Teresa says there is a time and a place to joke around but in a classroom environment where it completely uproots the work a teacher has put in to engage students, it’s too much.
She goes on to say that mewing is part of a larger problem so many teachers are grappling with these days which is that kids don’t take anything seriously.
“No one in a work environment should be able to respond to someone who is sincerely trying to engage them in a conversation with a silent gesture,” she says. “It’s smug, it’s rude.”
Other Teachers Weigh in on Mewing Trend
Fellow TikTok teacher Phillip Lindsay shared a similar video on his TikTok explaining the trend and sharing a different experience with mewing.
“When somebody comes up and asks you a question — particularly if it’s the teacher or a parent — and you don’t want to answer the question, you hit them with the (mewing) …” Phillip said in a video. “Which simply means, ‘I can’t answer your question right now. I’m mewing. I’m working on my jawline.'”
@mr_lindsay_sped Replying to @Ohmygoodness Don’t let them hit you with the 🤫🤫🤫! 😂 This one is called #mewing and thisnis what it is! #genalpha #slang #genz #middleschoolslang #teach #teachersoftiktok #teacherfyp #highschoolteacher #middleschoolteacher #mewing ♬ original sound – Mr. Lindsay
The special education math teacher from Payson, Arizona says kids, especially teenage boys, find “a particular joy” in mewing when they don’t want to answer a question at home or in school.
“I haven’t run into one kid who has used mewing seriously … (although) some teachers talk about how disrespectful it is,” Phillip told TODAY.com. “That’s one opinion — and mewing has that tone — but it’s more of a ‘Let’s see if we can get a laugh out of this’ (move).”
He says students don’t actually believe that mewing will excuse them from answering questions, a struggle Teresa was having in her classroom.
Ultimately, Phillip hopes sharing the trend helps teachers and parents know what mewing is as a way to help them combat it at school or at home.
