Teacher in the eye of storm for being influencer

Beyazıt Şenbük – ISTANBUL

A teacher sharing his “happy moments” with his students on social media has instigated a fresh education debate, with people criticizing him by saying that one cannot be an influencer while teaching.

İhsan Kartoğlu, a school teacher in the eastern province of Kars, has some 480,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 60,000 on Twitter.

Amuzing his followers with photos and videos of him and his students, Kartoğlu defends what he is doing.

“I don’t have to do my job the same way as others do. All the parents of the students has allowed posting of those images,” he said. “There is a smear campaign against me. I do not earn money over violation of child rights.”

Following some complaints from a group of social media users, an administrative investigation was opened against Kartoğlu, following which the teacher received a disciplinary punishment.

“The posts I make on social media increase my communication with children,” Kartoğlu stated.

One of those opposing what he is doing is an academic from the Yüzüncü Yıl University’s Faculty of Education in the eastern province of Van.

“In one video, the teacher laughs at and ridicules a student’s Turkish accent while she is counting numbers,” Yusuf Kızıltaş said. “Besides, some malevolent people may use these videos against children.”

Reminding that Kartoğlu was a YouTuber before his teaching profession, Kızıltaş stated, “Some teachers run after fame by uploading posts which violates rights of children.”

Şahin Antaktalıoğlu, a lawyer expert on child rights, agreed with the academic.

“Images or videos of students should not be shared due to a notice of the Education Ministry.”