A livestreamed video appearing to show a teacher pointing a handgun at a female student, who then tried to grasp his gun hand and push it away as other students watched and reacted in a classroom in Tonga, has prompted sharply divided responses online.
The teacher, dressed in formal vala faka-Tonga, appeared to repeatedly move closer to the girl as she reacted and attempted to push away the hand holding the gun.
The footage circulated widely online, prompting contrasting reactions to the teacher’s conduct and the presence of what appeared to be a firearm in the classroom.
The circumstances surrounding the incident—including whether the handgun was real and why it was displayed before the students—were not immediately clear.
Kaniva News was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Some Facebook users cautioned against drawing conclusions, suggesting it might have been a toy gun used as part of a lesson.
“Wait! We never know—it might be a demonstration of the disadvantage of using a gun,” one commenter wrote.
Others were unconvinced.
“That’s stupid. No matter what, he cannot do that to students in a classroom,” another commenter wrote.
“Not funny at all. This is foolishness in its ultimate sense,” one commenter wrote.
Others said that even if the incident formed part of a lesson, it should not have been demonstrated in that manner, particularly as the girl appeared to react nervously.
