of the facts on offer this claim holds little merit.
Speaking to Mexican newspaper Reforma, where she identified herself as Carla, Miss Clarissa shared her views on the situation:
"It was a dance competition, something like this doesn't define me as a person, it was my free time and we're in the 21st century. It's not something to be afraid of, I'm not naked, I'm not having sex or taking drugs or disrespecting anyone."
"Someone identified me a teacher as the video reached more
and more people and immediately related it to my work and published photos of
me with my pupils. They didn't give me any other option at my school than to
resign. I felt I was being attacked and put under pressure. I didn't know what
else to do apart from leave as quickly as I could."
The important thing to remember here is that Miss Clarissa was not in the classroom, nor were any children under her care at the time; she was on holiday, 400 miles away from the institute. By penalising her for this the school could be setting a dangerous precedent whereby teachers' social lives become non-existent, born out of fear of losing their career. This sentiment seems to be shared by many parents, as the school's decision has prompted severe backlash and a petition has begun to circulate calling for her reinstatement. The petition is accompanied by the following text:
"Parents of children at Cumbres Institute deny demanding her
resignation. We are angry at the way she was sacked, using a sexist pretext
when she was doing what everyone does on holiday which is dance in a bikini. The children she taught adored Miss Clarissa and were very
sad when they found out she wouldn't be taking class anymore."
So take a look at the video below and tell me, were the school correct to fire her for this admittedly raunchy dance? (Hint: The answer is no.)
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers.
Currently working as Editor of Social Songbird, he hopes to one day drop that
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Teacher Fired over Viral Twerking Video Raises some Interesting Questions
Reviewed by Unknown
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
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