Teachers can have lasting impacts on the lives of their students. Some teachers inspire kids to follow their dreams and do great things, while other teachers encourage children with low-self esteem to explore their natural potential and cultivate their talents. However, some teachers can leave their pupils emotionally scarred and discouraged.
One anonymous Reddit user shared their experience with one of these teachers, writing that the unnamed educator would often tease her students relentlessly. She would mock everything from their clothes to their grades, their appearance, their voices, and even publicly declared that she believed depression wasn’t a real thing, according to the Reddit user.The teacher’s remarks started out small, but she grew brazen over time, eventually mocking the user’s voice in front of the entire class in the middle of a lesson. But things took a dark turn after a new girl joined the school, and the teacher fixated on her.
The Mockery Escalated
The new girl, whom the story’s writer referred to simply as “Smol,” was a kind person right off the bat. She was friendly to all her classmates even though everyone noticed she had a tough home life. The Redditor recalled, “She often came to class smelling of her dad’s chain smoking and in old hand-me-down clothes.”
Seeing Smol so harshly and rudely insulted in front of all her peers made the Reddit user’s blood boil.
Smol also had a few mental health problems. Notably, she struggled with depression, and kids would often bully her. She joined the same class as the Reddit user who shared the story, and naturally, the teacher instantly started to mock Smol. She focused on her clothes and encouraged bullying, which dragged Smol further into the depths of despair.
The entire class could see how the new girl was being affected by her circumstances, yet little was done to help her. Some children bullied her in class while the teacher merely ignored them. One day, the teacher called everyone to her table to answer a question, a practice she often indulged in with a cloying smile.
When Smol’s turn came, the teacher asked her what music she liked, and the girl replied she didn’t have a favorite genre. In a loud voice, the teacher once more made a scathing comment focussed on Smol’s depressive tendencies, leaving the class stunned and the young girl storming out in tears.
Bringing the Teacher Down to Earth
Seeing Smol so harshly and rudely insulted in front of all her peers made the Reddit user’s blood boil. They commented, “I fumed about how inappropriate and unacceptable this was. And I demanded justice.” They were going to do something about the educator’s constant tyranny, eventually coming up with a simple yet effective plan.
The user secretly started to record every class they had with the teacher. Every time she mocked one of the students, the user documented it, putting together all the day’s incidents after school. Eventually, they had collected a barrage of insults, many of which were aimed at Smol.
After a month of gathering evidence, the Redditor sent the compilation of insults to the school’s principal, attached to a letter imploring him to do something about the abuse the children faced almost every day. Luckily, the principal was shocked at the teacher’s behavior and took action immediately.
The teacher was called in, officially reprimanded, and forced to apologize to the class — Smol especially. The teacher’s husband also worked at the school and couldn’t believe what his wife had been doing to the kids. Naturally, she lost her job, her reputation was entirely sullied, and apparently, her marriage also took a heavy blow.
Other users in the comments praised the original poster for sharing the story, calling them a “hero” for standing up to the teacher’s verbal abuse. The Redditor and Smol eventually became good friends, and when one person asked, “Is smol now okay?” the poster shared that she’s doing much better.