Kids are an entirely different breed when they're at school. Most teachers are quick with a horror story of talking to a parent, trying to explain what Jennifer did today, but the parent is shocked because, "Jennifer never does that at home." Of course she doesn't! That honor is saved special, for her teacher. Now that crazy behavior can be taken to the internet where we can all horrifically marvel at it for forever.
Reddit user, u/nostalgic_joey, wanted teachers to tell it all when they asked:
Teachers of reddit, what is the craziest thing you have seen on a students social media?
Stupidly Breaking The Law
Giphy
A few years ago a school near where I teach had an epidemic of kids exchanging nudes. From stories that I heard, the kids were trading them like baseball cards and students that didn't participate were harassed until they did.
If I remember correctly, I think the almost the entire football team was kicked off the team
They Started A Whole Page?
These teachers at my school found a kids meme page and keep in mind was a preppy stuck up school. Anyway the meme account had the usually slightly edgy kind of content but the school acted as if it were a hate crime.
Parents were called in. There was a whole school assembly on social media and the appropriate content that should be posted. The school went as far as suspending the kids behind the account for 1 week and giving detentions to every kid who liked the memes. The whole ordeal was just stupid and left me wondering if teachers even cared about the kids who were very clearly smashed on drugs.
Boy Fights: Part 2
Fighting videos. Like I'm talking FIGHTING and teachers in the background watching the whole thing happen without doing a thing to separate it.
Some kids were so ecstatic to show me too what a weird world
A Report Well Done
So, in my school district, teachers can lose their jobs for following students on social media.
That being said, sometimes a student will get worried about something that they see posted and will bring me a screenshot of it. So, due to that, the craziest thing I've ever seen was one of our students pointing a gun at the camera and threatening to turn the walls of the school red with blood.
I took the student who reported it to the front office and made a full report to administration. Never saw the kid who posted that again.
FakeBook
One student created multiple fake facebooks with the names of their classmates. They started a group chat between these fake profiles and would act out dramatic things (someone confessing a crush, someone saying they hated their best friend).
They'd screen shot clips of these fake chats and send it to real people. Real life drama based on the fake drama would erupt in school.
Never Use Work Equipment For Personal Purposes
Not me, but my Fiance used to work the IT department of a school. Sometimes they got reports from students or teachers that suspect there's something on a student's school iPad. All I can say is students, for the love of god please stop taking nudes on school equipment....
We're Just Really Big Fans
I found a fan page for one of the teachers. It included pictures that you could tell were taken without their knowledge (they weren't posed or looking at the camera.) And then the inappropriate comments.
It was so creepy.
Luckily, administration was able to do a little creeping themselves and get to the bottom of it pretty quickly. Within an hour, they had the student and the account was taken down.
It's Always The Quiet Ones
A kid who was calm and was never to loud or anything made a story on his Instagram saying he was gonna kill himself cause me and another teacher where (explective) and so I reported it to the Dean simply because of his health and we'll being factoring in before his other rights. But I was shocked. The dude was never violent or rude just kinda awkward but we were always cool...
Just Something To Take The Edge Off, Man
I'm a high school science teacher and don't usually add my students on social media but this kid was one of my favorite students so I added him. He is my favorite student because he is always chill and doesn't usually talk in class.
I viewed his story and the reason he was always chill is because he was smoking weed before school, FML
Get That Kindergarten Hustle On
A student showed us a video of another student smoking weed. Both kids were in the 5th grade. Luckily I looped so I was able to give that particular student a little extra support.
Also that same student in Kindergarten brought in little baggies to recess, filled them with grass, and tried selling them to peers on the playground.
"No, I Promise, I'm Totally This Person." - Fake Teacher Account, Probably
Teacher here, I don't follow my students on social media. I don't feel that it is appropriate for teachers and students to have that familiar of a relationship.
We had students creating fake teacher accounts. With outrageous bios. Students would respond with inappropriate comments. It was a mess and took far too long to get those pages removed.
I guess 7th and 8th graders don't have the maturity be on social media.
Wait...Why Is The Teacher Checking Twitter In Class?
Not a teacher, but a girl in my class snuck a picture of a test and posted it on Twitter. It said something like "omg dis test is so hard!!"
And she got called out in front of the class by our teacher for having a phone out during the test
What Else Are You Going To Use A Trophy For?
Am a teacher, was just a volunteer coach for this though.
I saw a student take a shot out something of a small trophy they had won at a speaking competition.
Posted it to snapchat
"Let's Define 'Stalking' Everyone..."
The school I work at had a whole phase where kids made "fan pages" for teachers. On the page was everything from pictures of me teaching to what my car looked like.
After all 20 pages were investigated and taken down, we had an assembly on when it is appropriate to take pictures and what stalking is.
...This Actually Sounds Hilarious
I'm a toddler teacher and recently found out one of my girls has an Instagram.
A two year old girl, posing on top of sports cars, surrounded by jewelry and money. Shes like a mini Instagram model.
Fan Fiction Counts!
Giphy
Not exactly social media originally but it definitely ended up there. I teach high school and the students were talking about a middle school student who wrote a novel. It turned out to be an extremely graphic fan fiction of two of the male middle school teachers. The girl that wrote it was in seventh grade. We are talking about full on novel, around 200 pages and 13 chapters. Supposedly it is only book one in the series.
The crazy thing is, my students showed me one paragraph before I knew what it was and it was hands down the best technical writing of any student I have ever had. Again, I teach high school. She was in the seventh grade. Unbelievably well written, and unbelievable a seventh grader was able to describe things with such disturbing detail.
It Can Be Useful To Save Lives
Not me but my wife.
A student posted a suicide note on snap chat. Another student showed it to my wife. She ran to the front office and called 911. Kid was home with his mom and had overdosed in his room. Kid was taken to a hospital and survived. Saved his life.
A Depressing End And Slow Finish
I was teaching 8th grade English in a low income/high crime area. We had one student who was really hard- he was loud, obnoxious, rude and downright mean to most of the staff and other students. For some reason I really liked him and he felt the same. Always respectful to me and often helped me keep the class in line.
The other teachers/students would always make comments about how we will see him up for murder one day and I would stick up for him (he came from a really bad home life most were not fully aware of). Anyway, he friended me on Facebook at the end of the school year and I accepted.
About 4 years later I see an update posted by him (he posted quite a bit) from a couple nights before that simply showed a gun and bullets with the caption "some b-tches are going to pay. Getting my turf back" or something like that. Anyway, long story short he was involved in a drive by and killed a 17 year old kid who was at a rivals party- he was not the intended victim.
Anyway, when the news ran the story and showed his Facebook post as what helped the police find him my blood ran cold. I wish I would have seen the post earlier or could have done something.
He was sentenced to 20 years (since they couldn't prove who pulled the trigger). Still makes me sad- I really thought he would break the cycle of poverty and prison that has run through his family line forever.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
I haven't tried these rooms yet. Not sure I want to. Highly claustrophobic. Convince me...
No touching...
"I used to work at one. I can’t tell you how many people thought that power outlets were a prop and tried to stick keys into them. Guys. There was a lamp plugged into it and a 'do not touch, not a part of the game' sticker on it. It’s not a trick, don’t do that."
brasscassette
Shackles
"A friend of mine works for an escape room and he told me one about a puzzle where the key to the next door was shackled to a desk by a combination lock. What you are supposed to do is figure out the combination for the lock from the clues around the room to free the key. What one group decided to do instead was get a guy on each corner and pick up the 150 pound desk and carry it across the room, slide the key into the lock, and then rotate the entire desk to unlock the door."
sharrrper
'Yale'
"I am not an escape room employee but I did a lot of em and talked to the employees often. One of them told me there was a simple lock (opened by a key) that had 'Yale' written on it (the name of the lock company) and a lady (not native English speaker) thought it read 'yell' and legit shouted 'OPEN!!' at it, expecting it to open."
Dorza1
searching the fountain...
"Recently went to an escape room with my co-workers. Before we started, we were explicitly warned not to touch or drink the bright blue water coming out of a fountain because it would turn our skin blue - clearly people had tried searching the fountain as part of the escape room previously and now they have to warn everyone."
babers1987
Voice of God
Whos That Voice Of God GIF by Shark WeekGiphy"I was in an escape room once where one puzzle involved some objects that needed to be manipulated inside a structure that made it very awkward."
"We were all looking at it trying to figure out how to proceed when I said 'Well, the bottom is held on with screws and I have a screwdriver in my purse, but that would probably be cheating.' Instantly the Voice of God came over the intercom 'THAT WOULD BE CHEATING!' So we didn't do that..."
Miss_Speller
Well people really do get creative at this game... don't they?
Reverse
genius GIFGiphy"Had a group of engineers who were familiar with the style of the lock effectively reverse engineer the lock. They showed us how they did it afterwards."
Snowf1ake222
Smoked...
"When I was in one they told us several times that the fire extinguisher is NOT part of the puzzle. They said it so many times, I'm 98% sure someone once used it lol."
Zirael_Swallow
"I always wait to see if they say not to disassemble smoke detectors, if they have that warning, I ask about it, and every time they will always have a story about a dumby who ignored the warning labels and disassembled the smoke detector."
cleverplaydoh
Group of 4
"There was a story on here a while ago about a guy in a group of four who took a broom from the first room because 'it had to be for something.' He said it looked too out of place to not be needed. Well he was half right. It was out of place but that's because it was the broom used by employees to clean the room."
"It was simply forgotten when they cleaned last time. The guys giving hints thought it was hilarious that this guy carried a broom through four rooms expecting it to be the key to their escape at some point. I thought that was funny as hell."
PCCoatings
Damages...
"Take in a screwdriver and dismantling furniture or taking doors off hinges... all the while we specifically tell them not to use force and that furniture is just furniture. Though I don't care cause they gotta pay the damages. Also had some groups press our panic button cause that opens all the doors (for emergency cases)."
"So they can skip puzzles and be faster. Makes zero sense to us cause they are paying for an hour of playtime and to solve puzzles, not like the prize is reduced cause you solved less in fewer minutes. Especially since our prices aren't cheap."
karmasabitterpill
Idiots
Idiot Facepalm GIFGiphy"Breaking EVERYTHING. Trying to eat or drink things they should totally not be trying to eat or drink."
Radiant-Comb9058
Even though there are a million ways to escape, I'm still gonna pass. My claustrophobia won't allow it.
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While many cultures should be celebrated, there are some individuals who just can't help but reserve their opinions about those whose behavior and customs differ vastly from their own.
At the risk of coming off as offensive, some might even call these customs, "weird."
European culture got the spotlight when Redditor CoffeeBoy88 asked:
"What is something weird about Europe that Europeans don’t realize is weird?"
Apparently, there's never a dull moment in European nations.
"German tourists are OBSESSED with mooses."
"/A swede."
– worldkeeponspinning
No Offense
"The UK has 30 accents per square mile. And if a large man calls you duck in Stoke … that’s okay."
– InItsTeeth
Nighttime Exposure
"Norwegians don't close their curtains when it gets dark."
– judochop1
The Swarm
"The amount of mosquitos in Finland, Americans go crazy in Spring because of it."
– TheFargus
Redditors discuss what it's like traveling around Europe.
Come And Go As You Please
"How incredibly inconsequential it is to cross country borders. Cycled through France - Belgium - Netherlands and there is barely even a sign."
– sicknessandpurgatory
The Contrast
"You drive five hours in the US: you’re basically still in the same place."
"You drive five hours in Europe: everyone’s talking funny and the cheese is different."
– KaimeiJay
The Short Commute
"The first time I was in the UK my husband wanted to go to Wales and I looked at the train route from London and was like 'It’s all the way on the other side of the country! We’re only in the UK for a week. We don’t have that kind of time!' And my husband was all, 'you know it’s a 2.5 hour train ride, right?' I thought it would all day."
– KateDinNYC
Germans In Transport
"the absolute lack of air conditioning even at 40°, german transport gets sticky and stinky quite fast and nobody seems to care, many people even shut the windows to avoid the 'annoying breeze.'"
– ahorasimeaborregue
Maintaining distance was a thing long before pandemic measures recommended people to be socially distanced.
All About Respect
"Finnish people are silent, small talk doesn't exist. Their personal space larger than COVID-19 social distancing rules, and it's considered normal. Don't speak unless spoken to, and don't invade other people's personal space - it's seen as a sign of a respect."
"Those Finns, who haven't been to abroad or haven't met too many foreigners, don't often even recognize this behaviour being unusual in the global scale."
– RockNRollNBluesNJazz
The "Safety Coffee Cup"
"I'm from Finland and one European thing that all Finnish people hate is cheek kisses when greeting. Its mostly southern european thing but still. There is this saying in Finland that goes 'Everyone has their own safety coffee cup' meaning the closest distance someone should get to you should not be closer than your coffee cup when you're holding it."
– eelisonparas
Let Them Shop In Peace
"Weird at first but I appreciate and wish for it. It might be just a Germany thing but from what I’ve been told German Walmart failed because the North American style of customer service was very unliked. From the greeter at the door to clerks asking if you need help unprompted. German shoppers just want to shop and go home as undisturbed as possible."
– UnusualHospital9579
I remember being weirded out when I went to Paris and asked for some ice at a cafe.
The waiter served me coke by opening the room temperature can and poured some of the contents into an empty glass. With no ice.
When the server came back, he had with him a spoon with one ice cube on it. I thought it was stingy but it got worse.
He poured the rest of the coke over the ice on the spoon he was holding and then walked away with the ice and spoon.
I guess the coke was colder than when I had my first sip, so according to the server, it was viola: mission accomplished!
Do the French not like ice-cold beverages? Weird.
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People tend to forget that therapists–the professional we seek for guidance when we're vulnerable–are also human and are just as prone to feeling the feels.
Curious to hear from therapists who've exposed their emotional vulnerabilities in front of their clients opened up when Redditor Unkw0n_pers0n asked:
"Therapist that have cried in a session, why?"
A patient who feels seen and understood reinforces why therapists endeavor to help people in the first place.
It Wasn't Her Fault
"I was working with a deeply depressed client who had a lot of negative self talk about how she was always a failure. We were exploring the origins of this and how young she was the first time she felt self-blame. She told me her earliest story of when she was in 2nd grade."
"Afterwards, as we were processing it, I expressed that 'it wasn't your fault' about the story. She just broke down sobbing and said 'nobody has ever said that to me before' in between sobs. It hit me and I cried a little."
– Ayzmo
Relatable Experience
"i cried after i worked with a kid who described an emotionally difficult situation with a sibling. the kid’s experience aligned very similarly to something i went through with my own sibling when i was the kid’s age and i hadn’t realized how much hurt i was carrying from the experience."
"being a therapist sometimes means being confronted with things you didn’t realize had such a strong impact on you. luckily, i have a stellar therapist of my own that i can work through these moments with."
– rejecteddroid
The Patient With A Disorder
"I was doing a cognitive assessment for a girl. We were doing tests and at one point she started crying she was unable to tell me why, she was fine just one moment before. I let her collect her thoughts, then she said softly 'I don't want to be more stupid than my friends'. She wasn't actually, she was very bright, but she didn't know that she has dyslexia, dysorthograpy AND dyscalculia. I realized that she went through THIRTEEN years of school without help. Her parents didn't want to do an assessment as they thought she was just lazy. I told her that she was very brave to decide to get help and things would get better after our assessment and I felt tears in my eyes."
"Edit: first of all, I have great empathy for parents, for most of all is just a matter of ignorance, fear and parenting is hard. If you are a parent and you see your kid struggling, PLEASE listen to professionists, we are here to help, not judge, and we will find ways to help you and your kid. Disorders don't go away, don't underestimate it, the sooner you get help, the better the outcome can be. It's ok to be scared but we're here for you and we understand you."
"Second, I'm really sorry to read so many heartbreaking stories about people that weren't believed and struggled being undiagnosed. I wish you all the best, I hope you are in a better situation and you got or you'll get all the help you deserve, because you do deserve it."
"Third, if you think 'something's wrong with me', get help if you are in a position to do so. Worst case you understand yourself better and have a chance do make peace with parts of yourself."
– ---honeybadger----
A patient who has already accepted their heartbreaking fate recalls seeing their therapist getting emotionally involved during a session.
A Mother Who Didn't Want To Let Go
"My therapist cried while 'mediating' a discussion between my mom and I. I have a neurodegenerative disease and she is my full time caregiver. Because of my severe disability, she also has legal guardianship of me, even though I am in my 20’s (this is all fine with me, I need the help, and I agreed in court to all of it. This was the first true 'disagreement' that we ever had.)"
"I am ready to die. I am in pain, unable to do anything for myself, and it’s only getting worse. I asked my mom to sign a DNR, because I have been resuscitated before, it was a mess, and I don’t want it to happen again."
"She refused. She doesn’t want to lose her child and wanted to do everything medically possible to keep me alive."
"The session was essentially me begging her to let me go, while she sobbed and said she could never sign a paper that would lead to my death. It was a terrible situation. No one was 'the bad guy', no one was trying to hurt the other. It was someone wanting their suffering to end, verses a mother not wanting to lose her child."
"My therapist agreed that I should be allowed to make this choice, but certainly didn’t think my mom was manipulative or evil, just already grieving and trying to hold on to me as long as possible. I saw her wipe her eyes several times, and they were red by the time we were done. She actually hugged us both at the end."
"The situation wasn’t resolved during the session, but my mom came around shortly after. She wouldn’t sign the DNR, but gave me legal permission to do so (so, in her mind, it wasn’t her making the final decision.)"
"BTW, my mom and I have a GREAT relationship! This was just one issue that we couldn’t come to an agreement on ourselves. But it worked out, and I’m now in palliative care and have a great team looking after me, INCLUDING my mom!"
– fightwithgrace
The following examples continue to demonstrate how therapists are more emotionally invested in their patients and clients than you think.
Responding To Tragic News
"I cried in a substance treatment group. A client’s mom had reached out via email to me to say that her daughter died from an OD. She called during my group so I chose to take the call and spoke with her briefly. I thought I could continue with the group. Ended up in tears instead."
– ChicagoOwls
She Patient Who Felt Unloved
"My patient cried and said 'there's nobody on this planet who loves me anymore.' I cried when I left because I knew she was right. For context: she was 95, her husband and son had died, she had a personality disorder that made her behaviour unbearable for her environment after her husband died and every person still in her life were paid for to be around her. She died a few months after this conversation."
It is unsurprising that therapists are compassionate people.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be in the room to help someone who is struggling internally.
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