Viral footage of teachers making a “dash for cash” in a South Dakota hockey stadium, with the money used to fund classroom equipment, has been branded “disgusting” on social media.
The game, which took place at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on Saturday, saw the tutors grabbing as much of the $5,000 sum – which had been dumped onto the floor – and shoving it into their shirts.
The money was donated by CU Mortgage Direct, who told Argus Leader reporter Annie Todd that “the teachers in this area, and any teacher, they deserve whatever the heck they get”.
“With everything that has gone on for the last couple of years with teachers and everything, we thought it was an awesome group thing to do for the teachers,” said Ryan Knudson, director of business development and marketing at the firm.
Despite the ‘game’ being described as “grotesque” online, one participant – a fifth grade elementary school teacher – seemed positive about the idea.
Here they go! https://t.co/G0MH3Y1VXU— Annie Todd (@Annie Todd) 1639271079
Alexandria Kuyper, from Discovery Elementary, said: “I think it’s really cool when the community offers an opportunity like this for things that educations a lot of times pay out of pocket for.”
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Looking at Twitter, however, many people weren’t keen on the idea of those in desperate need of money clawing for cash for entertainment purposes:
@AnnieTodd96 How many people would do this for their job? Would cooks do this to buy dishes for the place they work… https://t.co/PKxUqboHn8— Mary in MO (@Mary in MO) 1639340774
@AnnieTodd96 This is gross. The money could’ve just been donated without making these teachers demean themselves.— Cody Snyder (@Cody Snyder) 1639317514
@AnnieTodd96 This is not a feel-good story, This is workers being forced to grovel for peanuts as entertainment for… https://t.co/z6UDhT98Ba— Participation Trophy Husband (@Participation Trophy Husband) 1639341316
@AnnieTodd96 The billionaires get richer while the teachers scoop $1 bills into their shirts for spectators' amusem… https://t.co/c83h7WI2iN— Liz Lundquist (@Liz Lundquist) 1639329176
@AnnieTodd96 This is the most dystopian, degrading thing I've ever seen.— James Juliano (@James Juliano) 1639339142
These professionals are doing this ridiculous thing in the hopes of being able to procure the basic supplies necess… https://t.co/ZpnHb6859b— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg) 1639371914
Making teachers do this for extra money for class supplies? Legit on their knees scraping up $1s? A team of people… https://t.co/8uP7Eg866j— Relyks (@Relyks) 1639354350
And it wasn’t long before people pointed out how similar it was to certain things from pop culture – like The Hunger Games:
@AnnieTodd96 hunger games soft launch assed spectacle— kati “full code” mcf🪁♿️ (@kati “full code” mcf🪁♿️) 1639342175
@AnnieTodd96 This is the Hunger Games soft open— Bill Walko (@Bill Walko) 1639371583
This the type of thing those dystopian young adult books be writing about, but in real life. On some Hunger Games t… https://t.co/TQl1O93dLU— Midiaou Diallo ☭ 🇬🇳(COMMISSIONS OPEN) (@Midiaou Diallo ☭ 🇬🇳(COMMISSIONS OPEN)) 1639357188
It’s also been compared to popular Korean productions, such as the Oscar-winning Parasite and the hit Netflix series, Squid Game:
@AnnieTodd96 https://t.co/Ext9O8s6ZJ— Casey Ho (@Casey Ho) 1639341771
if they did a US squid game you'd have to buy your own tracksuit https://t.co/WPuf4AAoYv— Crowsa Luxemburg (@Crowsa Luxemburg) 1639348924
Who had “Teachers participate in Squid Game” on their 2021 Bingo Card? @NicholasFerroni https://t.co/NvoDUex5sA— COSBulldog🇺🇸 (@COSBulldog🇺🇸) 1639358001
Next time on Squid Game… https://t.co/nVfp5FmXpk— thee anthony fantano (@thee anthony fantano) 1639384520
What in the Squid Games??? https://t.co/Alu5E9Ikrw— Matthew A. Cherry (@Matthew A. Cherry) 1639376910
super great how the number one takeaway from squid game seems to have been “lol maybe we can get away with that” https://t.co/kVoVHa3UbB— soul nate (@soul nate) 1639352840
According to the Argus Leader, teachers pocketed more than $370, with one individual taking home $616.
Yes, we hate it too.