As adults, whenever you see teenagers being boisterous or rough-housing others, we tend to roll our eyes and move, chalking it up to youth.
I don't know about you, but when I was younger, in high school, I felt invincible and acted accordingly with my classmates without a care in the world.
But there is such a thing as going too far, and even teens who know better, generally know when they've overstepped a boundary.
Curious to hear of those instances, Redditor Silent-Zebra asked strangers online to reflect back on their youth.
They asked:
"What's something that a friend/classmate did in high school that was seen as funny at the time, but you now realise was actually not ok?"
The cruelty of these students showed no bounds.
Why An Elevator Was Installed
"Had a kid in my year who'd had a surgery that left a nerve bundle in his neck exposed. If pressed it would paralyse him. From memory it was for spina bifida and for some ungodly reason he told everyone."
"Certain boys took great pleasure in going down stairs behind him and pressing it which completely paralysed him for a few seconds and he'd fall like a brick. Usually onto whoever was in front of him."
"So dangerous. There were a fair few teeth knocked out because of this, his and other people's."
"It happened so much that in his 3rd year the school installed an elevator and you had to have a special key to use it. He got the only permanent issue key at that time."
"Kids are a**holes."
– notalotasleep
Teachers Are People Too
"In the 6th grade, I had a friend who was a troublemaker and a class-clown. I’ve always hated going to my math class because my teacher was a cranky old lady who’d yell at you for the smallest things. Me being an 11-year old, I actually had the worst anxiety just knowing I could be the next person yelled at in front of the class. The one thing that helped get through the year was that friend cause I knew he’d always make jokes and have me almost in tears cause they were that funny."
"One day, when my teacher walked out to use the bathroom, that friend went over to her desk, picked up the mug she was drinking out of, and spat out the biggest loogie into it. We all saw it and just waited for her to come back. 10 mins later, as she was just normally teaching, she picks up her mug and chugs it down. Everybody just starts laughing and giggling, including me, but nobody said anything when she questioned it. It was horrible but I wasn’t about to be the kid who snitched."
"Later on during the school year, I guess we had a day where it didn’t start at the normal 7:30am but instead 10:30am, but I didn’t know so I showed up really early. A bunch of kids didn’t get the memo so we were all just placed in the cafeteria until school actually started. Around 9ish, my math teacher noticed I was sitting out in the cold and invited me to her class where it was warm. When I got there, she let me work on my missed homework and even let me eat breakfast in her class. She asked me about home life, school life, if I had any friends, etc. she made me feel welcome. She then told me about her life, about her only son, about her husband who passed away from cancer 20 years back. She was very sweet."
"This was like back in 2008, and I think she was like 70 years old. I don’t even know if she’s still alive after all these years. But I wish I could go back and stop my 'friend' from doing what he did. :("
– byJSN
Imprisoning The Teacher
"Our religion teacher went into the cupboard for supplies, she was quite strict and not liked but now I’m an adult I realise it doesn’t excuse what happened next. The class clown snuck up and locked her in the cupboard. We all thought it was hilarious at the time and we all left the class. She was in there for the rest of the class until another teacher found her in there crying an hour later. She took 2 weeks off after that"
– usernamegenerator98
Adults later realized the severity of some bad behavior back in the day.
Revenge
"Few messed up kids in my primary school lit a teachers car on fire, just because she gave one of them failing grade on midterm. It wasn't one of the mean teachers, she was mostly nice to students. Cops got involved but don't think they got punished accordingly, i know one of them was in and out of juvie already, and were all around 13- 14yr old, one was even in nazi sh*t. I know later on those kids got all tangled in dealing and robberies, probably all went to jail at some point."
– spooch001
Changing Nickname
"In our school there was a teacher who had a mole, so of course the kids decided her nickname would now be 'mole.' She must have felt really hurt, as she eventually had the mole removed, leaving a little dent where it used to be. Did everyone then stop calling her names? Nope. They started calling her 'hole' instead."
– bemmu
Free Bike
"this was in elementary: my dad bought a brand new bike for me and i rode it to the park and these older kids came up to me and asked if one of them could take it for a test drive. i said ok and about 10 seconds in, i see the guy riding my bike being pushed off and my bike being stolen right in front of me. the older kids 'helped' me look for my stolen bike but growing up I realized that they plotted this whole thing and yeah i basically gave my brand new bike away."
– SingaporeanSlaw
Nobody got hurt, but it doesn't mean certain actions don't sting.
Future Indication Of Trouble
"Living in the Netherlands. Classmate was showing on his phone a whole online shop he claimed to have with all kinds of drugs and weapons. We thought it was funny because we didn't take it too serious. He dropped out of school early and turned out to be a big drug dealer. Well we could have known I guess."
– Environmental-Cold24
The Drama Department Wasn't Involved
"A kid faked her own kidnapping. It was all fun and games until the police started chasing her 'kidnappers' van."
– AvocaDotty
Old Hijiniks
"Pantsing somebody in front of everybody. Is that even allowed anymore? That was soooo commonplace as a kid.- Wearing a mirror on your shoes to look up skirts. Even teachers thought it was funny that students occasionally did that."
– Negafox
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
But by the time the pain has been inflicted, it's too late as some emotional scars can take years to heal.
As someone who has been both a bully as well as a victim, I can tell you, I still live with regret and trauma from past actions in grade school.
Just gonna leave this here: Monitor your kids, folks.
Being a teenager is a hot mess of a situation. I wouldn't do it again unless you paid me BIG BUCKS!
I did everything as wrong as possible, And then I grew up.
I still do a lot wrong. But I'm wiser.
Being a teen makes you take chances that can change life forever. Be careful.
Redditor gravemind9 asked:
"What's something you did as a teenager that you look back on and think holy f**k was f**king stupid?"
The stories of my youth could make you faint.
So I'll just listen to yours.
Updates
"Post constant, nonsensical updates to my Facebook wall."
MacSween3382
"There's nobody I have less in common with than the teenage me writing facebook statuses 15 years ago."
professor_dogPotomac never freezes...
"Walking from Virginia to Maryland over the frozen Potomac River on my Sophomore year in high school. I got about half way out and laid down in the ice so that I could see along the bottom of the river. It wasn't until several years later that I heard on the news that the Potomac never freezes over enough for people to walk on it."
Ural_2004
Go Away
"I thought that, if I acted angsty and pushed people away from me, it'd make people want to know more about me and why I was so distant."
"For any current teenagers who didn't already know, this doesn't work. People will just let you be alone, and go find someone who's more friendly to them being around."
CrazyPlato
"One of the greatest examples of 'Real life is soooo different from Movies.'"
ALEISMYNAME
Puff. Puff.
"Smoking. I started smoking at 13. I’m 40 now and can’t stop smoking for anything. If I could go back and do things differently, I would never pick up a cigarette."
ImaginationSad2803
"I started about the same age. I'm sure I quit smoking 100 times before I really made it stick. Most were a day or 3, I got 9 months one time. Eventually I realized that having a cigarette or 5 was no reason to quit quitting, and to just try to make it longer next time, it's fine, just do it again. It's been 8 years now, I finally stopped in my mid 30s."
lurker71539
WHAT?!
"At the age of 15/16ish I travelled to England by myself to meet an internet stranger/lover."
sharkyandro
Shocked Oh No GIF by Yêu LuGiphyKids world traveling? Well that is new.
Skin
"Deciding to not wear sunscreen."
Not_Logan_Paul_
"I wish I'd listened to my mum and worn sun hats when I was younger. I can see the ageing it had caused on my forehead and now I'm in my 40s I wish I'd taken better care of my skin."
lkm81
The Beach Summer GIF by Kel CripeGiphyShoplifted
"I shoplifted a lot, like way too much, i didnt even need the stuff, i just did it."
everythingiwantedwas
"I have a family member that did it… it was as you described. He said it just gave him a high. He eventually ran out of stuff he felt like nabbing and started stealing for people I.e I’ll gank this $17.99 CD for you for $10 etc."
three-sense
The High
"I hung out with a bunch of burnouts who actually were quite tame. Their big thing was climbing on top of buildings. Not breaking in, not property damage, just how can we get to the top of various structures. We were on top of the Junior High which must have set off some silent alarms as cops come roaring up."
"We split up and all managed to get down without one of us getting caught. It would have been tough to explain what we were doing to both the police and then our parents as it was really just dumb."
ekimlive
Speed
"Driving 60+ mph with no headlights at 3am on back roads."
BlankMyName
"I grew up in a county town, and I would sometimes go 120+. Very stupid."
Elmoslightpole
Driving 101 Dalmatians GIFGiphyWow.
Youth is really wasted on the young.
As teenagers, most ambitious pre-adolescents looked forward to life beyond high school where the freedom for them to live their lives without the supervision of parents or guardians awaited them.
But when they barreled through phases of teen angst, obtaining driver's licenses, and finally being able to see an R-rated movie without sneaking into one, nothing could really prepare them for adulting.
Being told how to be an adult is one thing. Navigating through adulthood on your own, however, can be a very sobering experience.
Curious to hear of the trials and tribulations from strangers online, Redditor bathtub_seizure asked:
"What is an adult problem you were not prepared for?"
First, there are the responsibilities.
Finding Work
"The utter soul crushing search for a job."
– MaxTheSoccerDog
Series Of Unfortunate Events
"Same. I was out of work for years due to severe illness, then spent 8 months looking for any job possible but getting rejected everytime. I finally got 2 interviews lined up in April then coronavirus hit and they got cancelled! I cannot catch a break..."
– tickleapicl
Better Than The Alternative
"Not being able to leave a job you hate because you might just become homeless without it."
– Go_J
Then comes the pain and suffering.
People Come And Go
"Losing people. Loved ones passing away is the hardest. Then there’s the nasty breakdown of personal relationships, family relationships and friendships. Then there’s the sad drifting apart that happens when life takes you on a different path to a person you were once really close to."
– BlackCaaaaat
You're On Your Own, Kid
"Realizing that not even your parents have all the answers. And finally understanding that they were just figuring it out as they went just like we are."
"Not having an all knowing figure to give you the answers to all your problems is the pits and I hate it."
"Edit: just wanted to add that I agree figuring stuff out for yourself is rewarding and fun, but some things you really dont want to figure out for yourself, or cant figure out. And for those things it's nice to have someone to point you in the right direction."
– Snow_Da_92
The Physical Limitations Set In
"Pain."
"Arthritis is f'king horrible and early onset autoimmune arthritis is worse than just having an ache in one or two joints. I hurt all the time, everywhere, and everyone just assumes you're faking it or you're a pill popper. I am not going to live another 20 years with this pain like my dad did."
– porcelina99
Pain Doesn't Discriminate
"I don't have arthritis but I do have other issues that I end up having to use a cane for sometimes at 28 years old and I get the "you're too young for that" a lot, it drives me up a wall. Like, thanks, you've cured me, I hadn't considered I may be too young for this! If only I'd known it was that easy!"
– tarotwitchneona
Sleepless Nights
"Not being able to sleep due to stress. Yet here I lay, exhausted but wide awake."
"When I was younger I could sleep anytime, anywhere."
– JonnyWax
There are a slew of responsibilities these Redditors never saw coming.
Basic Adulting
"Being able to not cook the same meal everyday while balancing hundreds of other tasks. I will always admire my mom for how she was able to cook, have a clean house, work 43 hours and help her children do homework all while taking time to work out at the end of everyday."
"I could mention other common problems like money management and common tasks that I haven't mastered, but what really hit me like a train was the actual transition of adulthood. Im talking about having to make my own appointments and having to keep tabs on myself instead of handing every single document to my mom. I realized how unorganized I was when I found my birth certificate in the same drawer where i have junk receipts."
– IrisNalvo
Role Reversal
"Dealing with your parents acting like children."
– rchaw
Being The Host
"Having a presentable place, and debating myself on why it matters. It always frustrated me when my parents had a guest over and we had to deep clean the whole house. Like if it’s my close friend of 8 years visiting, why do I care what they care about my cleanliness? And yet, every time people are over I find myself cleaning the apartment up for some reason."
– slothbarns7
Didn't we all feel invincible as youngsters?
I was rambunctious, physically active, and I hardly ever felt like I was going to run out of steam.
Yet, here we are. I can barely get up out of bed without hearing a snap, crackle, and pop from all of my joints.
I was cognizant of the eventual physical breakdown of my body taunting me from the distant horizon. But nothing could prepare me for the velocity at which this phase of my life would arrive and slap me hard in the face.
Life can be so cruel.
High school is strange time for most of us. We think we know everything, we want to be cool and idolized, and we conform to fit in, even if conforming really means doing something stupid, like smoking.
Still, as high schoolers, we thought all of this was cool. We did all sorts of stupid or inappropriate things, and either justified them, or didn’t even realize they needed to be justified.
However, we all grow up. Things we thought were cool as high schoolers are absolutely cringeworthy to us now. Redditors are only too eager to share what those things are.
It all started when Redditor crypto_wut asked:
“What is cool in the eyes of most high schoolers but is actually cringe?”
Uselessness Of High School Hierarchy
"Being popular for the wrong reasons. As soon as you graduate that starts over. Better not to rely on being popular and prepare."
– Hamfiter
"I remember this guy in high school who had a fearsome reputation. Him and his cousins would show up at parties, literally say, "Do you know who I am?" and attack people. People were terrified, and rightfully so, people were getting severely hurt."
"Anyways, I was in 11th grade, he was in 12th."
"Once he graduated high school, he would come swing by the high school often, smoke out front with his "friend's" and talk about how it was so great to graduate, he didn't have to get up early or do anything, etc. At first, everybody was like, "Cool, lucky!" and then it was like, "Heh...let's go back to class...""
– lazarus870
"I'm Real Grown Up!"
"Telling people how mature you are"
– pineapplewin
"When I was in high school there were some girls in one of my freshman/sophomore classes bragging about how mature they were because they had boyfriends who were older and would invite them to college parties. Like...no, your boyfriends are losers and you're just naïve.
– ArcticFox46
Teach Yourself To Be Kind
"Being rude to teachers. Every person who I know who was rebellious in school cringes hard when they think about the sh*t they said to teachers."
– WowThisIsAwkward_
"Being jerks to the teacher who just tries to do his\her job."
– Greedy-Ad-189
Not JUST A Prank
""It's just a prank bro" no, you're being an a**hole"
– bzaroworld
"I like to use the pie in the face test. Does it cause the person more inconvenience than a pie in the face, under normal circumstances? If yes, then it's not a prank, it's a crime."
– indrada90
Feel What You Feel
"Worrying what other people think. The concept of “cool” in the first place."
"My brother and I (in our early 30s) were watching a group of teenagers trying so hard to put on this cool, unemotional facade at Disneyland while everyone else around them just enjoyed themselves and we were laughing to ourselves that teenagers are so afraid of displaying emotion or passion and nobody else cares. But we all went through it, and we all reach the realization that it’s more fun to just enjoy ourselves."
– Objective-Ad5620
Louder and Louder
"Being loud and obnoxious everywhere they go. Like dude no one thinks you’re or your friends are cool over there yelling penis because you think it’s funny."
– Activ_RefRigeRatoR
"I own a store kids frequent and I have had to tell them more than once to shush. The volume got so loud once an actual PAYING customer was uncomfortable."
– CalliopeKB
Be Who You Are...
"Doing things to gain other peoples approval.."
"Seriously, when you grow up and stop giving a f**k about other peoples opinions, life is so much better"
– EndlesslyUnfinished
...And Not Who You Aren't
"Being 'edgy' and 'offensive' just for the sake of it."
"Yeah, we get it. You think that mocking dead people or posting racist/sexist stuff on social media makes you a tough edgelord not to be f**ked with. No, it just makes you look like a complete tryhard."
– AlysonMazzoni
They Are
"Most high schoolers."
– Bacontoad
"Yup. The most awkward demographic that uses grunts to communicate."
– Pimp_Daddy_Patty
"I was gonna say “the word cringe” but yours’ better"
– jamieleeght
Faking It
"Pretending to have some type of disorder, like that makes them special. Like some how everyone has multiple personalities now, one of the rarest disorders of it's kind and everyone and their cousin suffers from it."
– Top-Sprinkles6929
"Faking mental disorders and saying “OMG I HAVE DEPRESSION I AM SO QUIRKY” IN THAT EXACT SENTENCE"
– w0rms1nMyEy3S
That last one is pretty sickening. It’s a good thing high schoolers grow out of it.
If you’re anything like me, you spent your childhood dreaming about getting your Hogwarts letter, thinking about what you wanted to learn, and ignoring your real class schedule in favor of making an O.W.L. schedule.
Chances are, you never thought about the negative side of the wizarding school. Magic, however, is dangerous, especially when it can be used by youngsters.
The fact that the teenagers in the Harry Potter books didn’t abuse magic in any way is nothing short of a miracle.
We know how teenagers are. They’re adventurous, emotional, creative, and a little crazy. With access to magic, all of that would be amplified. There’s no way teenagers wouldn’t find ways to abuse magic at Hogwarts.
Curious to know how exactly magic would be abused, Redditor Animeking1108 asked:
“How would teenagers realistically misuse magic at Hogwarts?”
Watch What You Drink
"Love Potions"
"Those things are literal roofies if you're so inclined to use them that way. If the books were in any way realistic Viktor Krum would have had his pumpkin juice roofied on an hourly basis."
– Callipygian_Linguist
"The flip side would also be super common: "out of love" potions. Especially if love potions were banned or punished severely. If you can't make your crush love you, the next best thing is making them forget about their crush."
– chrismamo1
"I'm shocked I scrolled as far as I did to find this response; it was my first thought. Teenagers think they've found the love of their life and will just die if their love is unrequited."
"Source: Was a teenager once upon a time..."
– amatchmadeinregex
"Eye Of Rabbit, Harp String Hum..."
"Turning water into rum."
– CorgisDie
"I’ll keep my eyebrows, thanks."
– shifty_coder
The Obvious Answer
"Every year there's a different boy who ends up in the infirmary after using engorgio on his d*ck and fainting from the rush of blood."
– AdmiralAkbar1
"More like every week..."
– Schemen123
"The female equivalent is using that spell on their breasts…only for their sheer weight to break their spine."
– Shipping_Architect
Bibbity, Bobbity, Be Careful!
"After reading these, I think there would be a big market on putting a parental lock on certain spells on wands bought for kids."
– peachandpeony
"The wand system they have is basically giving every preteen a very complicated gun, and hope they don't learn how to pull most of its triggers."
– DKoala
Magical Bullying
"You saw that when James Potter suspended Snapes in the air for no reason. Bullying would be 100 times worse."
– sonicz3r0
"God it would be so much worse. In primary school the strong bully the weak overwhelmingly. But then things gets flipped on their head in Hogwarts. Physical strength is no longer an advantage, all that matters is magical ability. So many of these weak or small kids who have been bullied for their whole lives get a taste of actual power and want revenge. So they repeat the cycle, particularly against those they think would have bullied them without magic. And they are merciless channeling years of pent-up aggression against anyone who doesn’t pose a real magical threat."
– Alc2005
Spells Going Awry
"avada kedavra rampages would be more common."
– Bobtheguardian22
"Imagine the number of accidental deaths because you Wingardium Levio-SAH your classmates."
– FM1091
What They Require
"The room of requirements would probably be a sex room."
"Or a place to grow magically enchanted weed plants"
– aniacret
"Who said it isn't?"
– Nexusoffate17
"“It’s also known as the come and go room”"
– King_of_nerds77
Accio Anything I Want
"Using spells to steal things"
– WomenAreNotReal
"As far a I can remember, we don't know the limitations of Accio. Does the thing you summon have to be yours? Harry summoned the trophy in Goblet of Fire in the cemetery. What about distance? Harry summons his broom from the castle while being in the quidditch stadium."
– TCGHexenwahn
The International Statute of Secrecy
"Muggle Born students would get expelled because they posted videos of themselves performing magic on social media."
– Animeking1108
The All-Knowing
"wifi connection to their brain."
– NumbFuzz
That Would Be Useful
"I personally need a steady supply of something to make my hangover disappear"
– Crusader170
Since I’m an adult, I would never abuse magic that way. Hogwarts letter, where art thou?