Educators Open Up About The Most Horrible Things They've Seen Kids Do

Teachers are on the frontlines of education, shaping young people's minds and helping them become good human beings. The problem is that sometimes, things slip through the cracks, and kids might act in a way that a teacher never could have imagined. They can only stand by and watch the mess unfold.

These horrified teachers are finally opening up about some of the most shocking things their students have ever done. Some of these stories are so troubling that you should probably mentally prepare before reading them.

More info: Reddit

10 PHOTOS

#1

My favorite teacher in high school was a very kind a lenient man. do your work, be respectful, and follow the major school rules and you and him would be cool. the one thing that would seem minor, but that he was very strict about was taking any medication in any way shape, or form in his classroom. One day, I needed to take some advil for cramps and asked to take it. he said I needed to go to the nurse for permission. I ended up asking him why he was so strict about it. it turns out, he had a student pass out in class one day at his former school. he tried to wake her up and called the nurse, but she wouldn't wake up. they called 911 and by the time they got there, she had [passed away] of an OD'd on [substances] she's taken in the bathroom that she had hidden in a tylenol bottle. I don't know how he went back to teaching after that.

#2

Stab another student in the back of the head with a pencil.

Went in right at the base of the skull. Luckily it didn't hit anything important and just needed three stitches. But it was deep enough that it stayed in before the doctors took it out.

#3

A different type of bad than most of these.

I was a teacher at a poor inner-city school.
I had a lot of wonderful students but some difficult ones. One was the worst — bright but was always sleeping through class acting up and never doing homework.

I lived about 30 minutes away. One night, I stopped by the local Wawa after a night out with friends. Was at least 11:30 pm and I was already dreading the early morning drive to school. And who should be checking me out but my own “problem” student?

He was working late to make money for his family and then getting home at 1:00 am or later before heading to school on 4-5 hours of sleep.

He was a smart kid. Smart. I hope things worked out for him but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d been allowed to have a childhood and focus on his education.

Teaching has always been viewed as a valuable profession because of its impact on people’s lives. We’ve all had that one educator who treated us well and changed our attitudes about a certain subject. Since we spend nearly one-third of our day at school or college, a good teacher can seriously make all the difference in how we feel about our time there.

Educators can have such a big impact on students, and the reverse is true as well. Some kids stick out in their teachers’ minds because of their personality, skills, or actions. But these memories aren’t always positive. Just like you’ll see in this list, some students traumatized their teachers by doing horrible things out of the blue.

#4

My wife is an elementary teacher and has a kid this year who likes to slip under their desk and lick toes (we live in a warm state) and they all think he will grow up to be a creeper.

#5

Saw a very sweet 16-year-old girl I taught for 5 years being strangled by her boyfriend in the hallway at school.

I was FUMING and he got very aggressive with me yelling in my face that it was "just a joke" and I should "chill". As a woman, I also felt intimidated by this teenage boy.

I passed it on to the safeguarding team and I'm not sure how they dealt with it, but I know the girl defended him. He got expelled for something else a few weeks later and she told me that they broke up when he was gone, but I still worry about what kinds of relationships she's going to have in the future if she thinks his behavior was acceptable. She deserves so much better.

#6

Sadly, eating out of a bin because they were so hungry. I worked in a very deprived area and this has always stuck with me as one of the worst things I’ve witnessed at school.

The scale of terrible things kids have done can range from gross to downright scary. To help you take a break from some of the more extreme stories on this list, Bored Panda interviewed a teacher (who wished to remain anonymous) to hear some of her stories about naughty or rude things kids did. She said that once, while “reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to a group of kindergarten children when we came to the page about the caterpillar getting fat, one little boy screamed that the teacher was fat like the caterpillar.”

She shared a few other examples, like a kid who “screamed that she hated the teacher, as the teacher asked her not to push another child. As we now have cameras to check back and reconfirm, we also show the parents some [of] the footage so they can understand the situation as well. One little boy put Play-Doh in his ears and his friend's ears. When asked he said he didn’t know how it happened. [Another] little boy threw a tantrum as he wasn’t allowed to run outside the classroom and he bit the assistant teacher.”

#7

I was teaching for three months in a terrible inner-city school in London (UK). Terrible, because the school’s management was super ridiculous and refused to protect or stand up for their teachers. I quit after three months, at the end of the first term – the school begged me to stay and promised me a pay increase. Here are some highlights: 1. A female 15-year-old student pulled out a used tampon from her v****a during class, and chucked it on my colleague’s (female) face, telling her to “f*****g shut up” 2. A 16-year-old female student spat on my face while calling me “a f*****g poof”. The school’s head teacher put her on detention for an hour as punishment while the student was laughing at me saying “You see? All I got is a free lesson now f**k off”. The school refused to suspend her and let me know that if I called the police to charge her with assault they would support the student and refuse to acknowledge the attack (“to protect the school’s reputation”) 3. A male student smeared his feces on a huge wall in the boys’ toilet, writing “s**t” with it 4. A group of 6-7 students 16-17 years old surrounded a male colleague, pushing him from one to another, took his glasses (very high prescription, rendering him practically blind), breaking them, then beating him and kicking him. The school refused to investigate as he couldn’t identify any of the students (he couldn’t see the faces without his glasses). He quit the school the same day. This place was a nightmare!

#8

I taught a student who was born addicted to various [substances] and at the age of 17 still had no coping mechanisms, so when he was stressed out he would lean over and fart in your face. The day he graduated I cried buckets.

#9

Once caught a child looking up furry [adult film] on a class iPad. That was something.

In many of these situations, students' actions put themselves, other kids, or the teachers at risk. Educators might be unable to discipline the child effectively because of school rules or out of fear of their parents retaliating. That’s why many teachers feel powerless, and some even fear for their safety. 

A survey by EdWeek Research Center found that 41% of school educators feel less safe after the pandemic. They have observed that there are a lot more behavioral problems and mental health struggles among students ever since COVID. With an increase in violence among students and the problems that they are facing, it’s no wonder that teachers are worrying about being safe in schools.

#10

This was the worst thing I know of that happened at my high school.

Someone brought a blasting cap to school (OK, that's a bit dumb), and flushed it down the toilet (that's dumb). Then told a teacher about it, because maybe it wasn't such a good idea (their best idea that day, really).

Wound up with that restroom being taken out of service while the fire department x-rayed the plumbing to find and remove the (admittedly tiny) explosive. Took several weeks before it was back in service.