Teachers Are Explaining Why Tween & Teen Students Are "Mewing" In Class

Remember being a kid and telling adults to “talk to the hand” or giving the “whatever” sign a la Clueless? Seems like the tweens and teens of today are trying to convey that same kind of energy with “mewing,” and people are upset, calling these kids disrespectful and rude (as if when they were young, they never participated in anything like this).

A couple of teachers on TikTok used their accounts to help educate parents and adults who work with kids about this newest trend called “mewing,” and why kids are suddenly using this weird gesture all the time.

What is “mewing”?

Mewing originally began as a viral technique to strengthen your jawline that involves closing your lips, putting your tongue to the roof of your mouth, and positioning your throat and jaw in a certain as to avoid having the appearance of a double chin. The technique soon went viral on TikTok.

While there is no credible research proving mewing can permanently alter your jaw structure, once tweens and teens got in on the trend, there was no stopping them. They have no transformed the face exercise into a trend to keep adults in the dark while also slighting them a bit in the process.

What does the mewing gesture mean to teens?

The mewing trend is now being used by tweens and teens inside the classroom to signal that they are adults and to avoid participating in class or discussion by essentially “shushing” their teacher or parent.

TikTok creator and special education teacher, Philip Lindsay (@mr_lindsay_sped), gave a detailed explanation on this strange evolution, revealing that the trend seems more popular among teen boys at his school.

In the video, he demonstrates the nonverbal gesture by pursing his lips together while holding his finger up to his mouth as if to “shush” someone and then pointing to his jawline, seemingly showing that the kid is practicing his mewing.

Lindsay continues, “It just means I can’t answer your question right now, I’m ‘mewing.’”

Is mewing disrespectful?

While Lindsay seems to take a more light-hearted, “kids will be kids” approach to the mewing trend, another teacher on TikTok doesn’t seem so thrilled.

Music teacher Teresa Kaye Newman (@teresakayenewman) expressed her frustration with the trend on TikTok, suggesting “mewing” could be the “final straw” in her teaching career.

“If you're not familiar with what mewing is, basically it's a gesture that kids are making towards other people that signal to that person that they don't care what they have to say or they're too busy being silent doing the mewing technique to respond to them,” she explained in the video that now has over 4.5 million views.

“It's basically just another way to be dismissive to somebody.”

She continued: “The problem that I have with mewing in the classroom and at school is that kids are using it as a way to be disrespectful to their teachers without their teachers understanding what it is they're doing and why they're doing it.”

“Of course, the kids think it's funny because the adult in the room doesn't understand. They look clueless. It makes them look stupid. It makes them look out of the loop. But it's also a power play on the part of the kid. It's a way for them to not have to take accountability for things that are being asked of them. It's a way for them to not have to participate in class.”

“In reality, they absolutely understand how dismissive and disrespectful it is of the person that’s trying to engage with them, especially in a learning environment,” she says in the video. “They also understand how hurtful it can be.”

Several users in the comments had a pretty laid-back attitude about the mewing meme, noting that it will pass by just as quickly as it came. However, others agreed with Newman’s take on his disrespectful kids have become.

Okay, if this is driving teachers up a wall, don’t they know the surefire way to make it stop almost immediately? Yes, that’s right! Teachers, start mewing!

Once grown-ups adopt teen trends, memes, and slang, they are immediately “cringe” and never to be said or done again. Problem solved! Everyone start practicing their “mewing”!