As young students, we often looked up to our teachers...well, at least some of us did.
For the most part, we sought our valiant educators for guidance, as they put up with many of our antics as adolescents trying to find our place in the world.
Some students, however, had the odd situation in which they felt their teachers had wronged them.
Curious to hear from strangers online about their lingering bitterness, Redditor SparkelsTR asked:
"What is something your teacher did in school that you’re still salty about?"
These Redditors unjustly failed the assignment.
The Day Hopes Were Smashed
"20 years ago, we had to make a diorama. We all had them sitting on tables in the classroom and one day some other kid was messing around, fell into the table and smashed mine. I failed the assignment for having a smashed diorama."
– Lumberjack_Larry
Insistent Buyer
"In middle school I did a display with real fossils that my parents had let me borrow. The teacher was insistent that I sell the fossils to him. But I refused."
"So the teacher gave me an F on the display."
– Chrome_Armadillo
"What the f'k, did you tell your parents about it? (I know at that age it can be hard, no judgement if you didn't)"
– InfinitelyThirsting
New Kid In Town
"At the end of my first week at a new school, the teacher handed out slips of paper with our current grade. I had a solid A at my old school, but the teacher said I had an F. I asked her why. She said I didn't hand in the quarter project. I reminded her I had just moved to the school. She said we would give me the weekend to do it. The project was to interview a longtime local resident and write a paper about their experiences. The articles were being collected for a book she was 'writing.' I failed the class."
– Ohhmegawd
Trust Issues
"I had a teach accuse me and a classmate of cheating on an exam because we had the same answer. It was a multiple choice test and she was upset we both had it correct."
– JTGrings1776
Some teachers just fail in humanity.
Blacklisted Teacher
"In about 91, I was starting to get into animals, specifically marine animals. I wanted to be a marine biologist so i thought. Junior year in HS we all knew we had to do a bug collection. So I went on a family trip out of state and collected bugs in preparation. I put a lot of time into it. Mr Cope, the worst biology teacher ever, failed me because 'I could not have collected bugs he’d never seen.' Completely shattered my confidence and desire to peruse science of any sort. F'k you Mr Cope."
– seanmarshall
"I had really severe eczema on my hands as a kid. I used to keep them tucked up in my sleeves to avoid 1 people seeing them and 2 getting blood on my paper - yes, it was that bad. She called me out during a test and said to take my hands out of my sleeves because 'it’s not like that’s gonna help my grade.' I was a shy kid and silently cried through the rest of the test. Also, I was a straight A, gifted student, so why she was acting like I had poor grade I never knew. I’ll never forget that woman being needlessly cruel to a child who was already in physical pain."
– Successful-Snow-562
Punishing The Innocent
"She told me to get the hell out of her classroom because I forgot to get something signed by my mom. She then marked me as truant and played dumb when the principal got involved."
– shelblikadoo
"Similar story. My mother had me relay a question to my kindergarten teacher about an upcoming field trip. When I asked my teacher started screaming at me. I don’t recall all she said other than continuing to call me stupid and threatening to have me paddled by the principal. I just remember going back and wanting to hide under my desk with everyone staring at me. This was just one example of her behavior."
"That sh*t impacted me for years."
– No_Golf632
Shy Of An "A"
"Never gave my art a higher grade than a B+. Even though she asked me every year if she could hold my art back, to show everyone how to correctly apply a technique or what she wanted from everyone else that next year. Not good enough for an A, but this is perfect and it's what I want everyone to do. Which is it then? B*tch."
– wyntereign
Being bullied is common, but not so much when it's the teachers who are causing the harm.
Terrified
"Threatened to hit me when, as a brand new mid-term transfer in Grade 3, I was too scared to speak to ask for her help, so I had tapped her on the arm instead to get her attention. Apparently, that warranted threatening to assault an 8 yo in the 90s."
"I had been there less than 2 weeks and had just transferred from a school of 40 to a school of over 200."
– airazaneo
Touchy
"Some teacher did the same to me when I transfered from primary to middle grade (small town, one school had kindergarden up to 4th grade then the second one has 5th grade to 8th grade then it was 9 to 12 at another one). I tapped her at recess because I had been waiting to ask her something for 10 minutes and she wasn't looking at my raised hand. She absolutely lost it and berated me. Turns out she had had cancer in that arm not too long ago and wasn't comfortable being touched. I understand but I didn't know about that and I was only like 10 y.o."
– MistressEdaora
Mental Abuse
"High school psychology teacher 'evaluated' me in front of the whole class as 'mentally troubled' and told everyone that I’m 'an undiagnosed ADD-case with 99% certainty'. And because she was a psych teacher, everyone took her word for it."
"Yeah, thanks for making everyone think I was mental throughout high school and giving me nagging self-doubts if I really did have ADD for most of my 20s, until I got that medically ruled out."
"I wasn’t always the best behaved kid and even back then I understood that, but that was pretty harsh of her."
– SilenceFriendly
Growing up Japanese American in Los Angeles, I attended a school every Saturday for Japanese students who were temporarily staying in the US so that my parents were assured I would be in an environment where I could communicate in the native language.
One of the cultural health regimens incorporated into our classes was an exercise/stretching session where we followed an instructor and moved our bodies to recorded piano music. It was called "Radio Taiso"–or radio exercise.
So, being the most agile and naturally limber student in the class, I clearly demonstrated my advanced physical abilities.
However, I was embarrassed for it by a teacher who was observing the session to make sure all the students were giving proper form.
She asked me, in front of my fellow middle-school students, "Are you a homo?" in Japanese.
"Why yes, I am!" was not an answer I was prepared to give at 14, even though I knew I was different and didn't like girls.
That moment traumatized me further into the closet, and it took me a long time to get over that shame until I was ready and came out at 21.
