Teacher Larry Lexicon reveals the harrowing reason behind the ‘poop bucket’ in the classroom

A teacher has gone viral after sharing the harrowing reality of why he keeps a “poop bucket” in his classroom.

The California-based educator, known on TikTok as Larry Lexicon, released a video of him explaining just days after the tragic Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three children , what the bucket was for.

Larry’s video has been viewed more than 8.7 million times at the time of writing.

“It turns out people really don’t know why we have these buckets in the classroom, it’s because of school shootings,” he tells his students.

A California-based teacher named Larry Lexicon has gone viral after sharing the harrowing reality of why he keeps a “poop bucket” in his classroom

“I hate to say it bluntly, but when I first started teaching, we didn’t have those buckets in the classroom.

“Now every classroom has a bucket like this because we are going into lockdown and we are locked in our classrooms for extended periods of time while the situation is being dealt with.”

Larry then begins pulling a number of items from the bucket before throwing the entire contents onto the desks in front of him, including toilet paper, describing it as “survival gear”.

He posted an extended version of the video back in February in response to complaints he received about another TikTok clip that was meant to be a joke but some took seriously.

“Those people on TikTok who complain about the bucket, how many of them do you think go to work every day and have to worry about maybe pooping in a bucket because there’s a shooter at work,” Larry continues, originally from Canada.

“Not very many,” was one of his students’ replies.

“But you do,” the teacher added, “everyone in this classroom does, I do, that’s the reality of school in America, isn’t it?”

Larry then turns his attention to an orange backpack and pulls out a wrapped blanket.

His video, which has more than 8.7 million views at the time of writing, explains what the bucket is for to TikTok users and his students

He dumps the contents of the bucket onto some desks in front of him (left) before holding up a blanket (right) which he later reveals is used to cover corpses

Larry has garnered more than 1.4 million followers on TikTok with his hilarious content

“What do you think they are for?” he asked.

After a few guesses in his class, Larry reveals the sinister purpose of the item he was holding.

“These are there so I can cover bodies if I have to, so you don’t have to see them,” Larry said.

“If I have to do that, it will probably be someone I care about, someone you care about.

“So the people who are upset about our bucket video are upset about the wrong thing.

“You should be upset that these buckets exist. That we’ve gotten to the point where we need those buckets.”

Larry added that people need to make sure they focus their energies on “getting excited about the right things.”

There have been 13 school shootings resulting in injuries or deaths so far in 2023, according to Education Week.

Last year there were 51 school shootings that killed or injured at least one person, up from 35 the year before.

In 2020, another California teacher, Thomas Smith, wrote in the Los Angeles Times about the arrival of the “poop bucket” in her classroom.

“California is one of many states where school district officials are placing portable toilets in classrooms for use during extended lockdowns due to active shooters,” the public secondary school educator wrote.

The educator’s open discussion with his students has sparked tens of thousands of comments on his TikTok video

Larry’s video has garnered more than 33,000 comments to date, with people praising him for being open with his students.

“I love the transparency with the students. The yellow bucket and body blankets are a sad reality,” one person wrote.

“I’m not mad at the bucket. I’m sad it’s necessary,” added another.

“I’ve never seen the bucket video but it’s so messed up the way the situation is being handled. Buckets instead of gun control,” said a third.

Another added: “My nephew’s class has a bucket too. Nobody deserves that. No child.’

“So sad these are even remotely needed, it breaks my heart,” read another.