Online Harassment at Great Valley Middle School

In February, Patrice Motz, a veteran Spanish teacher at Great Valley Middle School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, was alerted by a colleague about a brewing issue. It was revealed that some eighth-grade students had created fake TikTok accounts impersonating teachers.

Although unfamiliar with TikTok, Ms. Motz decided to investigate by creating an account. She discovered a fake profile under the username @patrice.motz, containing a genuine photo of her at the beach with her husband and children. The fake post in Spanish asked a disturbing question insinuating pedophilia, to which the answer was falsely attributed as “Yes.”

Subsequently, approximately 20 educators, constituting a quarter of the school’s faculty, found themselves targeted by fake accounts featuring pedophilic insinuations, racist memes, homophobia, and fabricated sexual encounters among staff members. The fraudulent accounts garnered attention from hundreds of students who viewed, followed, or commented on them.

Following the incident, several students were briefly suspended by the school district, as reported by teachers. The school’s principal reprimanded the eighth-grade class during a lunch period for their involvement in the matter.

The repercussions of this online harassment have been particularly significant for teachers like Ms. Motz, who expressed feeling deeply hurt by the students’ callous behavior towards their families. Some teachers now fear that social media platforms are hindering the development of empathy among students. This has led to hesitation in addressing disruptive behavior in the classroom and has posed challenges to the teaching environment.