School can be a dangerous place.
Indeed, with bullying remaining an ongoing problem, some students are afraid to even set foot in school.
Then, of course, there's the terrifying fact that school shootings remain a shockingly common occurrence in the United States.
As a result, it's not only the students who find themselves scared to go to school sometimes but also the teachers.
With the current climate, sometimes when a teacher sees a student behave in even a slightly peculiar manner, they tend to assume the worst.
Thankfully, sometimes their fears are unfounded.
Other times, their fears were heartbreakingly accurate.
Redditor Agreeable-Camera5420 was curious to hear about the most frightening behavior teachers ever witnessed from their students, leading them to ask:
"Teachers of Reddit, what is the scariest thing you have ever seen a student do?"
"Boys Will Be Boys" Is NEVER An Excuse
"Literal first day of school a student, 7, grabs a girl that was getting off the bus, from behind, and pretends to cut her throat with his finger."
"Whoa nelly, instant front seat, instant write-up."
"Principal 'boys will be boys, ignore it."
"Third day of school same student gets up, while we're doing 55mph, and 'finger gun's' several students in the back of the head, execution style."
"Mother of god, BIG write-up."
"Principal 'Boys will be boys, you cant put him in the front seat for that, it was playful'."
"No, no the absolute f*ck it was NOT playful."
"He did the same thing the next day."
"But this time I had the principal time-stamped on my camera telling me I wasn't allowed to put him in the front seat, AND him doing it again."
"I wrote up the kid, AND the mother effing Principal."
"Instant sh*t show, pulled into saftey office at work with transportation director, warned I could lose my job if I escalate this sh*t."
"But I didn't back down."
"I wanted that kid off the bus, but if i couldn't have that, i NEEDED him in the front seat AWAY from everyone else."
"I got it, principal was banned from coming within 50 feet of my bus."
"She couldn't stop herself, and did so after two weeks to tell me i was an awful person."
"She was immediately removed from her position, because i wrote her up AGAIN."
"They gave her a councilors spot at the high school to finish the year, not sure if she did."
"ANYWAY, new principle rides the bus, tells me he's got the kid now--and the kids so f*ckin scary that they have to have him in his own class, with TWO adults--but that the mom refuses to get the kid any help or admit there's a problem."
"I'm told not to allow anyone within 3 seats of him." - Reddit
Ignoring A Problem Will Never Solve It
"He didn't really do anything that scary while he was with me but he did bloody scare me after he was gone."
"I had just become the class teacher of 30 9th-graders in the middle of the school year and had to tell a student that he was expelled because he had only shown up to class three times in six months."
"We had a nice chat before that, I had told him I felt I was missing the bigger picture here as I was new to that class, but that I still felt bad because he didn't seem to be the kind of guy who just skipped classes because he didn't feel like leaving his bed."
"He was very polite, thanked me for being gentle, shook my hand, turned around and clocked another student, breaking his nose, ran out of the room and pepper sprayed the door area to cover his retreat."
"So that was awkward."
"Days later I finally had time to go through the administrative files of my new students."
"His file was full of drawings."
"He liked to draw in class when he still came."
"He drew mainly AK-47s."
"He was born in Russia, we were in Western Europe."
"Around the AK-47s, love poems to the AK-47 in Russian, scenes of, well, AK-47s in action, and lists of fellow students."
"My predecessors had confiscated these drawings and his hit lists and put them away in a file that most people wouldn't even touch because it's mainly for documentation of things you already know when you are their teacher."
"Nobody had told me that there might be a f*cking problem waiting for me."
"Nobody had told the social worker of the school, probably because he didn't disrupt classes."
"Also, nobody had told me that the other student and his pals had bullied him relentlessly for a year before he decided to stay away from school."
"I guess I wasn't told that because no teacher knew as they hadn't f*cking cared to find out why he was spending recess alone, sitting for himself with a thousand-yard stare."
"I learned that when the other students had warmed up to me and started telling me things like this."- gelastes
Thank Goodness She Had The Good Sense To Leave
"I was teaching grade four and had announced my pregnancy to the class when I was about 4 month."
"Everyone was so excited."
"One little guy however, made it his mission to try and ‘hurt my baby’."
"On several occasions he kicked a soccer ball at my bump, would try and trip me and one time even said ‘let’s meet this baby’ while opening and closing scissors."
'There was some other contributing factors but I ended up taking leave early due to anxiety over this."
"So, so weird."
"When I returned the next year he had moved to a different school."- gaanmetd
Obsession Leads Down A Dangerous Path
"I had a student who became obsessed with my colleague."
"He started to believe he was in a relationship with this other teacher and it was the only reason to live."
"He’d corner the teacher a lot trying to get them to be alone."
"He told other students they were in a relationship."
"He even sat outside the teacher's apartment after following him home once."
"When I heard and saw how his crush was escalating I talked to the teacher and reported my concerns to admin."
"The other teacher was afraid he would lose his job because we are in the south and he’s gay and so he didn’t know how to handle the situation but was very uncomfortable."
"He was right, the student totally flipped out when admin and guidance confronted him."
"He assured them it was a real relationship, and started trying to corner other staff to find out who told."
"He was escorted off campus by police multiple times."
"The teacher was put on leave and just quit and moved to another state, after which someone told the student I’d been the one to report to admin."
"He started following me trying to find out where the teacher moved, interrupted my classes over and over even though I didn’t teach him, wanted to know what the teachers new address was, and threatening me."
"I had to be escorted to my car at the end of the day several times."
"We were all afraid of the student."
"He once stood outside the school for hours in front of the flag pole crying."
"I was sure the kid was going to hurt himself or someone else."
"I begged everyone to get the kid help."
"His mom didn’t believe any of it was true and refused all help that was offered like counseling and a psych eval."
"She told the school that if they called her again making up stories about her son she’d sue."
"It was a mess."- kllove
Heartbreaking
"Not evil scary, just scary."
"My dad was the elementary school principal and there was a little girl in one of the younger grades who would fall asleep during class and wouldn’t wake up no matter what her teacher or my dad or the paramedics my dad called would do."
"She’d eventually wake up on her own after several hours."
"She did this randomly, scaring her teacher, my dad and her parents a lot."
"Sadly, eventually, she died in her sleep at home."- tangcameo
The Sad Reason Some Schools Have Metal Detectors
"Pull a switchblade out & threaten another student."- F0ggers
Desperately Searching For Validation?
"Had a student tear up a bunch of kids' artwork, jump on a table, and throw said artwork at their faces all while shouting, 'I'm THE BEST! I'M THE NICEST! I'M THE GREATEST!' And laughing."- Mixedstereotype
"I have had several dangerously violent children over the course of my career, but it's been really bad the past three years."
"Kids trying to steal my teacher scissors so they could stab someone, flying desks and chairs, kicking and punching adults, self-harm, physically attacking younger students, vandalism, screaming and crying so loud no teaching can happen, growling when angry, running away."
"It never surprises me to hear of kids my students' ages being put in handcuffs."
"I teach Kinder and 1st grade."- azemilyann26
One Only Hopes They Did Something!
"I’m studying to be a teacher currently, and on one of my three-week placements in a school, a third grader had a notebook full from front to back with only the word 'stop. bad. don’t. dirt. sad'.”
"Repeated over and over and over."
"Yes it was reported, the school knew all about this, but as I am a student teacher, they didn't give me much more information."- NoLifeExperienceYet
Schools should be a sanctuary of learning and encouragement.
Making it all the more heartbreaking to think that some teachers and students enter the halls of their schools fearful for their lives on an almost regular basis.