Teachers Share The Harshest Things They've Ever Said To Their Students

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Feb 11, 2023 6:00 PM EST

Teaching is not for the weak of heart. Kids are addicted to disrupting class and making their teacher's jobs as difficult as possible. I remember being a student and feeling incredibly frustrated when I was in a class full of "bad kids." Three or four disruptive students could ruin a class for everyone, especially the teacher. 

If you're an elementary school teacher, there are some simple strategies to get kids to be quiet: for instance, "put a bubble in your mouth." Whoever came up with that is a genius who should get an honorary Ph.D. in education. Once you get up to middle and high school, putting a bubble in your mouth won't cut it. Older kids who won't listen need tough love, and teachers are prepared to give it to them. This week, teachers on Reddit shared the harshest things they've ever said to their students, ranging from hilarious jokes to sick burns. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/Teachers u/High... 19h HS | Chemistry | Red... Harshest thing you ever said to a student? I'll start. Humor "I don't care if you want to fail the class, but you are not going to disrupt the learning of 30 other kids." Keep in mind I'm a first-year teacher in a pretty rough school district so I'm sure there will be more to come. There have been a lot of posts about this lately and I'm curious to see the responses :)
    via u/HighYieldOnly
  • 02
    Font - may1nster • 17h What you felt is the harshest thing you've said is my opening line on the syllabus. Reply 415
    via u/may1nster
  • 03
    Font - Slowtrainz. 16h Yeah I'm like...wait that's not harsh, that's a completely normal thing to say lol. 116
    via u/Slowtrainz
  • 04
    Font - mytortoisehasapast. 18h Job Title | Location 1 Award Kid was screwing around and looking in the microscope. I asked what he was looking at. "Deez nuts". So without thinking I blurted out "you need a microscope for that?!" Reply 2.1k
    via u/mytortoisehasapast
  • 05
    Font - what_if_Im_dinosaur • 14h I wish this was mine, but it was a colleague: Teacher: "....and it's big" Student: "that's what she said!" Teacher: "Not to you she didn't." 441 441
    via u/what_if_Im_dinosaur
  • 06
    Font - YoureNotSpeshul. 17h Hands down, this is the best thing I've read all week. You're kind of my hero right now, not gonna lie. The fact that it didn't turn into "When keeping it real goes wrong" is even better. please God let someone get the reference G 4390
    via u/YoureNotSpeshul
  • 07
    Font - Automatic-Nectarine4. 17h Student crumpled up paper and said "I'm not doing this". I said "oh you'll do it", he says no again and I say "no I meant next year when you're in 6th grade again while everyone else goes forward because they did their work" ... Reply 1.5k
    via u/Automatic-Nectarine4
  • 08
    Font - Niirah 15h Gods I wish kids still got held back. Social promotion has killed education. Edit to add: I genuinely believe that social promotion hurts students far more than holding them back. They just keep getting further and further behind. ... 493
    via u/Niirah
  • 09
    Font - JOR Loki_God_of_Puppies 14h ● We have a kid who at this point has missed 30 days of school for almost exclusively BS reasons (today was the 100th day, so that's insane). He legally should be held back but we all know that will never happen. Good news is that his family notoriously school hops so he will be someone else's problem next year 136
    via u/Loki_God_of_Puppies
  • 10
    Rectangle - Brous_the_dragon • 17h Kid told another kid "Suck my cock". And I said "sorry. Can you explain that to me? What do you want your friend to do? Here in the class? Now?" Reply 493 ...
    via u/Brous_the_dragon
  • 11
    Font - CeeDotA 18h "I don't care if you want to fail the class, but you are not going to disrupt the learning of 30 other kids." I mean honestly, that's not harsh at all. I've done the same thing. "I get paid the same whether you pass or fail. So if you're going to take an F please do so quietly so other people don't have to fail like you." To my talkative folks I've said ... "Have I ever told you how much I love hearing your beautiful voice? No? Strange, probably becuase I don't." Reply 685
    via u/CeeDotA
  • 12
    Font - check_my_grammer. 17h "Please fail quietly" is a go to of mine 00 4238
    via u/check_my_grammer
  • 13
    Font - KickinAus. 17h "Kids like you are the reason good teachers are leaving to work at Target." His dad called me the next day fuming. I told the dad I was wrong to say it to him, but I surely wasn't wrong with it being a true statement. I wouldn't say it again. That class is the reason I take Bupropion now. ... Reply 403
    via u/KickinAus
  • 14
    Rectangle - melissalovebug • 14h "I get it was hard to hear...but I've asked around and im not wrong" 117
    via u/melissalovebug
  • 15
    Font - Puzzleheaded Pitch420 18h I had a class accuse me of liking them less than my other students. I told them that they were absolutely right, not because I didn't like them individually (ok, there were a few), but because they made my job harder than it should have been. Told them that if they wanted a fun teacher, they had to be better students. They accepted my explanation, still didn't change the behavior ... Reply 803
    via u/PuzzleheadedPitch420
  • 16
    Font - NahLoso 15h "This class is boring." "I agree. Did this same lesson with 2nd Period today, and we had a great time with it. Sometimes guidance sticks me with a bunch of boring students in the same class though." 159
    via u/NahLoso
  • 17
    Rectangle - Emotional Ganache760 • 18h This is happening to me currently. They are buttholes as a collective, but okay individually. 244 ↓
    via u/Emotional_Ganache760
  • 18
    Font - BHeiny91 16h Kid gave me a test with most of the answers written as "IDK". Gave her a chance to retake and she did no better. When she complained that her grade was still an F she said but I did my best and I told her "well your best wasn't good enough". That got me a meeting with mom and principal. Reply 95
    via u/BHeiny91
  • 19
    Rectangle - lizziefreeze. 15h THAT got you a meeting?! 451 51
    via u/lizziefreeze
  • 20
    Font - BHeiny91 15h Our principal is the captain of the bleeding heart club and this mom is the excitable kind. 437 ↓
    via u/BHeiny91
  • 21
    Font - ruin-LVII. 17h "I could add up all three of your grades and you'd still be failing." It was true tbf... ... Reply 451
    via u/ruin-LVII
  • 22
    Font - reallifeswanson • 16h Willfully obtuse student: "Your tattoo is fake." Me: "Well, see if it's still here next year when you're repeating this class." Reply 204
    via u/reallifeswanson
  • 23
    Font - GrumpyBitchInBoots • 17h I used to keep a coffee pot in my room. Them: "Your coffee smells so good. Can I have some?" Me: "No." Them: "But sharing is caring!" Me: "but I don't care." ... Reply 426
    via u/GrumpyB*tchInBoots
  • 24
    Font - Accomplished_Scar717 • 18h Students came after class to seek advice on whether they should become sexually active. I said, "How you going to take care of a baby when you can't even bring a pencil to class?" Reply 517
    via u/Accomplished_Scar717
  • 25
    Font - Sew_mahina 18h HS ELA | Honolulu, HI I told a (senior) student that I lost all respect for him as a person (but will treat him like any other student and grade his work like any other student) after he made fun of the rape scene in The Kite Runner in front of his classmates. (We also had a conversation about how offensive it was, whether he was 100% certain that anyone in the room had been sexually assaulted before and what that would make them feel like). He cried. Reply 458 ...
    via u/Sew_mahina
  • 26
    Font - rvralph803 17h Good. Maybe he learned from that. 138
    via u/rvralph803
  • 27
    Font - Sew_mahina. 17h HS ELA | Honolulu, HI Honestly, I really hope so. I told them that I care if they're smart, but I care more if they're a good person when they leave my class. 4142
    via u/Sew_mahina
  • 28
    Font - Rainbow_baby_x. 16h To a 6th grade girl who rolled her eyes at me constantly, talked during my instructions, and had an awful attitude in general, but her mom was a long term sub at the (rural, very close knit) school so she got away with it way too much-"You act like you're better than everyone else but you're not. Stop it." I said it in front of the whole class. I was new to the school/community/teaching. She started in with the crocodile tears and of course went straight to her mom (a
    via u/Rainbow_baby_x
  • 29
    Font - Daddywags42 • 18h Student: "He stole my girlfriend!" Me: "you can't steal a person. If she left you it was because of your crummy personality." Class:"ohhhhhhh!" ... Reply 190
    via u/Daddywags42
  • 30
    Font - Ok Following4173 • 18h A kid was correcting literally everything I said. When I referred to one of his classmates their first name and last initial, because we had another person of the same name he said "Why can't you just say it like this?" I shot back with "Why can't you just be quiet?" Honestly, even he thought it was funny. It's probably the only positive moment we had together. Very negative kid. Reply 123 123
    via u/Ok_Following4173

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school FAIL teach classroom rare insults teaching middle school teachers awesome teacher teacher educational School of FAIL high school insults education school memes harsh
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