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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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It is common etiquette to give teachers a card and maybe even a small gift at the end of the school year, but one teacher hit the jackpot with the new artwork she received from one pupil.
Substitute teacher Alexis Lowe, 21, said in a hilarious TikTok video (@lexincats) that one of her students took it very personally when she didn't let him play basketball in the halls, and he made his feelings known. The middle school student grabbed a piece of paper and wrote: "Ms. Low is a b****" and delivered the handwritten letter to her by hand.
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Lowe told Newsweek that, as soon as she unraveled the note, she "tried so hard not to laugh" in front of the misbehaving pupil. It certainly wasn't the end-of-term gift she was expecting, but she is happy to take it.
The clip of Lowe's unique gift was shared in a TikTok video on May 28, and it has already gained almost 3 million views and over 462,000 likes.
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"I didn't allow a middle school student to play basketball in the hall above other classrooms," Lowe said. "So, later during the class period, he walked up to me with a folded piece of paper and stood there and watched me open it.
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"He mainly did it because he thought it was funny, and then I had to have a discussion with the student after," Lowe added.
It is no secret that teachers face many difficulties each day, whether it is a lack of work life balance, or wanting more sufficient salaries. However, it can be just as challenging inside the classroom. A 2023 survey of 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers by the Pew Research Center revealed that 21 percent of teachers have faced disrespect from students. This was more common in elementary and middle schools rather than high schools.
Results highlighted that 68 percent have experienced verbal abuse from students, and 21 percent said this happened multiple times a month.
Other issues that teachers regularly face include pupils showing little or no interest, cited by 47 percent, and being distracted by cellphones, 33 percent of teachers.
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Fortunately, Lowe can certainly see the humor in the situation, as she said that she loves "admiring [her] new fridge artwork that a student made." However, that isn't where it is going to stay forever, as she already has big plans for where this handwritten masterpiece will go.
"I intend to frame it and hang it up in my future classroom," Lowe added.
Most of the time, she shares videos of her adorable cats on social media, but after seeing this surprise from her pupil, she couldn't resist posting it on TikTok. She thought it might generate some laughter, but she didn't expect it to go viral and attract so much attention online.
"I wasn't expecting that to get so many views on TikTok. A lot of the comments are people agreeing with the student. I don't have time to look at all those comments, but when I do, they make me laugh, just like the note from the student does," Lowe told Newsweek.
With over 2,400 comments on the viral TikTok video already, many people lauded the student's sheer audacity, while it resonated with fellow teachers who have also put up with some wild remarks and gifts from their own students.
One comment reads: "Did the student just hand you this? I would have made corrections, graded it and given it back."
Another person responded: "If you don't have at least one you're not doing your job. My friend has an entire album of these over her 20 years of teach so far."
A third person commented: "It's wonderful you're encouraging your students to share their feelings."
Do you have any funny viral videos that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.
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