Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Pettiest Things Adults Have Ever Done To Kids

Make us preferred on Google

Adults are meant to be the wise ones.

Adults lead children and show compassion and grace.

Well that is the plan.

So it's always disappointing when many adults show cheap, rude behavior towards the young that Billy Porter would read for trash.

I guess it shows just how flawed we all are and how many of us stay.

The sad thing is that showing that kind of behavior to a child only prolongs the cycle.

You're the adult... act like it.


Redditor x3Nekox3 was hoping some people would share some tales about the times elders have shown less than perfect behavior. So they asked everyone:

"What was the most petty thing an adult did to you, when you were younger?"

Rules. Adults holding onto rules that make no sense, just because.

So petty.

Unreadable

hands swerk GIFGiphy

"I broke two fingers on my dominant hand in 9th grade and had a splint on them so I couldn't write. I had a test at school and the teacher made me write with my left hand then marked my answers wrong because she couldn't read them."

j0hnniefist

Penmanship

"I have horrible handwriting. I have forever, no amount of intervention or practice has helped. When I was in 5th grade, my Social Studies teacher seemed to take a lot of pleasure in constantly reminding me of how awful my hand writing was. We used to have to bring out notebooks up for her to check our homework."

"I dreaded this so damn much. She would hold up my notebook so the whole class could laugh at my handwriting. I'm grown now, that was a long time ago, but I still hate to have hand write anything that other people will see."

KringlebertFistybuns

Thinking Back

"In grade four, a teacher gave us a few questions before lunch break and expected us to answer each of them correctly right after the break was over. A classmate couldn't get a few answers correct so the teacher made him walk to each bench and get a slap from each student present in the class. Thinking about the incident now, I feel like going back in time and beat the sh*t of that horrible teacher."

Geniar_med

Grunt Work

"At 16 years old, I had a job at a gas station after school. Did all the grunt work (sweeping cigarettes in the parking lot, emptying trash bins, etc.)."

"I'm taking the trash out one day and a grown a** man in his 40s comes up to me and says something along the lines of 'I make more money in a week than you do in a whole year' and all I could think at the time was 'Well yeah, I sure hope you do I'm in high school.'"

"Such a petty thing to say to a kid just trying to make a little bit of money after school."

therealjoshua

Hey Bunny

"I was at an Easter Egg hunt when I was around 6. It was in a big park area with lots of rocks. I saw a little chocolate egg foil glisten and ran over to pick it up. As I reached my hand out to pick it up a man trod on my hand to stop me getting it, then he called his kid over to 'find' it."

HedgeHoggington

Why is Easter always such an issue? Hunt responsibly...

Traitor

lies liar GIF by The Maury ShowGiphy

"I did a chore that my father had asked me to do. My mom got home and commented on how nicely the chore was done. My father took credit for it in front of me - so I fired back saying that I was the one who had done it... he then yelled at me and called me a traitor."

MadeItForTheArt

Still Salty

"I got in trouble in 6th grade for reading during home room. Home room was like a random 30 min period to work on homework but I always did my homework the night before so I would just quietly read. For some reason my home room teacher hated it."

"One day she just yelled at me for always reading in her class and told me to do my homework. I told her all of my homework was done. She told me to prove it so I showed her all of my completed homework. Then she confiscated my book and sent me to the principal’s office for being disrespectful. I’m still salty about it."

omglookawhale

Still Shocked

"A math teacher handed back our tests in class. They were graded and marked and all that. She was going over some of the questions that most people got wrong (myself included), so I was writing down some notes on my test so I could reference it later and remind myself why I got things wrong and what I was supposed to do."

"She ripped my test away from me and started screaming at me that cheating is absolutely not allowed and that I should be ashamed of myself. Confused and in shock, I started choking up and tried to explain that I was just trying to take notes. One of the most humiliating times of my childhood (around 13 years old), and I still don’t understand why it happened."

Soulfighter56

You too?

"One of my uncles was in a years-long fight with my mom. To stir trouble, any time he greeted my sister and I, he would tell my sister how beautiful and wonderful she is and to me just say 'Oh, you're here too' and then promptly ignore me the rest of the night."

"I used to adore him up to that point so this ended up in me being extremely hurt and crying to my mom for hours about how I'm ugly and not special."

"He got his petty vengeance on my mother and crushed my self-esteem. Till today I don't forgive him for it."

super-ro

Just Ill

Sick Season 4 GIF by FriendsGiphy

"I was feeling sick one day in grade 3 or 4 and the substitute teacher wouldn’t let me go to the nurse’s office because 'I didn’t look sick enough.' I had strep throat."

buzzybee2

Some adults really are a mess.

Do you have any experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Ted Cruz; Dolly Parton
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; David Becker/Getty Images

Ted Cruz Forced To Delete Retweeted Tribute To Dolly Parton After Account Mocks Him With Hilariously NSFW Name Change

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz reposted and later deleted a tribute on X to legendary performer Dolly Parton after the X user changed the account name to troll Cruz.

The X user, @lebatardshowfan, had shared their "favorite clip" of Parton, who died Tuesday following a brief battle with cancer. Cruz reshared the clip some time later. Parton is shown during one of her many appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Keep ReadingShow less
Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton
Kevin Mazur/The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Miley Cyrus Shares Heartbreaking Tribute To Godmother 'Aunt Dolly' Parton: 'I Have An Angel By My Side'

Dolly Parton left this world behind on August 25 at the age of 80 after a brief battle with illness, and tributes to her continue to flow across social media.

Among the latest was a tribute from Dolly Parton's goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

Keep ReadingShow less
Carol Burnett; Tim Curry; Luke Evans
Araya Doheny/TCM/Getty Images; Dimitrios Kambouris/Tony Awards Productions/WireImage/Getty Images; Roy Rochlin/Empire State Realty Trust/Getty Images

Carol Burnett And Luke Evans Lead Poignant Tributes To Tim Curry After His Death At 80

It's been a terrible week for the entertainment industry, for performers and viewers alike. Right after the world lost Dolly Parton, we lost the great Tim Curry, also at the age of 80.

The British star got his acting start on stage in the West End, starring in the original London production of Hair in 1968. He was a phenomenal performer and went on to become everyone's favorite love-to-hate villain, from Frank-N-Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show to Rooster Hannigan in Annie to Pennywise the Dancing Clown in It to Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bill Gates
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

Bill Gates Warns Rise Of AI Will Be One Of The 'Most Turbulent Times In Human History' In Alarming New Essay

On Wednesday, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sounded the alarm on artificial intelligence with an essay published on his website titled "The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical."

The essay began by stating:

Keep ReadingShow less
Ukrainian Refugee Shares How She Was Bullied By Her Teacher And Classmates At A U.S. High School—And People Are Outraged

Ukrainian Refugee Shares How She Was Bullied By Her Teacher And Classmates At A U.S. High School—And People Are Outraged

Even though it's 2026, racism is alive and well, and so are xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and other microaggressions.

TikToker @shape_shifter01 is sharing her experiences as a high school student and a Ukrainian refugee. She moved to the United States four years ago in response to the war between her home country and Russia.

Keep ReadingShow less