Oklahoma school district defends foot and toe-sucking video, says 'students volunteered to participate'

A video that has been described as "highly disturbing" shows students at Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Oklahoma sucking and kissing on people's toes during a school fundraising event. The school has also defended the activity in a statement. 

In the video, students are seen lying on their bellies while profusely licking and slobbering on the toes of people sitting down in front of them. 

The incident occurred on Thursday at the school's Wonderful Week of Fundraising. Students were participating in games against other classes at an assembly called Clash of Classes which was to raise money for Not Your Average Joe Coffee, an organization that employs people with disabilities. 

Deer Creek School District released a statement defending the actions following backlash and explained that student participation was on a volunteer basis and that no faculty or staff members had participated in the toe-sucking event, per Fox 25.

In the statement, the Deer Creek School District said: "On Thursday, February 29, 2024, Deer Creek High School hosted an assembly called the Clash of Classes for students who paid to attend. During this assembly, ninth through twelfth grade students volunteered to participate in various student-organized class competitions, in the spirit of raising money for NYAJ." 

"All participants in the assembly were students who signed up for the game(s) they played ahead of time. No Deer Creek faculty or staff participated in any of the games during this Clash of Classes assembly. Many dedicated students gave generously of their personal time to achieve this momentous accomplishment, which will serve communities beyond the boundaries of Deer Creek," it continued. "We would like to thank all of the patrons, businesses and sponsors who contributed to the success of this year’s Wonderful Week of Fundraising." 

The statement was seemingly not good enough for many users on X who said that it was a sign of the US education system has gone off the rails and homeschooling is needed.

Students reportedly raised $152,830.38 for the organization during the week of fundraising. The school district said that students paid money to attend the assembly and signed up for the games ahead of time. 

The video of the toe-sucking incident has since gone viral on X and people are questioning how an event that has been described as "disturbing" was approved by the school. 

Some even referred to it as "child abuse."