Teacher Says She's Feeling 'Creeped Out' After Student Won't Stop Following Her And Behaving Strangely
She's worried the student's behavior could be unsafe.
Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock Teachers have to put up with a lot. More often than not, that means that they have a difficult job that many argue they aren't compensated for. It's not often they qualify their jobs as difficult because they are afraid for their safety, however.
One teacher is feeling genuinely “creeped out” and even a little scared to go to school after the strange encounters she had with one student.
An anonymous teacher sought advice after a student began harassing her at school.
A teacher posted to Reddit to discuss the bizarre things one student has been doing around her. She stated that she is a “first-year teacher at a small, rural school that serves a low-income community.”
Photo: lisegagne / Canva Pro
“I teach 7th grade ELA and so far things have been great!” she said. “I’m excited for my new career and I love my job! However, there’s been something putting a damper on it.”
She continued to explain her predicament involving a new student. “We had a new student join our class in November. He’s tiny and when I first saw him, I couldn’t believe he was a 7th grader,” she shared.
It started out with small things she had to deal with. “I have him first period and he would not leave my classroom when it was time for him to leave,” she said. “I would have to make him leave.”
“At first, I thought there was something going on at home. He might have not been receiving enough love and attention at home, so I pulled him aside during my planning period and talked with him,” the teacher stated. “He said everything was fine at home and he just liked my class and I was his favorite teacher.”
Although the student’s sentiments were nice, he was still disrupting the flow of the school day. The teacher was forced to speak with his mother and the vice principal, who both talked to the boy. Although his bad behavior did not stop, it did ease up some.
Things have only gotten worse in the second semester.
“It is now second semester,” the teacher said. “He doesn’t try to stay in my room, but he does try to come in when it’s not his class time.”
When the student didn’t get his way, he exhibited disturbing behavior. “He’ll fall on the ground and roll around,” the teacher stated.
This continued until she said, “It got downright scary.”
“I was going to the bathroom in the teacher’s lounge after the lunch bell rang. He followed me to the lounge and stood in front of the door, asking me if he could come in and if he could have something out of the vending machine,” she recounted.
“He then proceeded to hang off the door frame of the lounge and ask if he could come in. At this point, I’d been holding my pee since about 3rd period so I had to go,” she said. “I said no and pointed him towards the cafeteria, but he then… fell down on his back and started rolling on the ground. One of my students saw him doing this, came over, and began leading him away.”
This teacher has had enough. “I’m creeped out, I don’t feel safe, and I don’t feel like anyone is taking this seriously because of the kid’s size and his age,” she admitted. “I love this job and I love what I do, but I don’t like feeling this way.”
Documentation and backup from administrators are important.
Two of the main suggestions in the comments of the post were documenting the student’s behavior and reporting it to administrators. Western Governors University agreed with this advice. “When extreme behaviors occur, safety should be your primary concern. No teacher should tolerate being hurt or threatened.”
In a survey of school faculty by the American Psychological Association, one-third of teachers have reported being threatened by students during the school year. That is completely unacceptable. But what is the solution?
Ultimately, schools need more mental health services for students, but there's just not enough money or viable candidates to offer those services. In the meantime, teachers suffer the consequences of unsafe classrooms which contributes to the teacher shortage.
This teacher has to put her safety and that of her other students first. Administrators should deal with this student’s misbehavior for the good of everyone involved, but without a viable solution, this teacher might just have to find another position to ensure her piece of mind at work.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.