VIDEO: Mississippi Substitute Teacher Miata Borders Fired on First Day After Recording Viral TikTok Calling Student ‘Shorty’

A Mississippi substitute teacher was fired on her first day after recording a TikTok video inside a high school classroom, where she called a female student “shorty.” The incident quickly went viral, prompting DeSoto County Schools to terminate her employment.

The teacher, identified as 24-year-old Miata Borders, had been hired through Kelly Services, a staffing company that supplies substitute teachers to the district. Borders described herself online as a content creator and filmed her first day at Lake Cormorant High School on October 17, calling it her “new hustle in life.”

“Yeah, we got a new hustle in life, I’m a school teacher,” she said at the start of her TikTok, which showed her documenting moments throughout her day.

Around five hours into her shift, Borders filmed a pep rally parade inside the school. As students walked down the hallway, she could be heard reacting to a cheerleader passing by, saying, “Damn, shorty, sheesh,” while laughing. The clip quickly spread across social media, amassing over 2.2 million views.

The video reached school officials, who promptly ended her assignment. “District officials informed Kelly Services today that the person is no longer allowed to be a substitute teacher for DeSoto County Schools,” the district told WREG in a statement.

Following her dismissal, Borders defended herself in several follow-up TikToks, saying the video had been misunderstood and taken out of context. “It’s honestly so sad how sick the world is that you guys automatically mischaracterize me fully without further context,” she said in one clip filmed inside her car. “I’m a content creator. I record everything that I do, so it was typical for me. If you create content, you know that everything you see is not what you get.”

Mississippi Substitute Teacher Miata Borders Fired on First Day After Recording Viral TikTok Calling Student ‘Shorty’

Borders said she did not realize recording students was prohibited. “I had absolutely no idea I couldn’t record students, or else I definitely wouldn’t have done it,” she said. “I truly would’ve recorded only myself if I knew it was an issue recording students.” She added that she was “by far no predator” and had only been creating lifestyle content.

TikTok users were not sympathetic. Many called her actions unprofessional and disrespectful to underage students. Comments included, “It was all inappropriate and unprofessional,” and “Oh, you thought school was an aesthetic!” One viewer joked, “At least you made history — hired and fired in the same day.”

The controversy comes amid other recent scandals in DeSoto County Schools. Earlier this week, parents staged a boycott after reports that board member Michelle Henley supported former youth pastor Lindsey Whiteside, who pleaded guilty to sexual battery of a minor. Whiteside was sentenced to three years of house arrest and seven years of supervised release.

In another case, Natalia Elizabeth Wright, a former special education teacher at Lewisburg High School, resigned after being accused of inappropriate conduct with a student. She was later charged with fondling by a person in a position of trust, a felony in Mississippi.