15 Shocking Stories That Prove Not Every Teacher Is a Good One (2025)

Curiosities

5 days ago

Rima P.

Almost all ofus carry the memory ofateacher—or perhaps several—from our school orcollege days. Some remain inour minds like warm lights, guidingus through difficult times with kindness and wisdom. Others are more apainful memory, because teaching isnot apath meant for everyone. Not all who stand atthe front ofaclassroom are truly meant tobethere. Asthese Redditors reveal through their unforgettable encounters, some lessons are remembered not for what they taught... but for how unsettling they were.

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©Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

When Iwas 13, Ilost myfather inahorrific accident. Obviously, Iwas traumatized. Ireturned toschool afew days later. After attendance, the teacher turned tome.
Instead ofsaying something empathetic, she toldme, infront ofthe entire class, “Wegot together and sent flowers toyour father’s funeral. Tomorrow, Ineed you tobring in$5, becauseI paid your share.” She then went onwith the lessons.
Myart teacher told meI couldn’t draw. Fast-forward 15years, and I’ve graduated from university with afine arts degree.
Today, Ihave myown small illustration business asaside gig. It’s not ahuge thing, but I’ve had over 150 sales now and have, like, actual fans! So, proved you wrong, MissH! ©Unknown author/ Reddit
My10th grade geometry teacher openly admitted tothe class that she hated teaching math. She’d gone tocollege and gotten adegree inEnglish but was stuck with teaching math instead, etc.1person inthat class got anA, 2people gotBs, afew gotCs, and everyone else either barely passed orfailed.
She’d also mark your test answers wrong ifyou misspelled aword, even ifyou got the actual problem right. Ihad togotosummer school, where the guy who was normally ourPE teacher taught geometry, andI acedit. Icouldn’t believe how easily itmade sense tomewhen hetaught ittome.©kgkglunasol/ Reddit

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©cottonbro studio / Pexels

Mysister had asixth grade teacher who was the mother ofone ofmysister’s classmates; this girl was somewhat popular. Soanyway, for mysister’s birthday, she was having agirls-only party onaFriday. She gave out the invites, and she was very excited.
Friday rolls around and nobody showsup. OnMonday morning mysister has togotoschool and face everyone, which ispretty traumatic inand ofitself, somysister was feeling really awful. During the morning lineup, this teacher comes uptomysister and tells her, infront ofeveryone, “You know why nobody went toyour party? Because Ithrew mydaughter aparty onthe same day, andI made sure nobody told you aboutit.” ©meeliga/ Reddit
Ageology teacher inprimary school. Still have various forms ofnightmares today and angry, writing this. Never shared with anyone. Istill don’t know the reason she threw away myhomework right infront ofthe whole class.
For context, she ischecking homework ather desk and calling one student after another. Ibrought myhomework toher when itwas myturn. She took itand flung itacross the classroom tothe door. Not knowing what happened and perhaps naive and confused, Ipicked itupand handed ittoher again. She threw itaway again and yelled atmenot topick itup. Icried for the entire day.
©LordSynister/ Reddit
I’m a6-foot tall girl; atschool, Iwas very self-conscious thatI was bigger than other people inmyyear. Idecided psychology would beinteresting. The teacher gaveus all magazines and askedus topick someone wefound attractive. Inmymagazine was apicture ofJohnny Depp, soobviously, asateenage girl, Ipicked him.
The teacher went around the class, tellingus why wehad picked certain people and what itsaid aboutus. When hegot tome, helaughed and said, “You picked someone older because you are atall girl, and that makes you feel more secure.”
Being called atall girl might not seem that bad, and I’m sure hedidn’t mean itinabad way, but itwas crushing. Even now, 15years later, Istill feel like I’m too tall; I’m inthe way, that I’m not beautiful because ofmyheight. One stupid comment really can make adifference.©Laelegs/ Reddit

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©RDNE Stock project: / Pexels

The father ofaclassmate died inamotorcycle accident, hewent into acorner too fast and crashed into atree. Acouple ofdays after the accident (which was the first day myclassmate went toschool again), our physics teacher decided that itwas agood moment toteach the “speed doesn’t kill you, acceleration does” lesson. With the example ofamotorcycle driving into atree.©Tschaix/ Reddit
My4th grade math teacher, hands down. She hated mefrom day one, andI still don’t understand why. Over the course ofthe school year, she made mefeel likeI was too stupid tolearn math. One memorable incident: Wehad all taken astandardized test, and she wantedus toknow our grades immediately, soshe hadus copy our answers onto ascantron form (the “real” test was tobesent off-campus for grading and would take afew days).
Mygrade came back really low. She then divided the room inhalf and had the kids who made good grades sit onone side and the rest ofus sit onthe other side. She gave the “good” kids cookies and sodas and let them goof off while the rest ofus had todoworksheets. When wegot the real grades back, mine was one ofthe highest inthe class. Ifelt cheated.©lost40s/ Reddit
Mysister once had ateacher tell the class that they had towrite apaper ona“famous Egyptian. You know, like Socrates.” Mysister was given anin-school suspension for disrupting class with her laughter.
She appealedit, and inthe appeal meeting with our mom and the principal, the teacher insisted that Socrates was Egyptian. The suspension was canceled, mysister didn’t have towrite the paper, and that teacher isstill working atthe same school.©notthatguytheother1/ Reddit

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Iwas agood kid. Average student, but well-behaved and arule follower. Going onafield trip, the teacher, Mr. MacDonald, was adamant that noglass was allowed onboard the bus. Itold myparents, and they went and bought meaplastic thermos topack inmylunch. Westopped atadeli andI got bologna and cheese with mustard. Packed everything into apaper bag and went toschool. Iwas in5th grade.
Time comes todepart for the trip and wehead out. Mypaper bag rips and mythermos hit the floor with aglass-shattering sound. MacDonald was onme, absolutely screaming atme. Ihad never been dressed down like that before, not before and not since. Ihad the broken pieces ofthe thermos inmyhand toshow him that itwasn’t glass and that itwas just plastic. Hewouldn’t let metalk and just kept screaming atmeabout not knowing how tofollow the rules. Iwas crying out ofembarrassment and ran tothe office tocall Mom tocome getme. Missed the field trip thatI was actually looking forwardto.©Guns_Donuts/ Reddit
“You should drop down toaregular class ifthis Honors class istoo much for you tohandle.” AsIemailed her totell her about the death ofone ofmybest friends.©kaizlyn/ Reddit
One day in7th grade, our principal came into the homeroom class and wrote onthe board “$19.32” inbig numbers. Hegot our attention and announced tothe class: “This (pointing atthe number) iswhat you are worth. Every day you come toclass, the school gets $19.32 from the state for each ofyou. Soifyou are sick, you should still come toclass, gotothe nurse, and get sent home. That way, the school will still get its $19.32.”
That was the dayI stopped caring about school. I’m pretty sure hewas trying toincrease attendance and believed what hesaid was positive. But when aperson you’re supposed torespect tells you’re worth less than a20dollar bill... ©Starlight_OW/ Reddit

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Wehad ascience professor who was not only abad teacher, but also had alimited understanding ofEnglish. One day, hegaveus amassive assignment. Obviously, none ofus didit, because itwas too big for aday’s work.
When hesaw this, hegot angry, but then toldus tocomplete itathome, saying, “Bring ittome. Bring ittoDaddy.” Then hegot even angrier when hesawus all laughing. Heoften used inappropriate slang without even realizingit, but after apoint itwasn’t funny, because his teaching style was sobad.
My4th grade teacher threw mylittle crafts and drawings inthe trash. She said that stuff was for kindergarteners. She also tried tosuspend mefor making paper claws. Then, she had the audacity toquestion mymom astowhyI was sodepressed inher class.©Unknown author/ Reddit
The class was toget anice cream party ifeveryone got good grades. Three ofus didn’t, but our teacher didn’t bring itup. The plans were made, andI brought toppings. Just before the party, she announced that ifthe three students who didn’t score well attended the party, itwould becancelled.
Aswestood there, shocked, she demanded wehand over the goodies wehad brought sothat other “hard-working students” could enjoy. Wesat inone corner, crying, asthe rest ofthe kids had agreat time with the teacher. Ican never eat ice cream without having abitter taste inmymouth.

From teacher who aren’t the best ofpeople, toignorant ones, this list has them all. Then again, ignorance isn’t just limited tobad teachers, asthis article proves.

15 Shocking Stories That Prove Not Every Teacher Is a Good One (2025)

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