The bear crawl exercise, which involves walking on all fours with hands and feet on the ground, has gained popularity through various social media challenges.
WOODVILLE, Texas — The State of Texas is now looking into an incident this week at Woodville Middle School that left several students injured after doing a TikTok challenge that involved “bear crawling” along the track.
Multiple students reported injuries after being instructed to perform the social media-inspired exercise on a hot track at Woodville Middle School on Monday, leading to the removal of a staff member, according to district officials.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has opened an investigation into the incident and a special investigator has been assigned , according to media specialist Camille Briggs, of DFPS.
Results of the investigation will be turned over to the school district and the Texas Education Agency, Briggs said.
The incident occurred during a pre-athletics class at the middle school on Monday, May 19, 2025, when students were directed to perform “bear crawls” on the track. Due to the elevated track temperature, several students sustained injuries, Woodville Independent School District superintendent Lisa F. Meysembourg confirmed in a statement.
“We are equally as concerned with the reports as the community and are taking the matter seriously, as our students’ well-being and safety is a top priority,” Meysembourg wrote in the statement sent to 12News.
The district has launched a full internal review of the incident and is cooperating with local law enforcement, according to the statement. While specific details about student injuries were not disclosed due to federal privacy laws, district officials acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.
“The employee actions described by the media do not reflect the values or expectations of Woodville ISD,” Meysembourg wrote. The staff member involved “has been removed from campus and will not be returning to the district, she wrote.
The coach had previously resigned, not as a result of this incident, and the last day of school was already going to be his last day as an employee. The employee was told not to come back to campus and he was going to be a non-employee in a couple days anyways, according to Meysembourg.
Woodville Police are looking into the incident, chief Mike McCulley confirmed to 12News.
The bear crawl exercise, which involves walking on all fours with hands and feet on the ground, has gained popularity through various social media fitness challenges.
Several parents contacted 12News to report the incident. One parent told 12News that her son and his classmates were given the choice of doing a “TikTok challenge” or workouts.
They chose the challenge which turned out to be bear crawls on the track the mom, who asked not to be identified told 12News. She said the track was hot enough to burn the hands and knees of several of the students.
A Google search reveals several videos about the “bear crawl challenge,” with at least one describing it as the “bear crawl mile.” The district’s statement did not say what distance the students were attempting to bear crawl for.
A 12News crew went out to Woodville Middle School and checked out the track for themselves. They say that even at 6:30 p.m. the dark polyurethane was still hot to the touch, as well as the fact that the jagged edges of the track alone were painful on the hands.
“It was still hot even in the evening, but outside of the heat, the tracks surface was painful when I put my full weight on my hands as you would with a bear crawl,” said a 12News crew member. “The granular surface really began to dig into the skin after just a minute or so.”
Woodville ISD officials did not specify how many students were injured or the extent of their injuries in the statement.
District and campus leadership are in direct contact with the families of affected students. The district statement emphasized their commitment to “transparency, accountability, and ensuring a safe, respectful environment for all students.”
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.