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Miami Herald

Middle schoolers burned doing bear crawls on hot track, TX parents say. ‘Torture'

Parents in an East Texas community are outraged after students suffered burns during a painful workout at school, news outlets report. 'Our students' well-being and safety is a top priority,' Woodville Independent School District said in a statement posted on Facebook following the Monday, May 19 incident at Woodville Middle School. 'The Superintendent and Campus Principal have launched a full internal review and are cooperating with local law enforcement,' the district said. 'Currently, we are aware that students participated in an exercise program promoted on social media that involves bear crawling on the track. Due to the temperature of the track, the exercise resulted in some students reporting injuries,' it added. Police are looking into the incident and charges could be brought, Police Chief Mike McCulley told KFDM, adding the coach's actions showed 'a complete disregard for common sense.' At least 12 parents have contacted police, he said. Parent Cassie George told KFDM her sons are in the same sixth-grade pre-athletics class and suffered 1st and 2nd degree burns, requiring treatment at a hospital. 'He got off the bus and we looked at it, and it was not cuts and bruises, it was straight up burns,' George told the station. 'We were furious about the whole situation, the whole matter. It shouldn't have been done. All these kids that suffered. It should have never happened like that. Like they said, they're supposed to keep kids safe. That is just straight torture that they did to the kids.' The bear crawl workout is nothing new — and neither are the injuries it can cause — but the exercise has regained popularity recently due to social media like TikTok, KMBT reported. It requires hands and feet to be in contact with the ground and, according to KMBT reporters who visited the school's track, the surface was both hot and abrasive. The coach of the pre-athletics class told students they could either do a typical workout that day, or do a TikTok challenge instead, and they opted for the challenge, the station reported. The district said the coach's actions 'do not reflect the values' of Woodville ISD, adding that 'the staff member involved has been removed from campus and will not be returning to the District.' Woodville is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Houston.