
22 Of The Worst 'Bad Teacher' Stories These Adults Still Remember
By Aimee LutkinOct. 9 2018, Updated 4:25 p.m. ET
When you're a kid, adults seem to have total control over your lives wherever you go. If you're lucky, you have parents you love and can stand being around. But in school, you never know what you're gonna get and it changes from period to period. Maybe a teacher will change your life for the better or maybe they'll be nothing but an extremely hostile babysitter to 30 rambunctious middle schoolers.
If you had a bad run-in with a lousy teacher, it might haunt you forever, even when you're a grown adult who has moved on to better things. For some reason, an authority figure saying or doing something mean sticks with you. This was proven true when Twitter user and Cartoon Network employee Marie Lum asked her followers if they had any anecdotes about things their teachers had done long ago that still bothered them today: "What's something a teacher did that still makes you mad?"
whats something a teacher did that still makes you mad?
— Marie Lum 林 (@PuccaNoodles) February 16, 2018
But first she shared hers.
"In history, we had to write down as many terms about Pearl Harbor that we could think of, in like three minutes. I wrote down 'east wind rain' (Pearl Harbor winds code) as one of mine, but my teacher didn't know what that was so he made fun of me in front of the entire class," she tweeted.
For what it's worth, Marie, he sounds like a doofus.
In history we had to write down as many terms abt pearl harbor that we could think of in like 3 minutes. I wrote down "east wind rain" (pearl harbor winds code) as one of mine, but my teacher didnt know what that was so he made fun of me in front of the entire class
— Marie Lum 林 (@PuccaNoodles) February 16, 2018
I kept saying "it's the winds code, the theorized winds code about prior knowledge for the attack that is unknown whether or not it transmitted through, it's a real thing" but he kept just saying "pfft, what is this. what is this. stupid. pfft"
— Marie Lum 林 (@PuccaNoodles) February 16, 2018
as a small 15-y/o with the entire class just staring and watching me be berated for being "stupid" by this teacher 30+ years my superior, it made me so angry... I still think about it to this day!!
— Marie Lum 林 (@PuccaNoodles) February 16, 2018
I have ... a lot of stories from my time at art school but there's just so many maybe I'll save them for the podcast episodes lolol
— Marie Lum 林 (@PuccaNoodles) February 16, 2018
Gasp! Horrible, but not surprising. Lots of other people had their own very specific, very annoying encounters with bad teachers, who did everything from tie them to the desk to insist they were spelling their own names wrong:
Yr 8 science teacher asked us to name types of pollution. I put my hand up and said "light pollution". She scoffed and insisted that wasn't a thing. STILL NOT OVER IT. https://t.co/EpP9JgUaEb
— Hannah Fry (@FryRsquared) February 16, 2018
made our class spend lunch break scraping gum off the undersides of our form room desks and blamed us for it even though HUNDREDS of other students used those desks for lessons every week. still raging https://t.co/5BjsWftNj2
— Lex Croucher (@lexcanroar) February 16, 2018
When I was about 6 I wrote a story about a bunny, the teacher told me 'bunny' was a childish word and I should say rabbit. 30 years later I sometimes wish that teacher was still alive just so I could go round and show her all four books of my comic Bunny Vs Monkey. https://t.co/QqAfNxS7IN
— Jamie Smart (@jamiesmart) February 16, 2018
in year 7 creative writing, I described an inappropriately bubbly character as "effervescing" instead of speaking. The teacher told me not to use words I didn't understand BUT I DID BLOODY UNDERSTAND ACTUALLY MR SUPPLY TEACHER I WAS WRITING CREATIVELY https://t.co/17NRpb6otJ
— Tom Chivers (@TomChivers) February 16, 2018
English teacher marked me down for the use of “rapport” in a poem. She didn’t think it was a word.
— Andrew Ellard (@ellardent) February 16, 2018
I insisted it was. Eventually she wrote “rapture” in its place, figuring that’s probably what I meant. https://t.co/YvUXjIIW0q
I wrote a story about a rich family being murdered. The maid found the weapon and ran her fingers over the dried blood (I was working up to revealing she was the killer later). Teacher refused to mark it because "she obviously would have screamed and dropped the knife". https://t.co/rEwIlfAdDB
— kirsty (@torahwilcox) February 16, 2018
Told me coding wasn’t for “people like me” (aka girls), so I taught myself instead. Just to prove a point, created a whole website for final project, Everyone else did powerpoint. “This is just a Website you used, where’s your project?” “No, I made it, it has my name on it.” “Oh”
— Alexandra Gallant (@Gallantdesigner) February 16, 2018
Also this was in 2000, so I was learning all that stuff with zero resources & creating a website by coding everything from scratch. Good thing I did, because web design ended up being my career. Funny how the journey all began with a website made out of spite.
— Alexandra Gallant (@Gallantdesigner) February 16, 2018
Wrote "tracing" on something I drew freehand in a contest, then pointedly picked someone else's as the winner. Plot twist: I drew the winner's entry for them as a favour. https://t.co/kZPudCfuW9
— Marv Epworth 🎉🎇🎶 (@maryepworth) February 16, 2018
I refused to dissect a frog in 7th grade biology for ethical reasons, and my formerly-favorite teacher tried to convince me that the humane society donated dead cats and dogs to the high school for dissection.
— Elizabeth Sampat (@twoscooters) February 16, 2018
My mother was director of the humane society. https://t.co/E5Lbwqzyzj
Once I helped my friend pass a dumb test that was required before he could be my partner for an elementary school business fair. She caught me and told me if I continued doing things like that I'd end up in jail someday. I was in 5th grade haha
— Vivienne M. (@VivziePop) February 16, 2018
4th grade teacher claimed I didnt turn in the ginormous hw packet she gave me over a vacation that my MOM saw me turn in, also sent letters home to my parents that I needed anger management counseling, claimed I had my parents do art projects for me ect. 4th grade was hell
— autumn 'the hands' flowers (@calicrybaby) February 16, 2018
In the equivalent of elementary school, a teacher tied my left hand to a desk and forced me to learn how to write with the right, cause of superstitious shit.
— Pablo Leon (@ArtsyPabster) February 16, 2018
My senior english teacher rearranged the chairs literally every day. Everybody made fun of him for it pretty obviously. One day I walked in and said "haha tomorrow they'll be on the ceiling" and I became the only person he ever sent to the principal's office.
— Sunder (@SunderCR) February 16, 2018
In the 4th grade a teacher hyped up pajama day, in which we were gonna bring blankets and snacks and read, and the day before we had a sub who claimed we were too loud so she cancelled PJ day and spent the whole day talking about how awesome it was gonna be and I’m still salty
— fabian (@RealFatman) February 16, 2018
my hs AP psych/stats teacher making fun of fob students giving presentations bc they didn’t speak clearly since english wasn’t their first language 🔪🔪🔪
— haiyun (@haiyunee) February 16, 2018
A high school longterm sub wanted us to “be super creative” in our presentation of the book,A Picture of Dorian Gray,so I did a really elaborate and thought out sock puppet show.She gave me a B-and told me next time I “wanted to be creative,I should really talk to her beforehand”
— Caroline Boyk Purdue (@CarolineDoodles) February 16, 2018
Ripped up one of my drawings in class
— Arin "Arin" Hanson (@egoraptor) February 16, 2018
gave me detention for getting a head start on my homework during recess. "homework is to be done at home" was her excuse. only detention I ever got too.
— Jimmy Whetzel (@JimmyWhetzel) February 16, 2018
just last week a professor kept referring to me as another asian student named lynn
— lily (@liliuhms) February 16, 2018
took off 10 points on a test because i "spelled my name wrong". i kept insisting it's ray but she said it's rae because i'm a girl...
— ray g. 🎂 16 days 🎂 (@sevenpom) February 16, 2018
Any of these stories remind you of someone mean holding a ruler??