I'm a teacher - I'm trolled for having visible tattoos and piercings, people say it's 'unprofessional' but I don't care

AN elementary school teacher thinks it's time to "normalize" educators having tattoos and piercings.

The instructor said she was being trolled over her appearance.

TikToker Mrs. Specht (@shenaniganswspecht) shared her message with her followers in a new video.

"When someone tells me it’s not very professional to 'wear that hoop in your nose and have those silly drawings all over your skin visible' as an elementary school teacher," she wrote about the clip.

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Specht has a nose ring in one of her nostrils and a few visible tattoos on her wrist and lower arm.

"It’s 2023, let’s normalize teachers being a human being outside of the classroom," the teacher captioned her video.

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In the post, Specht mouthed the lyrics to Tyler Childers' song, Way of the Triune God.

"I don’t need the laws of man to tell me what I ought to do," the teacher crooned.

People in the comments section under Specht's post were supportive.

"Yes! First teaching job and I have to cover my tats and take out nose piercings," one person wrote.

"In my experience, I’ve connected better w/my kids b/c of my tats & piercings," a second person said.

Some people claimed they were educators with tattoos and piercings, but they weren't criticized.

"I just got an admin position with a nose ring and tattoos. Part of life folks," a viewer claimed.

"People don’t care about those things anymore," said a fourth person in the comments section.

At least 30 percent of Americans have tattoos, according to a study by Pew Research Center.

Thirty-three percent of elementary school teachers have tattoos, according to Teacher How.

They determined the percentage by looking at the number of teachers in the U.S.

They then combined it with the number of people from each generation who said they were tattooed.