What kind of student were you in school? Whether you were a teacher’s pet or a delinquent, one thing’s a near certainty: at some point, you got in trouble for very dumb reasons.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane and explore some of these silly reasons for punishment. And hey, by all means share your own in the comments!
The discussion was kicked off by this tweet.
Twitter user Amy asked bluntly, “What’s the dumbest thing you got in trouble for at school?” It led to a spirited discussion, and Amy herself took the lead with her best story.
Amy shared a few stories.
This reminds me a bit of the time I got in trouble for “giving someone the finger” in third grade. I legitimately did not know what it meant to give someone the finger, and the teacher refused to explain it to me.
Double whammy.
I don’t want to advocate for violence here, but it seems like a ripoff to get suspended for three days for slapping when you couldn’t even make contact on the slap.
Gotta be careful in Boy Scouts.
My Boy Scouts experience was a weird power struggle between two leaders, one who was devoutly religious and one who wasn’t. They would argue, while we just wanted to play dodgeball or whatever.
Detention isn’t for learning!
It’s kind of alarming how common this kind of experience truly is. Like, why would a school want to set up an environment where you’re literally not allowed to learn?
Jazz hands!
Sometimes it’s tough to match the tone that’s been set. For instance, you might be asked to do something enthusiastically, but the person who asked you is absolutely not prepared for your particular brand of enthusiasm.
Could have been worse.
The second story is a pretty typical “banned shirt” offense, but the first is intriguing. I’m guessing the teacher who found this person out was just relieved the hollowed-out textbooks weren’t concealing weapons.
That’s all kinds of wrong.
You’d think the school administrators would be aware of each kid’s various conditions. Props to Matt’s mom for going to bat for him, even if it didn’t get an apology.
Live by your principles.
It must have been an impactful film to make this person go from someone who uses lights all the time to someone who will never turn them back on.
Written up for being too smart.
I don’t know if this story shows that OP is smart or that their classmates were all dullards, but in any event, they shouldn’t get in trouble for participating.
A never-nude?
I just can’t read a story that involves jean shorts in lieu of more appropriate clothing and not think of Tobias from Arrested Development .
No, not like that.
This kid crossed the line from ‘sticking together’ to ‘shoving the next kid over’ and paid a steep price for the offense.
Been there.
It isn’t fair to the kid, but I kind of get this. If a kid is all sweaty and gross and you absolutely do not want to deal with them, just send them to the principal’s office. But it’s not exactly their fault.
You’re here to learn, but not like that.
Anyone who’s ever read a James Herriot book will tell you that these kind, gentle depictions of pastoral life are appropriate for literally everyone.
Technically the truth.
This is the age-old battle of wills: a teacher saying, “C’mon, you know what I mean,” and a kid saying, “I’m going to die on the hill of this technicality.”
Weird flex but okay.
This comes off like a fairly typical high school story, but they lost me at the “playing bridge” part. Did this story happen in the 1920s or something?
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A little experiment.
This is one of the most straight-ahead stories in this entire thread: kid saw a sloping floor, kid peed on floor, kid got caught.
Vincent Adultman?
Imagine being a peaceful librarian and having to police a bunch of kids who are climbing all over each other’s shoulders.
The penguin incident.
I once had a particularly stubborn teacher who was wrong about stuff all the time and didn’t respond well to being called out for it. Eventually, the students just learned the path of least resistance was to go with the flow.
She brought the receipts.
Props to the teacher for having tidy writing, I suppose, but I think coming down on a six-year-old for this might be a bit harsh.