15 School Stories That Prove Not Everyone Should Be Around Kids

Schools are supposed to be safe places — the kind of places where adults guide, support, and protect kids. But every so often, stories surface that make you wonder how certain people ever ended up in front of a classroom. These experiences from students show just how careless, cold, or outright shocking some teachers can be.

• I had a home room teacher who, one day, out of frustration, ranted about how easy school was.
  He said, “We literally give you a book or the text, tell you to read it, then ask you to answer questions. The answers to which are found in the book we gave you. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Read the darn books, answer the darn questions, that’s all school is.” © Navaro27 / Reddit

• Our teacher mocked a student who kept checking her phone during class. He took it away and announced, “No emergencies happen during 4th period.” When he returned it, the girl had 17 missed calls from her grandmother’s caregiver — she was the emergency contact, not her mom.

• First grade. We were doing a math lesson. The lesson was something about drawing a circle around groups of 5 or 10 things in a picture. I figured out pretty quickly that counting the things one by one took too much time, so I counted by 10s (which were already circled), then counted the leftovers and put up my hand. I was done way before anyone else.
  The teacher looked at me and said something like, “There is no way you could have counted them all.” A few minutes later, she complimented another kid who had counted quickly and said that he was probably counting “by fives” and demonstrated how to do that.
  I was so angry and thought it was stupid to count by fives when it’s easier to count by 10s, so why not just do that. The thing is, this woman was usually a pretty good teacher. I don’t know if she just didn’t like me or was having a rough day or what. But I learned that day that teachers don’t know everything, and sometimes they’re just mean. © gt0163c / Reddit

• I’ll never forget this for some reason: Mr. Baggs, Geography, grade 7. “You’re an outstanding student...out standing in the hall. Go.” We were such naughty kids. Lol. © reddit_mau5 / Reddit

• A boy came to school with his arm wrapped in medical tape. Before he could sit down, the teacher demanded he remove it because it “looked sloppy” and “broke dress code.” He tried peeling the tape back and winced in pain. Later, the nurse stormed into class and asked who told him to remove the post-surgery bandage that needed to stay on for 48 hours. The teacher smirked and said, “He didn’t explain it clearly enough.”

• I’m a 6-foot tall girl, at school I was very self-conscious that I was bigger than other people in my year.
  I decided psychology would be interesting. The teacher gave us all magazines and asked us to pick someone we found attractive. In my magazine was a picture of Johnny Depp, so obviously as a teenage girl I picked him.
  The teacher went round the class telling us why we had picked certain people and what it said about us. When he got to me, he laughed and said, “You picked someone older because you are a tall girl and that makes you feel more secure.”
  Being called a tall girl might not seem that bad, and I’m sure he didn’t mean it in a bad way, but it was crushing. Even now 15 years later I still feel like I’m too tall, I’m in the way, that I’m not beautiful because of my height. One stupid comment really can make a difference. © Laelegs / Reddit

• My sister once had a teacher tell the class that they had to write a paper on a “famous Egyptian. You know, like Socrates.” My sister was given in school suspension for disrupting class with her laughter.
  She appealed it, and in the appeal meeting with our mom and the principal, the teacher insisted that Socrates was Egyptian. The suspension was canceled, my sister didn’t have to write the paper, and that teacher is still working at the same school. © notthatguytheother1 / Reddit

• When I came back after my father’s accident, I expected the teacher to at least pretend to care.
  Instead, she greeted me with: “We sent flowers. You owe $5. Bring it tomorrow.” But I froze when she added, “Also, try not to miss class again. It interrupts my lesson plans.”

• “You’re too young, you’ll hold back the class.” Later — “You haven’t even mastered the basics, I don’t want you to take the next course.” My high-school computer science teacher, attempting to discourage me from taking programming as a freshman. After I topped the class, he tried again to keep me from taking the next level course.
  He was so persistent in his discouragement, often mocking me in class. Most kids and parents would have given up after such an onslaught, but I’m glad my mother was persistent and supportive. Many years later and now a successful adult, I see that teacher for what he is:
  a jealous and sad man. © littlered1984 / Reddit

• I had a philosophy teacher when I was like a sophomore, and he was a misogynist. If I tried to argue with him during discussions in class, he would put chocolate on my desk with the implication that I was menstruating and that’s why I was so uppity. At the time, I would anxious laugh, which of course only encouraged him. Sometimes I wish 26-year-old me could go back in time and give him a piece of my mind. © KitchenSwillForPigs / Reddit

• Our chemistry teacher hated when students were distracted. One girl came in looking pale and shaky, and he snapped, “If you’re going to look sick, do it outside my class.” She quietly said she hadn’t slept because she spent the night at the hospital with her mom. He replied, “Hospital? Funny how that excuse always shows up right before a test.”

• One day in 7th grade, our principal came into the homeroom class and wrote on the board “$19.32” in big numbers.
  He got our attention and announced to the class: “This (pointing at the number) is what you are worth. Every day you come to class, the school gets $19.32 from the state for each of you. So if you are sick, you should still come to class, go to the nurse, and get sent home. That way, the school will still get its $19.32.”
  That was the day I stopped caring about school. I’m pretty sure he was trying to increase attendance and believed what he said was positive. But when a person you’re supposed to respect tells you’re worth less than a 20 dollar bill... © Starlight_OW / Reddit

Most teachers genuinely care about their students — but these stories prove that not everyone belongs in a classroom. Behind every dramatic moment is a student who deserved better, and a reminder that empathy should be a requirement, not an optional skill. Because sometimes, the most unforgettable school lessons don’t come from textbooks — they come from adults who should’ve never been teaching in the first place.