Bullying by Teachers

[TheNightCreature]

I had a bad maths teacher this year which caused me to leave school, So i was wondering whether anyone here is or has been bullied or intimidated by a teacher ?

 

[Phoenixx]

Yeah, I have. It's one thing to be bullied/teased, but honestly I feel even worse when it comes from a teacher.

In 10th grade, I had a Biology teacher that would specifically single out a few people in the class to tease. I was one of them, but he didn't tease me nearly as much as the other two. Still, it made me feel like crap, and every single day I dreaded going there. I was terrified, to the point where I would shake all throughout class. I'm not sure how I even made it that whole year in there.

He would normally tease me about my uncertainty. I HATE, with a fiery passion, being called on in class. I'm not a stupid person, but the minute I'm singled out, I freeze. My mind goes blank, and so when I get asked a question, I'm unsure of the answer because I can't even think and my mind won't function. So most of my answers would end in like a question, along with some stuttering. He would often ask me "Are you telling me or asking me?" Way to make me feel even more self-conscious. Even right before asking me a question, he would stare at me for 5 - 10 seconds, must've been watching me blush, enjoying every moment. >.< And of course people would have to look to see what he was staring at.

Also, when I was sick, he would tease me for having a "man voice". The guy was a douche. He's pissed off a lot of kids over the years for his teasing and just outright putting people down, it's a wonder why he still has a job. He was a teacher who had "favorites" too. He loved the prissy girls and athletic kids.

 

[KiaKaha]

I cant say that I have...at least not really. I remember one time I was in maths class mucking around and the teacher called on me to answer a question and I had no idea what it was we were supposed to be learning. She put me on the spot for at least 10 minutes grilling me...very embarrassing... I would hardly call that bullying though.

Even so, Bullying... is an issue that I care about a lot. I think the damage caused by bullying is severe and can last a lifetime. Bullying by a teacher, is unacceptable in my opinion. Teachers are supposed to be on the students side, and be supportive... not be intimidating, threatening and making someone leave their school.

Some teachers can be real dicks, and they shouldnt be in that profession.

 

[TheNightCreature]

I can say yes, there have been many instances where I have been bullied or humiliated by teachers.

In 6th grade my English teacher noticed how bashful I was and singled me and another boy out during class, writing out grammar examples in sentences on the board about us being a "couple" causing the class to oooh and joke about this particular boy and I in and outside the classroom. Neither of us were actually interested in the other.

In 8th grade, I had a German teacher who picked on me more than anyone else. This was at around age 13-14, when my social anxiety started getting severe; whenever I was merely called on I would stutter and choke and blush and he realized this. Once our class broke into groups and we had to write a German story or something and he decided for whatever reason it would be a good idea to have only one person from the class be picked at random and the rest of the class would criticize it. Sure enough with my luck, he pulled my name out to read and I remember standing up in front of the class reading that idiotic story. You could tell by the tone of his voice every time he interrupted my reading that he was absolutely reveling in my misery, how I was shaking, and how I had this inability to articulate myself.

In 10th grade I got my wisdom teeth removed and hadn't attended school for 2 days, and as I walked into my algebra II class my teacher was handing out a quiz. Of course I didn't know about it because I was absent; after he handed the quiz to me I told him I hadn't been in school for the past few days so it was unrealistic for me to take it and he proceeded to call me "irresponsible" and "ridiculous" in front of the entire class. This particular teacher was also my homeroom teacher, and I later avoided homeroom that day. I barely talked in that homeroom, but after that situation I made sure to never utter a single word to him. What bothered me the most is how this guy always badgered my outgoing friend with questions in that homeroom behind my back asking "is something wrong with her?" For all I know this questioning could've taken place in front of several other people in my homeroom.

In my junior year of high school, I had this psychology teacher who basically did the same thing my 6th grade teacher did to me, made me pretend along with another boy in the class that we were "married" and had to do some kind of psychology marriage/personality analysis. The entire class made a huge deal out of this, booming with laughter and my teacher wouldn't stop interrogating us both and making me roleplay it out even though it was incredibly obvious how much I hated the attention.

After my freshman year of college I decided to take an EMT course and the professor picked on me after I had a deer in headlights moment during an icebreaker. Basically during this icebreaker you stated your answer and picked on someone else. Another student picked on me because I was the only name she remembered and I had no time to think of what I wanted to say, and basically made no sense when I spoke. The prof lectured me in front of the class saying I had to be more prepared/give a well thought out answer next time. :/ (I dropped out of this course after the first day because I was so humiliated; I actually switched out of being pre-med totally to engineering after realizing it better fit my personality/lack of social skills, thank goodness.)

Sorry this was such a long rant/story telling. I've never actually had classmates outright bully me on their own, but teachers definitely have and are the main reason I've developed a fear of speaking up in class, and one of the main reasons I have social anxiety.

It's okay, it's good that you let out, other than keep it in and let it boil up inside.

 

[w*n*c*a*m]

When I was in elementary, we had to present a drawing of a place where we would like to live. So I drew a house, surrounded with grasses, flowers and a lake nearby filled with fish. I was already a nervous kid at that time but not that extreme unlike now. Anyway, I did show my drawing and explained that I chose it because I love nature and everything. After that I gave the drawing to my teacher and in a annoyed tone this is what she said "You want to live in a dump place like this? This looks like a squatter's area. Are these untrimmed grasses? It looks so filthy..."... I was already embarrassed but I just pretended not to hear her from my seat. But she took my attention by calling my name and asking if the river in the fish are even alive! You can tell if the teacher's joking but it is so obvious that she was picking on me that even my classmates were staring at me seriously, obviously feeling sorry. Now, you might think that maybe my drawing was terrible and she just didn't like it so she decided to be rude. But not to act proud, I was often included in drawing contests since I was in first grade. Until now, I don't understand why she did it on me. I was a behaved kid and often silent in class. I don't remember anything that I did that might have offended her. I was the only one who got that sarcastic comment. And what's worse is, the next girl she called is our valedictorian and she showed a picture of a beach and the teacher said "That's what I wanna see. Not just some filthy area"
Since then, presenting in class because worse for me. If I was nervous before, after than I got more timid and shaky in class. When there's an upcoming presentation, I seriously couldn't sleep well until the the activity was over.

But on second thought, I think I know why she did it. I remember that she often thrashes street kids, poor people and those living in an unowned lot. My drawing looks like a place in a rural area so probably it reminds her of an undeveloped location where most poor people live. But still, she doesn't have the right to pick on me just because of personal reason.

Anyway, weird thing is when I was about to go to University, I visited my elementary school again and she recognized me even if I tried to ignore her so I smiled. Then she acted so nice, cheerful and asked how I was doing. It was kind'a pleasing that I was a low profile student but she still knows me after last seeing her in elementary. I don't know if I have forgiven her. Maybe I don't hate her that much now. But if I'll be given a chance I still want to smack her face and ask why she was cruel to this 12 year old kid which was me!

 

[Phoenixx]

Side note, but I hated it when I asked "can I go to the bathroom" to be told "I don't know, can you? May you go to the bathroom is correct." Obviously you know what my question is asking, screw you.

/rant over

^ Exactly. That same teacher did that too. He did it to everybody. I was scared to talk to him enough, I didn't ask for a single thing from him.

After someone asked to go to the bathroom and he said yes, he would also add, "And what are you going to do?"

People would always stop and give him the strangest looks. I gotta admit, this question was actually pretty funny. And when they didn't respond, he'd say, "You're going to wash your hands."

 

[Nothingness]

Oh god! That was awful! When a teacher bullies? Your alone! No one will help you! High school became a turning point for me. I had a math teacher who would pick me every single day to go to the board and I would stand there on a problem almost thru the whole class looking like an idiot! I have terrible math skills! I read at a college level. Go figure? I finally had enough and one day refused to do it. He got mad and I said I'll just take a zero for the day. After that, I said that often and I did get the zeros! lol!

 

[Imaginary]

Wow, so much the same thing that I experienced. Yes, I've had my bad times as long as I learned in Elementary School.

Along the way both teachers and classmates enjoy to bully me. My teacher was always compared me with my brother who always get the champion class "The brother is a winner, but the sister is a loser!" It often sounds in my ears, again both teachers and students, I was really embarrassed. Plus I ever get hit in my face with a thick book just because I was negligent, that when the lessons started, because I was negligent, suddenly without I realize it, he was up to me and slap me on my face by a thick mathematics book, n it happened in front of my friends.

And indeed there are many more, I was very, very confused, I hate and fear of school (until now), I often play truant because I don't know who will defend me, my classmates always embarrass me, my teacher always blames me and my family thought I was a naughty kid.

Sorry for my bad English~

 

[The Observer]

I never took **** from teachers in school, I was done when I was 16, so it was only after leaving school I started to get SA but up until then I could handle myself.

However, I will point out that these days I'm in the last few weeks of college, Its only a crap community one. I have to do a year there before I can move onto a better one. Anyway this current college is part of a secondary school and I often notice as I walk up and down the hallways to go to the bathroom or office or whatever, there is kids standing outside the classrooms. They are there for being naughty and sometmes the teacher is there and I see and hear how they address the kids. It's actually very bad and I have often felt the urge to say something but cant incase I blow my top and get kicked out.

I hear them address the kids as if they were adults in the army..."LOOK AT ME"...."STAND UPRIGHT"...."GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS"...."DONT SPEAK"...."I'M NOT FINSHED WITH YOU" are some of the things barked at the kids. Sad really as some are quite young and often look really scared. If I was a parent and I saw how some of the teachers spoke to my kid that way I would have a few choice words for them.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Wow, a lot of these little stories are horrible. I thought it was common law that teacher "playfulness" be done only with the over confident kids/never the ones who look obviously insecure and be done obviously light-heartedly. That some teachers would target Pheonixx for 'uncertainty' seems a lot more vicious and personal (on both sides)
And oh my god, what a teacher W*N*C*A*M... that's freaking elementary school? What the heck. That teacher has a vile sense of humor

"The brother is a winner and the sister is a loser" where is this? That is so harsh! What the heck this is ELEMENTARY.. I would fire that teacher

At least the teachers that singled people out and teased people a lot in my school always chose the most popular, talkative, class-clown guys. Sometimes the more popular girls would also get that kind of treatment. Even then, you never know how they really feel about it, so if they're going to over analyse anything 'negative' about the student in front of the whole class I don't think it's a good idea..