What's the worst thing a teacher did to you at school?

[Spinneret]

Sent me out of class

 

[tvguy]

I had four different English teachers in High School. Three encouraged me to keep writing and commented that it was something I was good at. One said told me it wasn't something I was good at, and said I should avoid professions involving writing. Well, I earned my living writing for over 40 years, so apparently the people who signed the paychecks in my life felt differently. At the time he said that, it was all I could do to keep my mom from going to the Principal to complain about that teacher. My mom had some very strong opinions about teachers who were critical of students without stepping up to help them improve themselves.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I got kicked in the shins by the nuns at school. They were BRUTAL.

 

[BrianL]

I very rarely got into trouble at school, but there was one incident with the school's resident Nun. I was in first grade and was sent to the office to deliver the roll sheet or something. The shcool had just instituted hall passes, which were new, possibly at the behest of this Nun. Anyway, the teacher never gave me one, and when I was caught on my way back, the Sister yelled at me, like berated me for several minutes, just yelling at me breaking me down into tears like R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket - I was a 6 year old! She dragged me back to the class and told my teacher that she had caught me out of class - the teacher informed her that she had sent me and forgot to give me the pass. The nun just left - said nothing. No apology. Nothing. It was unbelieveable. That nun did not stay long at our school, but in that short time, the students learned the true meaning of fear!

 

[prairie_girl]

Grade 8 History/Gym teacher told us all the girls in our class were going to grow up and become female dogs lol

He used the real word..I had to make it board friendly.

 

[BrianL]

I got kicked in the shins by the nuns at school. They were BRUTAL.

Those nuns, man. They couldn't physically assault us by the time I was in school, but still...

 

[JLTraveling]

I was very advanced and skipped a few grades, which meant that my math skills were uneven--at seven I had taught myself algebra, but never memorized the multiplication tables. So the school brought in a math mentor to even things out. The very first day, she said, "Well, I don't know who told you that you were gifted, but you certainly aren't gifted in math!"

I took it to heart. I went home and put away my chemistry set, everything I owned that had to do with math or science. In college I CLEP'ed out of basic math and earned a psych degree without taking a single math class except statistics (which I earned 100% in). Years later, I was working in curriculum design when I had to create a lesson plan and assessments on Euclid's Geometry. That's when I finally faced my math demons.

After doing quite well (and getting paid well) for the lesson plans and assessments, I decided to test the theory. I learned calculus in a weekend. Then I signed up for online classes in solid state chemistry from MIT and astrophysics from Cornell. Got very high A's in both. So I earned a certificate in astrophysics through the University of Australia, just because I could.

I'm pretty happy with my life now, but I do wonder what might have been if I hadn't been gaslighted by a so-called mentor at seven freaking years old.

 

[nick262]

My 4th grade teacher slapped me across the face. She said I was shouting and I was the only student not shouting at the time and had my hand raised. This was backed up by half the class. I was moved to another class the next day. She was lucky my mom never saw her after that incident. The principal did not allow the teacher to meet with my mom and she was not fired until the end of the year. The only reason she was fired at the end of the year was because my mom had gone to school with the district superintendent and asked him why she was not fired, he said he had not heard about it. She was fired and so was the principal.

 

[Carol_]

I was paddled by the school principal for calling another kid “giraffe neck” I think in 1st grade.
I was stabbed in the arm with a pencil by my best friend in 4th grade. They sent her to military school after that.
Things didn’t get truly gnarly until residency. I shut that mofo down. They never saw it coming. I’d had enough by then and I wasn’t backing down… It no longer exists.

 

[Jangles]

I was paddled by the school principal for calling another kid “giraffe neck” I think in 1st grade.
I was stabbed in the arm with a pencil by my best friend in 4th grade. They sent her to military school after that.
Things didn’t get truly gnarly until residency. I shut that mofo down. They never saw it coming. I’d had enough by then and I wasn’t backing down… It no longer exists.

I had to look up the abbreviation because I didn’t know what it meant. What do you mean by ‘it no longer exists’. Scary.

 

[wenrob]

Up until my early forties my parents teased me about being “the only kid on the planet who failed PE.” Finally one day I blew up at my dad. “Do you know why I failed PE? Because I didn’t dress out. Why? So I wouldn’t have to shower. I didn’t want to shower because the gym teacher would come into the showers and make us open up our towels to prove we were naked.” To say he was stunned was an overstatement. He kept asking why I never told him. Well, it never occurred to me. Those days you were raised to obey adults and especially teachers without question. The bigger question would be why didn’t my parents ever try to get to the bottom of it in the first place?

Second would be an English teacher hitting me in the temple with her little clutch purse that was rumored to have a pipe in it for mispronouncing a word. Not sure what was in there but I saw stars. Never said a word about it and doubt anyone else did either. That teacher was notorious for hitting kids. As were others. Teachers in the 70s and 80s were brutal, physically and verbally abusive and no one thought a thing about it. I wouldn’t go back to being a kid in school back then if you paid me.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I made very high grades in school until I hit algebra in my senior year. I just could not understand it and the first time I asked my teacher to help me, she said, "I am not going to explain it again." From that point on, I gave up. I made all A's except for that class, which was a D. I think she gave me the D because if I had failed I would not have graduated. To this day, over 70 years later, I still feel hurt over the fact that she could not take the time to help me.

 

[RogueX]

In 2nd grade, I was chewing on the inside of my cheek and my teacher insisted that I was chewing gum, despite me opening my mouth and showing her there was nothing. She kept me after and had me write 100 times on the chalkboard "I won't chew gum in school". Well, I added my own twist and wrote " I won't chew my cheek in school".

Add to the fact that since I short, I had to stand on furniture to reach the top of the board, she was fuming. When the principal was called up to deal with me, he actually laughed at what I wrote.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My fourth grade science teacher Mrs. Weil punched me on the top of my head because I handed out test papers in the wrong direction.

 

[scrapquitler]

2nd grade. I had to go to the bathroom and the teacher told me that I couldn't go, I should hold it until recess, and I told her I couldn't. Well, I wet my pants because she wouldn't let me go, then she ridiculed me for it. She made me sit on a paper towel until recess, and only then did she send me to the nurse's office to call my mother for a change of clothes.
I was humiliated, and I was teased for it for years. Someone even mentioned it when we were in high school.

 

[Funfire240]

My senior year a teacher gave me a lower grade then what I actually earned stating he felt it would make me "work harder the next quarter" but what it did was lower my GPA just enough where it knocked me out of attending my senior year honor's banquet, and almost had me kicked out of the top 10% of my class. I was borderline for being in National Honor Society and the lower letter grade had my GPA drop to almost being knocked out of that as well - until my parents complained about this teacher and he admitted to purposely lowering the grade!

 

[wenrob]

2nd grade. I had to go to the bathroom and the teacher told me that I couldn't go, I should hold it until recess, and I told her I couldn't. Well, I wet my pants because she wouldn't let me go, then she ridiculed me for it. She made me sit on a paper towel until recess, and only then did she send me to the nurse's office to call my mother for a change of clothes.
I was humiliated, and I was teased for it for years. Someone even mentioned it when we were in high school.

Oh! This happened to me too, in first grade.

 

[mylilnikita]

High School: I was in a car accident and hospitalized for 8 days. My dad notified both schools I went to a regular high school for a couple classes and a magnet school for childcare.

Well I get back to high school have a note. My arms were a hot mess from being poked. My English teacher said welcome back not sure why you are here because you were expelled and you look like you been using drugs in front of the class.
Wow .
Well it was the 80’s but I wasn’t taking crap from her because up until that point I was quiet in her class.. I said I was in a car accident and been in such and such hospital for 8 days not my problem the guidance counselor didn’t tell you. And get ready to apologize to me because you will be doing it.

On way to office call my dad on pay phone and tell him to come. It got sorted out and yes teacher apologized to me in front of class but stuff can’t be taken back.


5th grade: the teacher didn’t like kids and was a turd and her husband was on trial for embezzlement in our city.
But she laser focused on me. I wasn’t confident in Math and she wasn’t any help. She gave me assignments to do in Spring break and I worked hard on them. Get back to school and she said she wasn’t going to look at my work because I probably had someone help me. She got a chewing out from my dad on that one.
We were going to move and my last day my dad comes and gets me. She was fake and tried to hug me and was like I’ll miss you. Well I had enough and said we all know you won’t and walked out.

 

[martikus]

My guidance counselor told me I wouldnt get into any of the colleges I applied to and needed to aim lower. Keep in mind I was top 10 and these were not places like Harvard.

I got into them all. It made me very aware how one person can derail someone. I’m glad I had the confidence to still apply to them.

 

[Carol_]

I had to look up the abbreviation because I didn’t know what it meant. What do you mean by ‘it no longer exists’. Scary.

They closed the program because they weren’t teaching. The government had been paying millions each year to fund it.