Being a teacher doesn't mean you're a genius or a magician. Teachers are human beings and make errors in judgement all of the time, just like the rest of us. However some teachers just shouldn't be teachers. And need to watch what falls out of their mouths without thought. It is a job meant to be heavy in facts and lighter in opinion.
Redditor u/doitypemyname wanted to hear what some educators thought was a good idea to say to a student.... What's the worst advice a teacher has given you?
Read between the lines Butthead!
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I'll never forget the day that my teacher told me, to quit writing and trying to make my stories more believable. I remember in high school I once wrote a paper and I was super proud of this paper. I couldn't wait to turn it in and I felt like I did a great job but when it was time to get our papers back I didn't get mine. I asked my teacher about it and I'll never forget this. He called me to his desk and told me you obviously stole this paper because there's no way you could have written this. I suggest you work on your editing skills and from that day on every time I wrote I thought about that teacher and how big of butt head he was. TannenBoom
Mom for the Win!Â
My aunt died and i was off for a week to attend her funeral. I came back and tells me I missed a really important test. I tell her my Aunt died and she said, "What's more important to you? You're future or a funeral?" I was very shy at the time and i just shrugged. I went home and told my Mother. Woooooooooooooo did that teacher get a verbal smackdown. Wackydetective
Be a man then get cancer....Â
When asked if he smoked cigarettes (he always stunk of smoke), my 8th grade history teacher literally said. "Yep, two packs of camels a day. Makes a man out of you. Puts hair on your chest." elleyesee
I need a challenge....
My high school counselor told me i didn't need to take honors classes, but they're the only ones that challenged me and also they got me college credit. racheltheharvey
You're History Buddy!
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My high school history teacher once said "If someone asks a question, and you don't know the answer, just make it up. It's better to tell someone something now, and correct yourself later." I transferred out of his class ASAP. petey_b_311
Strike 1.... You're Out!Â
She told me I should just come out to my parents already because she was "sure they would understand," never mind the fact that they're mormon and have straight up told me that they would never accept me if I ever came out. And she knew this too. If I had followed her advice my whole life would have been so screwed. I almost got outed by her too. YallNeedJesus420
Now they tell me....Â
Today my maths teacher said, and I quote, "don't bother reading the question just do some work and hope it's the right stuff." WaLrUsClAn
Stay outside the lines....Â
My kindergarten teacher had a conference with my mother about how my coloring was so bad I would have big problems in my academic career. Not only did I get a doctorate, but I also have an art degree. It turns out coloring is not such an important skill. I still suck at it. I am a sculptor. I don't have great fine motor coordination, but I've got more than enough tenacity to make up for it. No one tells me what I can or cannot do. My gift in life is the drive to practice the hell out of things, until I master it. Sultanaspoon
Try Again Dear....Â
My 8th grade teacher told us that our grades would ABSOLUTELY fall one full letter grade in 9th grade. It made many of the people in our class slack because "it was bound to happen anyways." I'm sure his intent was to motivate us but it failed miserably. tsnow914
Some people shouldn't teach.... Ugh!
Not given to me, but at an IEP meeting for a kid with some behavioral challenges, the parent expressed concern that maybe the kid was acting up because he was placed (in my mind, incorrectly) in remedial classes and he was bored.
Another teacher replied the kid wasn't bored and the world will always needs janitors. arlingtonheightsMA
Blu Collar Success....
'If you go to trade school, you'll be living hand-to-mouth your whole life.' Not even close to accurate. trocar88
Ha, my electrician dad, had his house paid off in his forties, has all kinds of toys, including two Harley's and a motorized boat you drive with your feet, remodeled the house, built a large garage detached from the house with plumbing and electrical, plus other stuff. He's retiring early to do more fun things. Yeah, I'm in trade school right now. GraytScott
SMH...
That my ADD was all in my head and that I need to just get over it. WillFlash4DoggoPics
A Group Effort....
My english teacher (optative in an non speaking english country) punished the whole class to stay after school hours, just because some people were talking and not paying attention.
I went really mad because i was working hard trying to learn something and i never gave any problem, like most people in the subject, so I left the class after confronting my teacher about the matter, and her refusing to acknowledge that it was unfair for almost everyone.
Later I was called into the principal office, were the teacher told me that "I never should undermine my teacher or superior power even if they were wrong."
In the end more people complained about the group punishment (and more problems within the class) so I didn't get in any trouble about the issue. Oinotna9
Blame it on Mom...
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Not advice just a shitty thing said by a teacher... she told my mom that my brothers may have gotten through her class but I wouldn't be as lucky.
I failed the class three times with her until they let me take it with another teacher and I passed first try. All of that stress because this teacher didn't like my mom. squishjackson
You First....
Try to change yourself a bit so you fit with these people even if you don't like them. VentusLeonidas
Stop Listening....
Think it was 1990-ish, told my teacher i want to work with computers/programing. Got the answer : there is no money when working with those, you need a real job. Like builder or something... Worst part is, i followed the advice... Fml shuur
Maybe I should teach?
My high school math teacher told my mum to un-enroll me from maths and physics, and to give up on me ever getting into any scientific field at Uni because I was too stupid. Jokes on him, just got my BBsc with a distinction and am currently enrolled with in my second degree. feelinwhitney98
More to Life than MLA....
You are going to use MLA citations in every paper you ever do in every class from now until ever. (My librarian in middle school.) This was true until I got out of high school. As soon as I got out of high school all I ever used in college was APA and it was like learning an entire new language for the longest time and it may be petty, but I'm still mad at them for being so sure that MLA was all there was in the world. OfficerMAGA
Don't Lose the Dream...
"You will never get a job in programming or game development as it's so competitive, it's not a sensible career choice." 14 year old me was impressionable enough to believe him and so when it came to picking my A Levels I went for humanity based subjects and subsequently did a degree at University along the same lines. 30 year old me will never quite forget that piece of 'advice' and how it pushed a little kid away from his dream down an entirely different path. Akkyoy
Mr. Bechtel needs an assist....
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Oh boy, I love this story. In 8th grade science we were taking about the properties of matter and one of the discussions was about how the volume of matter shrinks when it transitions from liquid to solid. I immediately put up my hand and said "But [Teacher], whenever I make ice at home the cubes seem to be bigger than the water that I put in the tray."
His response, which I'll never forget: "Well I guess the laws of physics don't apply inside your freezer." and he left it at that. No further discussion or explanation.
Well guess what, Mr. Bechtel, according to Wikipedia "When water freezes, it increases in volume (about 9% for fresh water)" so I guess the laws of Physics just don't apply to your STEM degree you ass hat.
Teachers of Reddit: please encourage your curious students. homemadestoner
Try not to follow the bad advice given here, because you don't want to get the results that these guys did.
U/Duckerton375 asked: What's the worst advice someone ever gave you, but you still followed?
The workplace can bring a cornucopia of terrible advice. Don’t follow these unless you want to get fired.
​Bad jobs are usually not worth it.
Stick with a job no matter how bad it is. I stayed with a terrible job working retail, dealing with horrible customers and sexual harassment. I was told I wouldn't find anything better.
"No, no, you misunderstand. I said you wouldn't find anything better at making you feel like complete garbage."
This gets really creepy really fast.
frustrated workplace GIFGiphy"After you put in a job application, you need to call them at least once a day every day until they hire you."
Note: this did not get me hired. It got me called out by the HR person I was calling and forbidden to ever contact their facility again.
I work for a law firm that employees over 1500 people in the home office alone. Once I received a call from the building security saying, "Insert Name is here to speak with the owner." Well we are run by a committee so that's odd. Found out they just applied for a job and wanted to talk directly to the person that would potentially hire them. Told him the firm will contact them to schedule an interview. They refused to leave without "talking to the owner." Had security escort them out of the building.
​This is absolutely not true.
"Sleep is for people who do not want success" great words from my uncle, it almost killed me.
Now I may be oversleeping.
​Interpersonal relationships are also a big breeding ground for terrible advice. Don’t listen to any of these.
Heartbreaking.
My father always tought me and my brother that "having friends is bad and in the end they will never be there for you" so everytime I told my father about my friends he would get kinda mad and give me the advice to stop talking to them.
Now I am afraid of people and have several trust issues, thanks dad.
​This won’t end well.
A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditorGiphyIn the fifth grade my teacher was talking about bullying, then she said "if anyone tries to bully you just agree with them." So the next time I got bullied I agreed with the bully and they bullied me more.
Dude one time I saw an anti bullying video that told the victims to just BE NICE TO THE BULLY. Like the bully was hurling insults and the victim was smiling and complimenting him. My first thought was about how much I hated the mere thought that this would work. My second thought was of how the people who came up with that method had clearly never been bullied.
​Oof.
When I met my now wife at the age of 19, one of my coworkers said that it's very important to start at the bottom with presents and work your way up, she still has the socks I gave her on our first anniversary on the wall over our bed as a reminder...
I'm still trying to teach my boyfriend about good presents and bad presents. Biscuits from the supermarket = bad present. Cheap unbranded laptop battery from China as my only present = bad present (and only lasted 2 months). Anything off my 7-page wishlist = good present. It's literally a list of things I want to receive as presents.
​Can tell you from experience that this is a bad idea.
Had a falling out with some friends. My husband recommended I reach out to an old friend who ghosted me suddenly in a manner that induced some pretty severe abandonment trauma. Went for it anyways because "it's been so long, surely they changed". Am now experiencing the same things as last time.
When you follow bad advice, it can lead to mistakes that you just can’t come back from.​
Buying a house is tricky.
for sale dancing GIF by Lisa VertudachesGiphy"Buy a home now before the prices go up!" -my FIL in 2006.
We bought in 2007 and paid $259,500 for our 1,300 sq ft house (we really couldn't afford it and had an 80/20 so we had 8% interest for one loan and 6% on the other) and in 2008 it was worth $97,000 so refinancing wasn't even an option. We watched all of our neighbors walk away or get foreclosed on but we kept paying our bills and as of this very moment our house is worth $462,000. I'm so happy we stuck it out, we both worked our @sses off and the house will be paid off in 2 years.
It worked out for us, it's a horrible idea. Especially since 1300 sq ft houses are $460+k
My heartbreaks for future generations, I honestly don't know how people are going to afford housing in the future.
It’s there for a reason.
"Never apply for any government assistance."
Cue years of suffering trying to work full-time with a painful disability. Quit a particularly terrible job, and wanted to apply for food aid until I could find another gig; a friend with lots of DHS experience recommended I apply for Social Security "just to get in the system." Turns out my disability was bad enough to get accepted the first time, which I wasn't expecting. Really could've used that support, oh, the 30+ previous years of my life.
Credit is important to have.
I was told to not get a credit card until after college. I was super fortunate to have my college paid for so I had no loans, car paid in cash, no credit card or anything to start building credit. Found myself out in the world at 22 years old with a credit score of 0.
So while a lot of this bad advice came from trusted people, oftentimes they were too misinformed to give that advice in the first place. Don't trust the word of one person--do your research, and make decisions for yourself.
It'll be way better in the long run