
Some people aren't meant to do certain jobs, whether we like to hear it or not. Having a bad teacher is especially dreadful: A teacher's job is to foster an environment conducive to the learning process. A bad one can discourage a child from pursuing even the subjects in which they display considerable talent.
After Redditor Duo1412 asked the online community, "People of Reddit, who was your worst teacher, and why?" people shared their stories... and we find ourselves feeling infuriated on their behalf.
"Ended up spending the night..."
Had to get a bad test signed by a parent. Came home to my mom having serial seizures. Ended up spending the night in the hospital with her. When I told my 5th grade teacher why I couldn't get it signed, she said it was no excuse and I kept the F. As I turned around while crying, my crush was right there looking at me creeped out.
"The teacher who..."
The teacher who used to touch girls' shoulders and backs all the time, and sat on a girl's lap during our lesson once.
"She also led the cheerleading squad..."
A freshman year English teacher who had us do a pie chart assigning blame for the holocaust after reading Elie Wiesel's "Night." One of the categories was "Jews for not trying to escape," and another was "God." When we asked if we could assign zero to any categories she said no.
She also led the cheerleading squad and harassed girls in her class to join, like going down a line and asking each girl why they hadn't signed up for cheer, but would pointedly skip girls she didn't like in front of the class.
"I wish Hell was a real place..."
My fourth grade teacher got the entire class to say they hated my guts in unison with her 3 times. She similarly publicly humiliated other children as well
During parent teacher interviews she would rant on and on about how we were all "sex perverts" and obsessed with sex. Did I mention we were fourth graders?
She believed that ice cream had automotive antifreeze in it, that the reflective lines on the road were made from condor retinas (WTF) and that meat in the supermarket was coloured red with highly toxic dye. She would smoke in the classrooms during recess and there were rumours that the cigarettes were accompanied by rye whiskey.
In geography she taught us that the continent of Australia was named after a country in Europe (next to Switzerland) and that each state was a separate country with a different language. Tasmanians may be surprised to learn that they should be speaking Portuguese in their little island republic. When kids who had been to or had relatives Down Under corrected her, she became enraged and said no single country would "be allowed" to occupy an entire continent
I wish Hell was a real place so she could spend eternity there. A person like that has no business working with kids.
"If I asked him any questions..."
My 6th grade teacher used to join in with the bullies when they're ere making fun of me, and laugh when I started crying. If I asked him any questions he would repeat the question in a mocking voice and the bullies would laugh.
"Here's a 50 page paper..."
Here's a 50 page paper of chemistry problems. Finish it by the end of class and don't make a sound unless you're asking me a question I'll berate you for.
"This might make it sound..."
Grade 8 HR teacher.
She is basically as two-faced as a person can be. If she liked you, then she spares no effort or expense to make sure that everything is absolutely perfect just for you. If she dislikes you, she spares no effort or expense to make your life absolute hell.
This might make it sound like all you'll need to do is get on her good side, but it's not nearly that simple. She has a very specific set of expectations from the students she likes, and will go out of her way to impose those expectations on those students. Being a favorite of hers is basically surrendering any semblance of autonomy in the class. And if by some sheer force of will a student dares defy her, then that student is automatically placed at the bottom of the classroom hierarchy and loathed for the the rest of the year.
I was one of the students who went from being a favorite to being the bottom, and let me tell you, it very noticeably f***** up my education and set me on a course for failure.
"I often wonder how sadistic a person must be..."
My 6th grade teacher.
For some reason, he picked one kid as his whipping boy for the year and made his life miserable. Well, I was the lucky winner. I confirmed this with my brother because he said he did it to another kid when he had him.
I'll admit that I wasn't the best 6th grader. I was having problems at home and he was making things 10x worse. He would make me dance in front of the class if I acted out. He would read my answers to essay questions to the class if he thought they were stupid. One time he even showed the class my awful handwriting and asked if he should give me a zero because he had a hard time reading it. Of course the class agreed and he gave me a zero. The sounds of the entire class laughing at me cut me deep. Plus, the class thinks they have carte blanche to pick on you on the playground if the teacher gets to pick on you. Sixth grade was not fun for me.
I often wonder how sadistic a person must be to pick on little kids. How could they possibly enjoy it?
"She gave students no space to develop..."
Mine was an old lady that led one of the first projects last schoolyear. I study Art Communication and Design and obviously every teacher has their own idea about what art or design is supposed to be, but this lady enforced her own views like facts. She gave students no space to develop their own concept and failed everyone who tried to stick to themselves. In addition to that she was also extremely rude to anyone who questioned or challenged her views. Luckily I never got on her bad side but I'm happy she retired.
"I have a certain disability..."
There was this one lady who was very picky about how our folders looked. I have a certain disability that influences my handwriting a lot and doesn't make it look as neat as the other girls. She regularly used the things I wrote, my folder, etc as a negative example even though I followed all of her criteria. It just happened to look crooked. I was being bullied a lot during that time and lost a lot of trust in my teachers because of her.
"As of now..."
Our Italian teacher in elementary school. She scared us so much that now, in middle school, we're scared to answer questions because we might be wrong.
She would yell at us and sometimes belittle us if we got an answer wrong.. so people got scared of answering.. that also gave me a lot of anxiety when i needed to answer a question or do a test, i was a good student but i was hella scared that i would get one thing wrong and get yelled at, i hate being yelled at and it scared me a lot more back then...
We tried to tell our parents but they dismissed it as her being strict and us being too dramatic. Just now i realize we were not and that was definitely mental abuse..
As of now I'm trying to get more courage and answer questions, even if I'm not 110% they're right, but I'm scared that the first teacher that we have like that will make me scared again and i will lose all the progress i made this year... We have way better teachers in middle school now!
"Last I heard..."
A middle school substitute teacher who constantly made kids cry and allegedly threw a stapler at a student's older sister once. Last I heard, she was somehow still subbing.
"He may not have been dramatically bad..."
An art professor at Hofstra University when i was there for one year. He was assigned to me as my teacher as part of a "package curriculum" for first year so I couldn't switch teachers or drop the class.
His class was meant as just teaching about different art styles and doing art projects that wouldn't be judged but would be encouraged to find the deeper meaning. However despite being required to have a neutral take, he was definitely a modern art snob who was pompous and a know-it-all and did judge others' art as bad or not.
He may not have been dramatically bad but I can confidently say my experience with him was the least fruitful.
"Later that year..."
I had a teacher who was prone to anger attacks in the middle of class. He would scream at the class often, and on one occasion he even smashed a student's computer.
Later that year he was arrested for a case of animal abuse and was removed from teaching.
"I would often complain about..."
Mine was Señor Toro, my high school algebra teacher. I would often complain about how he taught class, in which he often contradicted himself or was plain wrong on a lot of concepts. My mother, who is a math major, still tells me to this day that he was a moron.
He also stank of coffee, which he drank constantly.
"It's tough to say which teacher was the worst one..."
It's tough to say which teacher was the worst one, because I've had so many lousy teachers.
When I was a senior in high school, my government teacher told another senior to ensure that he (the senior) didn't place his penis in the pencil sharpener. My teacher used to frequently say weird sexual comments. I told a guidance counselor about it, and then it stopped.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I took Algebra 2 and my teacher didn't know how to teach. She would do example problems and then give us worksheets - every day. She never explained the theory behind the math problems she was doing. She never looked up from the projector when she was writing notes. Frequently, my classmates would walk around the class, talk, and build stuff out of cardboard boxes in the class.
When I was in college, one of my professors called my dad once. That was bizarre, since it was illegal (due to FERPA) and most college professors have 0 desire to contact students' parents about the student's class performance. I still don't know how my professor got my dad's number. I reported my professor to his supervisor, but I don't know if he ever got disciplined.
"His name still lingers around the school..."
I had a religious studies teacher who was fairly strange. He would show up to class at least 10 minutes late and when he did he would always stare at the girls in my class. There were girls he would talk to in particular who he would always joke with and play around.
He was actually a very good teacher and we all got high grades in his class. One day during class he was no where to be seen so we all did our own thing because we had free time. A few days later we didn't see him still so we started to get worried until it was announced. The principal assembled us all into the cafeteria before lunch and announced why he was fired.
"He told me and some of my friends..."
My 6th grade teacher. He told me and some of my friends that we would grow up to be homeless bums living on the street, thereby completely killing my self-confidence and motivation to succeed in school.
"So everyone who laughed..."
In 9th grade I had a miserable English teacher. She would always yell at me for doing nothing in particular. I never did anything wrong to her. One day she was leaning on the desk while teaching and it started creaking. She kept teaching then boom. The table leg bent in a way that made the whole table collapse with her on it.
Every one started laughing. Sure I smiled but I didn't start mocking her like the rest of the kids. Before she left the room I started fiddling with my hair because my hair tie broke. She eventually came back crying with the vice principal and started telling about how we almost killed her and how we laughed as if we planned it.
So everyone who laughed got suspended. I didn't laugh, sweet so I'm not getting suspended... so I thought. The quiet kids and the vice principals favorite students didn't get suspended but then she called my name. I was called to the office to be suspended. When I asked why, it was for "teasing the teacher with your hair." I failed to mention the English teacher is bald.. by her own choice. So I got suspended because I tried to fix my hair during a class while the teacher wasn't teaching.
"I was doing great..."
I was doing great in chemistry in my first year got an A grade then the teacher left school as he moved to Germany. The next year I got a teacher who was primarily a graphic/textiles but because they studied chemistry at A level it made them qualified to teach it at GCSE. Did my mock paper for exams and got an F. She just wasn't great at explaining and rather chat with the popular girls. Ended up learning the textbook 2 weeks before the final exam and came out with a B grade.
"Our Italian teacher..."
Our Italian teacher in elementary school. She scared us so much that now, in middle school, we're scared to answer questions because we might be wrong.
She would yell at us and sometimes belittle us if we got an answer wrong.. so people got scared of answering.. that also gave me a lot of anxiety when I needed to answer a question or do a test, I was a good student but I was hella scared that I would get one thing wrong and get yelled at, I hate being yelled at and it scared me a lot more back then...
We tried to tell our parents but they dismissed it as her being strict and us being too dramatic. Just now I realize we were not and that was definitely mental abuse.
As of now, I'm trying to get more courage and answer questions, even if I'm not 110% they're right, but I'm scared that the first teacher that we have like that will make me scared again and I will lose all the progress I made this year... We have way better teachers in middle school now!
"She was teaching..."
She was teaching ancient Greek and for some reason she didn't like anyone. She made around 100 children to give exams in summer to pass the class (I was one of them) she gave to everyone 6 out of 20 in grades. I almost needed to repeat the class.
"Of course there are some caveats..."
This is more in college:
I've had several, it all boils down to pushing a political agenda. Right, left, doesn't matter. Do what you're paid to do and teach the materials for the class. I don't care if you don't agree with me, I'm not here to hear you complain about the government, or sing its praises. If it is a discussion outside of class (or in some sort of political class) and the responses are thought out and educated then that would be fine. Teach the class, and that's it. Of course, there are some caveats, but I don't care what side you lean towards. Teach the class, that's it.
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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