High School Teacher's 'I Don't Care' List Goes Viral

A high school teacher just told 15 million people she doesn't care if students eat rotisserie chicken in her classroom, and it's sparking hope for a new kind of education.

Katy Johnson, a math teacher with nearly a million social media followers, went viral after sharing her surprisingly relaxed classroom policies. She doesn't worry about dress codes, eating and drinking during class, kids being a minute late, or students sitting in assigned seats.

"Literally last week I had a kid eating a rotisserie chicken," Johnson says in her TikTok video. "Don't care. He got his work done."

Her philosophy is simple: she doesn't sweat behaviors unless they actually interrupt learning. Kids can chat with friends while finishing assignments, charge their phones during class, and wear crop tops and shorts without judgment.

But before anyone assumes she's a pushover, Johnson quickly set the record straight. She has strict rules about the things that truly impact education.

She doesn't let students leave during her lessons unless it's an emergency. She bans laptops in math class because she believes the subject is best taught with pen and paper. And while phones can charge in her classroom, using them during class time is completely off limits.

Why This Inspires

Johnson's approach isn't about being the "cool teacher." It's about understanding what Gen Z students actually need to succeed. These teens spent crucial developmental years in COVID lockdown, staring at screens instead of sitting in classrooms. They're navigating unprecedented access to technology and social media that previous generations never faced.

By removing arbitrary rules that waste time and energy, Johnson creates space for what actually matters: accountability, independent work, and the autonomy to succeed or fail based on their own merit. She's picking her battles wisely, focusing on respect and real learning over control.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with thousands of commenters praising her priorities. "Some teachers care so much about things that don't matter and it ends up wasting so much time," one person wrote.

Johnson followed up with a second video sharing even more flexible policies, including allowing students to listen to music with one AirPod in and accepting late work. "If you got your work done, I do not care what the kids do as long as they stay in this room and stay respectful," she explains.

What Johnson left unstated but made abundantly clear through her videos: she cares deeply about her students and their success, which is exactly what makes her approach work.