Though teens have a way of seeming so independent and ready to take on the world, we're constantly reminded that they're also, well, still kids. High school teachers basically live and breathe this fact. As one high school choir teacher put it, teens can be "so ridiculous, hilarious, and weird." Sure, that's why so many educators absolutely adore working with them, but at the same time, they're most definitely fielding a lot of eyebrow-raising behavior and remarks from their hormonal, sullen, or stunningly bold students.
Here, high school teachers reveal the most jaw-dropping, crazy, funny, and outright bizarre thing a student has said to them …
- "A student asked me to go to Disney World with his family for spring break. He said he'd pay, and I could stay in his room."
- "A student I had said that she had never heard of The Beatles. My jaw dropped, and I was speechless for a good 2-3 minutes."
- "Kid crying during a movie: 'I'm not crying; my eyes are sweating.'"
- "I once had a student ask, 'What would you say if I asked you to prom?' Obviously, my response was no."
- "My student asked me why the French peasants couldn't use their food stamps during the Revolution."
- "I was asked if I know how to remove skin tags."
- "It came up during class that I am vegetarian … Student raises her hand: 'Can you eat animal crackers?' Class is laughing. She doesn't understand why. I sarcastically respond with a smile, 'No. No, I can't.' Then, 20 minutes later, she raises her hand again. 'You know animal crackers aren't actually animals, right?'"
- "In Latin class, talking about word derivatives: 'Did they name spiders after Spider-Man?'"
- "We were just finishing up the Civil War unit, and I posed the following question to the class. Me: 'Alright, Lincoln was just assassinated, who is now the President of the United States?' A student confidently shouts out, 'Reagan!' Me: 'Huh, why do you think Reagan?' Student: 'Well, Lincoln was the greatest president, and Reagan was the second greatest.'"
- "I have a student who constantly asks me if I want to go get half-priced appetizers at Applebee's."
- "I teach environmental science, and we were covering the planets, I was mentioning we can see certain planets from earth — some with telescopes, some without. A girl raises her hand and, completely seriously, asks me how we discovered earth. Me: '… Uh … because we are on it?'"
- "Me: "So who can tell me, what is penicillin?" Girl (who clearly hadn't done her homework): 'It's the stuff that diabetics stick themselves with.' Me: 'No, that's insulin.' Girl: 'Oh wait, is the the stuff you jab in when someone is having anaphylaxis?' Me: 'Nah, that's Adrenalin.' Girl, after thinking for a second: 'But I swear there is something that starts with a P, and you stick it in.'"
- "Student 1: 'Have a good day, sir!' Me: 'Sir?! I'm not that old!' Student 2: 'You're getting there …'"
- "I was teaching 'The White Man's Burden' in conjunction with the novel Things Fall Apart. While the class was discussing the latent racism in the poem, a student raised her hand. 'How did the missionaries get to Africa?' she asked. 'Um, they came in boats,' was my reply. She slapped her desk, saying, 'I knew it! I knew it!' with pride. With a smug grin on her face, she explained: 'See, they say 'ye' in the poem, and that's pirate talk!'"
- "While we were reading The Crucible, a girl said, 'Wait! people had sex back then?'"
What is the craziest thing your teen has ever said to you — or you've heard they said to their teacher?
- Image via Corbis*
