You can predict a lot about a parent from a kid.
[rebelmouse-image 18348500 is_animated_gif=And teachers often have to deal with both in a very concentrated fashion. Unfortunately teachers tend to get the brunt of the blame, always. And user u/TheLegend1125 asked Reddit to share their own horror stories:
Teachers, what was the worst parent/teacher interview you've ever had to sit through?
Here were some of the craziest horror stories.
When The Dog Bites
[rebelmouse-image 18348501 is_animated_gif=Pre-school teacher here. My first year as a lead teacher I had a student who bit, scratched, pulled hair, slapped and punched both students and teachers, including myself. Every day we were essentially beaten up by this 4 year old. Leading up to the conference my boss advised me to keep a log of everything this child was doing, each time he slapped or bit someone, each time he yelled out a cuss word, etc.
The entire conference was this child's mom going through my behaviour log of her child and laughing. She told me that he had never exhibited that kind of behaviour and was a perfect angel. She told me she had never even seen him angry. She laughed in our faces.
Minutes later, the child's grandmother, whom the parent and child lived with, called the school and told me all the things she knew her daughter wouldn't, which included the child giving the grandmother bruises, banging her head into her headboard, dropping books on her feet, biting, scratching, pulling, and punching both his mom and the grandmother.
Poor Thing
[rebelmouse-image 18348502 is_animated_gif=I was senior management at a private school and we had some insane helicopter parents who insisted their 4 year old daughter was a genius. They wanted her fast tracked THREE grades ahead. Nobody could reason with them and they carried this big binder of 'tests' they'd paid for to prove their case. Now, she was a sweet kid but very shy and _seriously _afraid of failure. Huge red flags to be honest. They were at the point of suing us and I drew the short straw for talking them off the ledge. It was last day of the school year, my own kids were waiting for us to start the holidays (they went to the same school) and I was stuck for two hours with them, trying to persuade that them that they were damaging their child and that moving an already nervy little kid away from the few playmates she had would be catastrophic. I went through every test paper, used every tactic I could think of and eventually called the meeting to a close on an 'agree to disagree' basis - but refusing to move her higher up.
The next day, first day of the holidays, my Director got an entire transcript of the conversation which they'd secretly recorded and a demand to have me fired. They must have stayed up all night as it was before auto transcribe tech was available.
My Director called in the lawyers and I had to forward all the slanderous emails they kept sending me in case of court action. We had an internal tribunal with them when school opened after the holidays and they lost their case. We never saw them again as they moved out of the area. I often think about that little girl and hope she's doing ok. :(
Abuse Begets Abuse
[rebelmouse-image 18345581 is_animated_gif=I remember as a kid I went to a parent-teacher conference with my dad for my older brother. He went to a pretty bad high school in a rough area. So for one of the classes, the mother ahead of us goes with her son. Her son was this big, scary looking, gangster kid (this is the mid nineties in NYC). The teacher looks up at them and says, "I'm sorry I have no idea who he is. He's never shown up to class and cuts everyday."
The mom turns her head and looks at the son and I see him go from having this smug, nonchalant attitude to having the fear of God suddenly on his face. The mom takes an umbrella and starts beating the kid right in front of the teacher. The teacher gets immediately flustered, but has no idea what to do. The kid starts apologizing profusely to his mom and to the teacher. His mom then grabs him by the ear (she's at least a couple inches shorter than him) and drags him out of the classroom. The whole time the kid is just saying he's sorry.
Expensive Conflict
[rebelmouse-image 18348503 is_animated_gif=I was a teacher at a private tutoring company that catered to children with Autism and dyslexia who had major problems with reading. It was expensive, like $140 an hour, and children were required to do at least 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. It comes out to like $2k a week. Anyway, I was sitting in one of the p/t conferences with some of the admins, and the conference turned from their child's progress to how they were going to pay for it. It was horrifying to hear, that these parents are planning on taking a second mortgage out on their house, that they've sold some jewelry...this damned company was driving people into the ground, financially. I quit about two weeks later.
Difficulty
[rebelmouse-image 18346830 is_animated_gif=My wife's first teaching job was at a rural high school. Most of the parents couldn't be located or contacted, so it was a miracle when they would show up for parent/teacher conferences.
One student, the oldest of 6, had not turned in any work and failed every test. It took several attempts, but his parents were finally able to come in. My wife met with them and her principal joined her as I guess this family had a history in the town.
My wife expressed her concern for the kid's future and his goals beyond school. The parents screamed at her and the principal saying they were successful with out a high school diploma and didn't believe their kid needed to be here. The only reason they were making him go was because CPS had threatened to take him away from them.
Kids Don't Always Take After Their Folks
[rebelmouse-image 18348504 is_animated_gif=I had a model student conference after two really tough conferences, so I was looking for a breath of fresh air and assumed his parents were as awesome as their child. I was wrong. They had decided to get a divorce right before conferences. They spent the entire conference arguing over who would have to take their child. More than once in my career I wanted to adopt a child, and this tops the list. I saw him a few years later and he was the same confident, thoughtful, intelligent kid.
College Moms
[rebelmouse-image 18348505 is_animated_gif=I had to inform them that it wasn't in fact a parent/teacher conference.
Student asked to meet to discuss his recent exam grade. Cool. He shows up basically being dragged in by his mom, who proceeds to rant at me for a solid 5 minutes about how unfair the test must be because "her special little guy" (her words) couldn't possibly deserve a C.
He was a junior in college and I was his TA.
When she finally let me speak, I informed her that I didn't meet with parents and it was actually against regulations for me to discuss his grades with her, and asked her to leave. She hit the roof, started screaming and tearing up his exam, and was eventually escorted out by campus security.
How?
[rebelmouse-image 18348506 is_animated_gif=Lets see, there are 3 that come to mind.
First, it was heavily implied I was racist (I'm black, and was teaching at an all black school), and the parent said "God would get me for my behavior"
There was the one where I basically offered almost irrefutable proof this kid cheated on a test. (It was a math test, he showed no work, had all the right answers to a different version of the test, and you couldn't even get those answers with the numbers provided). She said quote "You say he cheated, he says he didn't, I don't know who to believe"
Finally, and this was both bad and good. A mom basically was blaming me for her kids bad grades (as happens fairly often). I actually really liked the kid, he was just lazy. He jumped in the conversation and said "Mom, don't blame Mr. Illini02, you never make me do any homework at home". That pissed her off, but she couldn't really say much more.
Isn't It True That...
[rebelmouse-image 18345618 is_animated_gif=Parent was a lawyer and wanted to grill me as if I were on the witness stand. Based on that encounter, I'm not sure they were a very good lawyer.
Complaints
[rebelmouse-image 18348507 is_animated_gif=Kid refused to do any work or take tests. She was failing, obviously. Said the work was too hard (it was a third year Spanish honors course for those going onto dual enrollment college course senior year).
Her father was insistent that he come in to learn the material that he would then teach his daughter. I was really thrown by that one. Took about twenty minutes to convince him that the arrangement would be unsustainable.
English Kla$$
[rebelmouse-image 18348509 is_animated_gif=I used to teach senior English for ten years. It was pretty much the only class anyone had to absolutely take senior year, unless they were behind on their 3 math or science courses. The course was specifically British Literature and I tried to make it as interesting as possible for students. I tried to challenge students and prepare them for college-level work, but I also allowed students to turn in late assignments for points off (my district also unofficially required us to accept late work, as failed students=less funding.)
I posted all assignments on the class website for all students to access in the event of an absence, held tutorial once a week, updated my online grades weekly, and contacted parents when students were failing. I did all of this, because in the event a student fails, you have to provide supporting documentation that you tried to help them.
Every year, I had two or three male students (I don't know why it was usually guys) who wouldn't complete any assignments. These kids usually had overbearing mothers who would constantly harass me and find every excuse in the book to present some fault of mine to my principal as reasoning their son shouldn't be failing. These parents' usual excuse was that they "didn't know" their kid was failing, despite the access to online grades, my phone calls, letters home, etc.
On one such occasion I was called into a meeting with a mother a month prior to graduation. Her son had failed first semester and I was a bit surprised to see her, because she had been fairly nonchalant in our previous phone calls, saying things like, "If he fails, that's on him." Well, this lady pulled out the big guns for this Hail Mary meeting.
She first said I never called her and she didn't know her son was failing. I presented my documentation on our phone calls and quoted what she said, word for word. She then stated that I was too tough on students and wanted to fail her son. I reminded her that I hold weekly tutorial for students, post all assignments online AND give students time to work on assignments in class.
Then, she went on about not knowing her son failed first semester until it was "Too late," because his report card was sent to the wrong address. My principal pulled up their information and read back the address. She commented, "Yeah, that's my sister's house." My principal asked her for her current address and she gave it. He paused, then said, "Ma'am, your address is outside of our attendance zone."
Realizing the mistake she made, the lady got quiet for a moment then snapped, "(My son) will make up all of the work he owes for your class and attend every tutorial for the remainder of the year," and he did.
Illiterate Fashion
[rebelmouse-image 18344987 is_animated_gif=I work in public school education with a nonprofit organization. Sitting in a parent-teacher conference with the principal of the school, mom, and the kid. The kid is in 5th grade. The principal tells the mom point blank that her child can't read, which is true. The kid could barely write his own name and couldn't read anything except basic sight words. The mom laughed and said "my kid doesn't need to know how to read, he wears Polo."
I was speechless. I had no idea a parent could be that ignorant. I still think about that kid every few days and how hard his mom is making his life.
Kelvin Ain't Just A Temp
[rebelmouse-image 18345539 is_animated_gif=Was grading tests for a teacher while there was a parent/teacher conference going on (the teacher asked the parents beforehand if I could be there as the kid was three years younger than me and I didn't know him) They are talking for a bit and I start to notice the teacher pronouncing it "Kevin" and the parents are adding an "L", "kelvin", but I assume ya an accent or something. The parents start to become very dramatic, going on and on about how the teacher needed to go to the kid outside of class to make sure they were doing their homework (ugh) and such, and at the end the teacher stands up to show the parents a piece of writing from the student. Parents take it and read, look at each other and say to the teacher "this is someone named Kevin, our son is KeLvin", then proceed to get very upset with the teacher because he wasn't their child's actual teacher, when THEY were the ones who came into HIS classroom to talk about their son. It nearly made me pass out repressing my laughter before they left
F For Flirting
[rebelmouse-image 18348510 is_animated_gif=I was a substitute teacher then. Special needs class, so there was more meetings with parents than normally. Normally I just saw the mom, she would pick up her kid on Fridays. She was a little bit demanding and stuck up, but nothing I couldn't handle. Talked really badly about her husband when we had parent teacher meeting and when I called to tell what happened during the day (some people think these meetings/phone calls are their therapy sessions. Once she talked for 1.5 hours... I just didn't have the courage to make her stop). So her husband, child's father starts picking him up on Fridays. Okay, nothing unusual. Then he comes to the parent teacher meeting and starts asking what I do on my free time, am I seeing someone etc, just made me uncomfortable even though he didn't actually say anything rude or offensive. All this time his wife was sitting next to him!
Accidentally met him in a bar after that... He tried to buy me drinks and flirted with me. At that moment I realised he tried to flirt with me when his wife was sitting next to him in a parent teacher meeting.
B For Bad
[rebelmouse-image 18348511 is_animated_gif=High School teacher here ...
Had a parent teacher conference with two parents and their daughter. She had been achieving a steady "B" average in my course through her own efforts and hard work. She had long been a "classified" student, with a number of small issues that had caused her to struggle academically - until she matured and found ways of better managing her issues. I had her a a junior, and she was doing well in my challenging course - and seem proud of it. Then came the meeting. Her parents clearly had used the system as a way of providing their daughter with every academic advantage they could, bullying school staff along the way to create an academic plan that made it nearly impossible for the girl to not score a 95% or better in all her courses. I have never seen a plan so designed for academic success, with no intention whatsoever of helping the student develop the skills needed to survive in the world outside of school. I tried to make clear to them that she was doing very well in the course without the various supports in place, and that she was quite pleased with her accomplishments, but they could not care less. All they could focus on was the final grade being below their 95% expectation. We went back and forth for a while, with them presenting very angrily and with veiled threats. I did not back down, and the parents finally had her removed from my course. Luckily, my administration backed me - even complimenting on my willingness to stand against them as many had not before. The girl ended up taking the course over the summer in a far easier setting.
It was very disturbing to see parents so bent on their version of her success that they ignored the real progress she had made. They viewed the district as an enemy - an obstacle to navigate instead of an opportunity. I can only hope that the girl found her own path as she became an adult, but I can assure you that her parents hindered her growth and failed to give her the future they imagined for her.
Thanks, Obama
[rebelmouse-image 18348512 is_animated_gif=A student claimed bias in grading. She and her father later emailed me, the principal, the board of education, and Barack Obama. Obama was president at the time, but no, he didn't reply. Thanks, Obama.
Learned Behavior
[rebelmouse-image 18348513 is_animated_gif=I had a parent storm out of an IEP meeting because we wouldn't agree to put an aggressive student back in to a public school setting. We also had issues with the student running out of the school building and angrily stalking around the neighborhood when the slightest thing upset him. The parent just started crying and stormed out, yelling at us that he wouldn't be able to experience prom.
We all just looked at each other in realization that our student 100% had learned this behavior from his parent.
Displays Of Unkindness
[rebelmouse-image 18348514 is_animated_gif=As a student teacher, I was placed in a multi-age gifted & talented classroom (fifth and sixth grades.). My mentor teacher was phenomenal, loved by all and incredible at her job.
One little girl in our class just could not keep up. She was simply not at the level of advancement that the other kids were. She was a happy, mellow kid who didn't really care, but her mother pushed her super hard and refused to believe she wasn't the height of giftedness. At the conference, I witnessed this mother berate and blame this incredible teacher, including telling her all the other parents were taking about how bad she was (lies.) It ended with my mentor teacher having tears in her eyes. This woman did it all in front of her 11-year-old daughter, who was silently miserable the whole time.
Sacré Bleu
[rebelmouse-image 18348515 is_animated_gif=I used to teach year 4 (8-9 year olds) in London. There's a lot of immigrant families in the area I taught at and it made for a very interesting classroom. Unfortunately, due to the British curriculum, I had to teach a foreign language to my class and the school had chosen French as the language. Good for me, I speak it reasonably well and definitely well enough to teach 8 year olds how to say where they live and what they do at the weekend, not well enough to do parent-teacher meetings in French to all the Congolese parents from my class. Several of the children went home and told their parents how I spoke French. One dad in particular decided that he would only speak French to me and I had to try and tell him why his daughter wasn't doing as well as he expected in a language I don't speak fluently.
When Americans visit a foreign country, they tend to notice immediate cultural differences from the minute they step off the plane.
Unique bathroom designs, how you might have to be more specific when ordering coffee in Australia, how many businesses in Spain tend to shut down for a few hours to take a siesta.
Needless to say, this goes both ways, as when people from all over the world visit the United States, they tend to be surprised and amazed by a number of things.
Ranging from the amusing, such as portion sizes and ineffective tea brewing (at least for the Brits) to the truly baffling (HEALTHCARE).
"Non-American people, what’s a thing that you don’t understand about America?"
You Mean, People DON'T File Their Own Taxes Elsewhere?!?!
"Does every worker have to file their own taxes or am I just confused?"- ThePencil67
"Why they make you calculate your own taxes, if they know what you owe."- redder2023
Flagrant Commercialism...
"So, why do you buy politicians' merchandise? "
"Shirts, caps, banners, stickers, etc."
"They're public servants, not rockstars."
"Also, usually the more boring they are, the better."- akashyy
Conor Mckenna Influencer GIF by FoilArmsandHogGiphyWork/Life Balance
"Scottish person here but the work/always available for work culture."
"Minimal vacation time, minimal maternity/paternity leave and the fact you can pretty much just be let go."
"It makes me sad to think about it!"
"But I do love that you guys cram so much into your time off - you guys love a road trip!"- Frosty_Dragonfly_682
Definitely Something To Consider...
"What is up with Homeowner Associations?"
"Why would you pay to let a nosy neighbor dictate what you can and can not do on your own property?"
"I understand living in an apartment block and paying maintenance fees etc, but in a suburban home?"- Skoodledoo
There Are Some Good Observations
"The amount of National Parks!"
"My dream came true in 2017 to make an RV trip southwest off USA."
"Yosemite blew my mind away."- Independent-Ad9787
national parks GIF by Visit The USAGiphyHAHAHA
"How you can say the word 'mirror' without the use of any vowels."
"Mrrrrrr."- Otto1968
I Ordered A Small!
"Why everything is just SO damn supersized."
"My first time in America I went to get ice coffee from Dunkin Donuts, I ordered a large and my friend is like, 'are you sure you want large'?"
"Yeah no biggie, in the UK a large is not overwhelming I feel so I was expecting the same kinda thing."
"Oh my god it was like a god damn bucket of coffee."
"I think maybe a small would have been equivalent to a UK large, lesson swiftly learnt."
Some People Are Lucky To Just Have One Roommate...
"How you have to share a room with some complete rando when you go to college."- ChoppingOnionsForYou
Roommates Move In GIF by James Madison UniversityGiphySome People Just Can't Stop Talking
"The culture of just talking to people, strangers you don't know and just up and start a conversation with them or join a conversation."
"I'm British, and we go through great lengths to not talk to people, let alone open up and pour our hearts out to a random person."- MrGlayden
In Other Words: Severs Deserve to Be Paid More!
"The tipping culture is so foreign to me, I would be so scared to make a mistake or not tipping enough if I ever go to America because it's not something which is common here in Denmark."- Cupsuu
The Commercials, Maybe?
"I’m American but I’ve worked with a lot of people who aren’t."
"The one thing they always wonder is why Americans are so obsessed with the NFL."
"They think it’s a boring sport."
"They explained 'you wait for 30 seconds, they hike the ball, you get about 5-10 seconds of action, then you wait another 30 seconds, another 5-10 seconds of action, then commercial break'."- yougotthesilver12
Kansas City Chiefs Football GIF by Fighting Illini AthleticsGiphySchool Is No Place To Have Fun!
"My mom is from Moscow during the Soviet Era, and she is confused why there is no teacher-student hierarchy."
'She thinks it's weird when teachers participate in school plays or speak to students informally."
"She also DOES NOT GET pajama day."
"To her, it's just the weirdest thing in the world."
"In Russia, there is an important distinction between 'clothes for home' and 'clothes for outside'."
"They have a concept of 'home clothes', like your cozy or ugly clothes, that you are supposed to change into after school or work."
"At bedtime, you change out of your 'home clothes' into pajamas."
"As a result, pajamas, for both adults and children, are considered extra-extra private in Russia."
"My mom perceives pajama day as something extreme like wearing only undergarments to school."
"That's how private pajamas are considered to be in Russia!"- racheltolmach2022
A Debate Which Will Likely Never End
"MM/DD/YYYY"- SuvenPan
animation domination calendar GIF by gifnewsGiphyLiving in America comes with a number of advantages and a number of detriments.
Speaking personally though, had I known I wouldn't have to file my own taxes in Australia, I would have expatriated long ago...
People Explain How They Realized Something They Do Frequently Wasn't Actually Normal
We've all found ourselves annoyed by the ticks or habits of others.
Some of these are fairly common, such as chewing with your mouth open, cracking your knuckles, or whether or not they pronounce the "T" in often.
Some habits are a bit more unusual, though.
Only the people guilty of possessing these habits might not realize that they're unusual until they are told by someone else that practically no one, or literally no one, else does them.
It's an eye-opening, sometimes humiliating discovery.
"What made you realize that something you always did wasn't normal?"
Undiagnosed Medical Condition
"'You know that high pitch sound everyone always hears? Wait... you don't?'"
"Apparently, I have tinnitus."- FarAmphibian4236
Hard To Imagine It Never Occurred To Them...
"When I was very young I thought it was normal to have blood on the toilet paper after pooping."
"Turns out it was hemorrhoids, apparently I have always had them."
"Yay!"- SuperevenDuper
And, Exhale...
"My mom is a yawn-yeller."
"When she yawns, you can hear it from anywhere in the house."
"One time my sister had a friend over, and we were in the basement'."
"My mom yawned upstairs, and my sister's friend asked 'was that a coyote?'"- ViolaWPeyton
sam winchester yawn GIFGiphySweet Or Disturbing?
"When I first started dating my now husband, ever time we kissed he made a 'muah' kiss sound with his voice."
"Like he literally said 'muah' every time we kissed."
"I asked him why and he said he thought everyone did that because his mom did it growing up."- thti87
Unusual, But Pretty Cool...
"As a kid I would read a street sign as we drove past and I would then make as many possible words out of the letters in that sign."
"Stop, top, tops, sop, pot, pots, to, so, post, etc."
"I told my sister one day that I couldn't come up with any more words to make with some sign and she made fun of me the rest of the way home."
'I quit after that. I'm still a pretty mean Boggle player though."- Limited_turkey
Whatever Helps You Sleep...
"Pre Bedtime cereal, I had a sleepover when I was a kid and was confused when we skipped bedtime cereal."- Mre64
Old Man Reaction GIF by LaffGiphyThere Are Worse Offenses
"I thought eating cereal without milk was normal until I went to summer camp and everyone stared at me like I killed the camp counselor."- spoilerdudegetrekt
It's Only Polite
"For me it was something I never did. In my twenties, I realized you're meant to make eye-contact when talking to people (I was feral)."- wys15wyg
Who Hasn't At Least Once...
"I got stopped by a cop once because I was talking to myself."
'I literally thought everyone just mumbled out their thoughts out loud."- azuresegugio
Talk Talking To Yourself GIF by The ChallengeGiphyUnlikely Source of Inspiration
'I'm an artist."
"I got asked one time why I draw hands looking 'like that' with all the fingers bent backwards.'
So I held up my hand in the same position as the one I just drew and it looked the same.'
"And that's how I found out I had EDS."- koinadian
The Bradys Can Certainly Relate
'Grew up in a house where seven people all shared one bathroom."
"Thought it was normal to get in the shower without waiting for the water to warm up."
"Everyone go fast before the water gets cold."
"Always wanted to try and be one of the first in line for the shower."- littleflower0929
Gesundheit!
"I was diagnosed with Arnold Chiari Malformation, which I like to say means my brain is too big."
"My wife says I have a misshapen skull...whatever...the bottom line is that my brain stem is excessively squeezed where it exits the skull through the hole on the bottom."
"I have a very minor case, but it causes randomly occurring neurologic issues."
"Upon learning of this diagnosis, my wife was reading up on the symptoms...many of which I knew were abnormalities."
"I was worried I had ALS because that is neurological."
"After reading a bit, she says, 'Do you have problems sneezing?'"
"I say, 'No, I sneeze all the time'."
"I mean, about every 4th or 5th sneeze, my vision goes white and I get dizzy and lose my balance, but I catch myself before I fall'."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm going to pass out, but I never have'."
"The look on her face was one of pure shock - wide eyes and mouth open'."
"Then I said, 'Now that I say that out loud, that probably isn't normal, is it?'"
"She responded with an emphatic, 'No it's not normal!'"
"It was normal for me because it has been that way for my entire life, so I never thought to mention it.."
"And no one had ever asked me what it felt like when I sneezed."
"And why would they?"
"Everybody sneezes, so everybody knows what it feels like."- TroubledWaterBridge
snow white and the seven dwarfs sneezing GIF by DisneyGiphyHeartbreaking
"The first time I was staying at a friends house when I was in middle school I kept waiting for his parents to start fighting."
"His dad came home, food wasn't done yet, I was waiting for that fight."
'The Youngest brother didn't do his chores."
"I kept waiting for the screaming to start, I had braced myself for it, and it never happened."
"That's when I started realizing that parents aren't supposed to fight every night and drag their kids into it."
"Every day I got off the bus and would have to mentally brace myself before walking through the front door."
"Hoping my mom wouldn't find some random reason to shout at me for 3 hours."
"FYI I'm pretty good now."
"Moved out immediately when I was 18 and lived with a different friend."
"It's been 10ish years now."- Wesley_Otsdarva
If the worst thing you might be doing is getting on someone else's nerves, it doesn't really matter whether or not what you're doing is "normal."
But if you're worried something might not be normal about your health, probably best to call your doctor immediately.
Americans Explain How Hollywood Movies About High School Compare To Their Own Experiences
My entire childhood was comprised of watching Hollywood movies about high school.
From High School Musical, I learned that theater is uncool and no jock would be caught dead in a musical. The Breakfast Club made me think Saturday detention wasn't so bad. I learned that teachers can be manipulated from Clueless, and Mean Girls showed me how divided high school kids are based on their cliques.
When I actually started high school, none of those lessons helped me. I knew several jocks who were talented musicians and starred in every musical. I never had Saturday detention, but I heard enough horror stories to know it was awful. Teachers are not fools who bend to a student's will, and cliques are almost a myth. Yes, the cheerleaders hang out with other cheerleaders, but they don't dump food all over the honors kids.
Very few high school movies reflect the actual high school experience. Redditors know this all to well and were ready to share their stories.
It all started when Redditor Many-Guide-8986 asked:
“Americans, how true are ‘American high school movies’ compared to real life high school?”
Unrealistic Understanding
"Different enough to warp the expectations of certain people. Someone upthread said that movies are designed by Hollywood execs to fill story niches and archetypes, which is pretty accurate. We're watching a story that has to be carefully crafted to fill the expectations of all the audience members, and the audience expects Reese Witherspoon as prom queen, Bill Gates as captain of the chess team, Jack Black's the clown, and Brad Pitt's the quarterback...even though that doesn't actually happen."
"There's more truth in Napoleon Dynamite than there is in Bring It On or Mean Girls."
– ScarnAndMacklinFBI
Party In The Parking Lot
"Most high school students don’t arrive to school early enough to tailgate in the parking lot"
– mattpsu79
"most are also not in their mid 20's and driving BMW's and Range Rovers, etc."
– ONESNZER0S
Time To Talk
"A weird thing is how they seemingly show it as if kids just have time to talk and chat in the middle of the day in the hallway by their lockers when in reality you're booking it across the building because you have 5 minutes to go from the first floor, get to your locker on the second floor, and then run all the way across the 3rd floor to your 3rd period class."
"Also dunno about y'all but I got only 25 minutes for lunch in HS, so nobody was milling about during lunch either in the halls."
– 14DusBriver
I Vant To Drink Your Blood
"there are way less vampires in real life high schools."
– NorthImpossible8906
"way less"
"i notice you didn't say none 👀"
– thedustynerve
"yeah with all the werewolfs they dont stand a chance"
– lunamuna239
Bullying Isn't Funny
"Speaking just for my school, not even close. Bullying is never as obvious as it is in movies (nobody dumps their tray on anyone or purposefully trips the new kid, actually most people are pretty friendly), most of the teachers and the principal are well- liked, there aren't well- defined cliques (nerdy group, jocks, cheerleaders, etc.) but there are large friend groups that intertwine and overlap and there is definitely drama. They do get active shooter drills and the amount of drugs/ smoking/ vaping right, though. Also, crazy, entitled parents."
"Edit: We don't go to school at 10 am, the sun is almost never up until after we arrive. And yes, we do get 2-3 hours of homework most days."
– CJgreencheetah
"I remember one time in school, I was walking down the hall with my books in my arms. A random bully ran down the hall and slapped them down, hard, sending all my stuff flying everywhere."
"In a movie, everyone would point and laugh. In movies, that sort of obvious bullying of a nerd would be treated as funny and normal."
"In reality, the other kids gasped, and a few random kids stopped and helped me gather up my things. I remember one girl saying, "That was so mean.""
– rotatingruhnama
On A Mission
"The fact that Superbad spent a whole movie trying to obtain alcohol is totally realistic. We absolutely had whole evening adventures trying to get booze. The Hawaii driver's license was definitely a thing in the mid 1990s. California IDs had holograms earlier and couldn't be faked anymore. Several people at school at fake Hawaii IDs back then. I'm sure one of the writers must be my age from CA."
"I watched this movie with an ex (South American), and he was confused because they all just bought booze from the tiendas when they were like 13."
– ninjaparking
The Most Important Meal Of The Day
"No family eats breakfast together before school/work."
– Sea-Sport7982
"And nobody goes out for a big sit down breakfast before school, either."
"I remember laughing because The OC always showed the characters going out for a nice breakfast in a restaurant before class, as if teenagers get up that early."
– rotatingruhnama
"This always drives me nuts in tv & movies. I don’t know ANYONE whose mom makes a huge spread like that for breakfast every day. Pancakes? Sure - but just pancakes, not also fresh cut fruit and orange juice and toast and etc etc etc. No one sits down to a huge meal like that every morning."
"AND, it’s usually dark out when most people are leaving for school/work. Only in the summer is bright that early."
– karmaandcandy
No One Is Just One Thing
"Friend groups are more porous than they make. For instance, there were football players that also acted in school plays, or wrestlers also in the math club."
"The bullying is less dramatic. Nobody is actually getting locked in a locker."
"We did actually use those red cups at parties that you always see in movies, my non-American friends were always shocked when I told them that."
– The_Nomadic_Nerd
Teenagers Only
"IRL there are far fewer 35 y.o. HS students."
– getbeaverootnabooteh
In Awe Of No One
"No one cares that much about the "popular" group of students, most people just mind their own business if they aren't with their friends."
– daaaa_meemer
A Regular Hangout
"We had 2:30 in between class periods. We did not have time to lean against the lockers and talk. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows, sometimes the wind blows; we had to go to school then too."
"In the winter it was very cold, in the summer it was unbearably hot. I bet they've fixed that because the expensive electronics would cook themselves. A school didn't need anything like that when they built the building."
"Usually there was some construction crew outside banging and hammering on something. There was no restaurant that we all hung out in. We did mob a pizza place a few times after the dances."
"They got mad because their employees were too busy, they didn't make enough money off of us and because the old people buying expensive food couldn't get through us. We caused numerous major traffic jams because we kept crossing the street."
"The cops showed up to direct traffic. The pizza place complained. The police went to the school and they told our parents that we had to stop. They let kept the rec center open later for us instead. They actually did put on a really good after party for the middle school dances after that. They just herded us all into there and told us we'd need to go home if we left or we'd get into trouble."
– Jaysnewphone
Just Dance
"I’m gonna take a guess that people don’t settle disputes with dance-offs"
– Cal1094
"well how disappointing"
– siciowaThe9
"When I was back in high school, break dancing was undergoing a small come back before getting swallowed up by Capoeira becoming the hot new thing."
"I witnessed several dance-offs. Only one was about a date. Most were about who was "da'best.""
– zenprime-morpheus
As a horrible dancer, I’m quite relieved we never did this!
I love money.
If I had an endless supply, I might throw it away with abandon.
But I am not blessed with that level of abundance.
Some people really take spending to an extreme.
To a point where maybe others should be in charge of their purse and wallet.
Redditor Shadowclook21 wanted to hear about the times we've seen people waste money on nonsense, so they asked:
"What is the dumbest thing you've seen someone spend their money on?"
I get we all like nice things, but we have to be smart with our coins.
Wake Up!
Good Morning Time GIF by Berk's Beans CoffeeGiphy"An alarm clock coffee machine. It was me."
ineedanusername_
When on FB
"My wife is in a lot of mom groups on Facebook. The amount of people who beg for help for their poor babies who won’t get any Christmas/birthday gifts who also show off brand new giant tattoos is amazing. She shows me every time she finds one of these people and it happens all the time. Usually multiple recent photos of them out drinking and partying as well."
"So yeah, there’s a lot of people out there who blow big money in tattoos and partying instead of setting aside a little bit of money for their kids."
clocks212
Scratched
"Knew a girl who would spend all her money on scratchers and drugs. She would constantly go on about how when she finally won big she was going to move and get clean.... He grandmother gave her a 20 - 30k inheritance. Nothing changed except how many scratchers she would buy. I saw her buy out whole rolls occasionally. She wised up with the last few thousand and put some advance rent on an apartment (was in a motel) and fixed her car. But that money was gone in less than 2 months."
Sub_pup
60 Bucks
"PSA: Accidental subscriptions. Remember, kids, if you sign up for a free trial, be prepared to cancel that s**t the second they allow you. Otherwise, they'll start charging automatically."
xisiko1120
Kaboom
Im Ready Independence Day GIFGiphy"My neighbors once spent all their money on a private firework show, then had to hide their cars from the repo man for months. No longer neighbors."
redheadedstepchild54
Neighbors are always going to neighbor.
Classics
sia diplo GIF by LSDGiphy"I bought a cassette tape two weeks ago. I don't even have a way to play cassettes but I still bought it."
sibipi3040
They're Everywhere
"My Mum has spent $1000s on crystals and stones. She continues to, and gives them as gifts, I have no idea wtf to do with them so I put them in my plants pots then she gets upset for some reason. Send help please."
Necessary_Oil_9779
"Get her a rock tumbler and have her tumble her own and try to identify them. Cheaper in the long run. Makes for a more interesting hobby too, if she gets into it. It will get her out of the house and into nature. Crystals are everywhere, they literally litter the earth. A lot of ordinary-looking rocks turn out quite beautiful once they've been tumbled."
TerrifyinglyAlive
Just a Waste
"I dated a guy who would still use his debit card even when his account was over drafted because he didn’t realize he was charged overdraft fees for every transaction. I had to explain to him his single snickers bar or bag of chips or whatever from the vending machine was now costing him an extra $35. And he did this multiple times every single shift he worked."
beaniequeeny
5 More Minutes
"Gambling machines. I work in a bar room. People will play these machines for 12+ hours and never win. Then they Win $700 the next night and think they’re on top... it’s insane. They look like zombies sitting there in a trance. Once had to unplug the machine on a patron who would not leave for closing. Kept saying '5 more minutes.'"
BrianFrom97
OnlyCrap
"I worked with a guy who'd spend 200-300 bucks a week on OnlyFans. He'd brag about it, I guess he thought of he'd spent enough he might get lucky or something."
TheRealJokar
Why do some people spend with such abandon? It makes no sense to me, but it's not my money.
Have you ever witnessed someone blow a load of cash on something crazy? Let us know in the comments below.