When you stick a bunch of puberty stricken kids together, sparks are bound to fly.
Teachers spend a lot of their time watching over generations of students, and can expertly spot the signs of when students like on one another. Crushes are so frequent, they can list off the usual patterns of a blossoming romance. Some teachers even step in to try to help their students out.
Redditor u/RadioWolfSG wanted to hear stories about childhood romances, and asked the teachers of Reddit... "How obvious is it when one student has a crush on a classmate?"
10. Jealousy and disappointment
"Depends on the age, but the signs are obvious.
Lots of staring, and not-so-obvious but very obvious attempts at being near them. Visible disappointment when they aren't put in the same group for group work. Jealousy in all forms.
I've seen a kid hate a classmate for WEEKS because that classmate sat next to the kid's crush for morning meeting."
9. "StooOooooop-uh"
Giphy"Super obvious. When a girl says 'stooOooooop-uh' while laughing at a guy who is teasing her, or a guy goes out of his way to make fun of her/'steal' something from her so she'll have to pursue him to get it back, it makes me 100% certain."
8. This economics teacher that paid attention
"Shout-out to my high-school econ teacher for:
Noticing that me and a girl were into each other
Constantly putting us in the same group
STRAIGHT UP ASKING THE GIRL IF SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND WHILE I WAS IN THE ROOM
Mrs. Anderson is the best wingman of all time"
7. Lowering their voices
"There's a boy in my class whose voice hasn't changed yet. But everytime he is talking to another girl (from a different class) he is noticeably lowering his voice to sound deeper.
Obvious signs are obvious ;)"
6. When feelings aren't mutual
"What's even more obvious is when one has a crush and the other isn't interested
I've noticed when a girl is crushing and the guy isn't, he is more likely (but not always) to be more forward about telling her so, to the point (in one or two cases) of sometimes being openly cruel to her.
The girls in the reverse situation act annoyed and will sometimes make their disinterest clear, but more often than not they grin and bear it and try to pretend the crush doesn't exist."
5. They ended up getting married
"Not a teacher, but I had an amazing teacher.
She knew I had a crush on this girl, and she might have know she had a crush on me.
All high school assigned seating we were put next to each other.
All projects we did together.
She put us together for everything.
I'm marrying that girl in 4.5 weeks.
Thanks Mrs. Perez."
4. "Get it, girl!"
Giphy"Former middle school teacher here. I actually told kids one year that if they wanted me to change their seating chart they could email me. This was to avoid potential conflicts or bullying. Instead, a girl asked me to put her next to the boy she liked. I did. I wanted to reward her for asking for what she wanted. I think my exact words were, 'Get it, girl.' Unfortunately for her, he wasn't interested."
3. Lots of PDA
"They started hanging around each other a lot, always hugging, making lots of context for physical contact, then they started holding hands, became very very close to the point that you'd never see one without the other until they finally started dating.
They were two of the most troublesome children, and to this day everyone is afraid of this relationship."
2. Teachers spread the word
"Not a teacher, but my Spanish teacher, somehow noticed my crush. I didn't have Spanish Class with my crush. Also, my history teacher always placed me by my crush (not creepy) and I started to guess that one teacher noticed, the spread it to other teachers."
1. The teacher that taught politeness
"Used to teach 6th and 8th grade science at an inner city school. I told all of my students their best chance at dating their crush was to be respectful. The 8th graders ignored me and proceeded to make fun of their crushes. The 6th graders though... they bought it! 11 year olds were holding the door open and pulling chairs out for their crushes, being supportive and kind to one another, cutest stuff ever."
