Teacher Shares The Deliberately Mean Things She’s Heard Middle School Girls Say — That Sound Somewhat Innocent
"Oh my gosh, I love that bracelet, where did you get it?"
Brocreative / Shutterstock Those of us who have seen the movie “Mean Girls” likely remember the scene where Regina George compliments Cady’s bracelet.
Despite coming off as a compliment, we later learn that Regina was actually being petty, and she exposes herself in a later scene where she offers a similar compliment to a classmate wearing a skirt before telling Cady, “That is the ugliest effing skirt I have ever seen.”
It is a prime example of how, even today, middle school and high school girls often make back-handed comments insulting others that are disguised as genuine compliments.
One teacher is revealing the comments she overheard her students making to their classmates, and even their teachers, that were snide remarks masked as compliments.
The middle school teacher could not believe the deliberately mean things she heard her students say to one another that sounded innocent.
In a TikTok video shared by teacher Andrea Michelle, she spills all of the derogatory statements she overheard her students, particularly the girls, say to each other that could’ve been a scene from “Mean Girls.”
“These two girls were talking to each other, and one said, ‘No, no, no. What I really love is that one shirt with all the stains on it. It just like suits you,’” Michelle recalled.
On a different occasion, two girls were sitting in class when they turned to the girl sitting behind them and asked her if she had showered that day. When the girl replied yes, the two girls gave each other a smug look while one said, “Told you,” to the other.
She recalled another incident in which a student walked into the classroom, and a classmate said, “Oh my gosh, are those new shoes?” When the student said that they were and that she had just bought them, the other girl replied, “Yeah, I can tell.”
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When another student answered a question correctly in class, a girl turned to her and said, “Wow, it must be so nice to be so smart and get all the answers right.”
Michelle recalled an incident when one student was loaning a classmate a pair of pants, and the student expressed concern that the pants would not fit her. The girl giving her the pants said, “These will fit you. They fit me last week when I was fat.”
Not even teachers were safe from the students’ barbed comments.
“One of the teachers walked in, and a girl looked at her and said, ‘Oh my gosh, miss, that dress is really you,’” Michelle said, adding that the girl was looking the teacher up and down in a repulsed way.
While the comments appeared to be somewhat innocent, most females know all too well that they are catty remarks intended to insult.
Unfortunately, this behavior from middle school girls is not uncommon, and many people shared their own experiences of catty bullying.
“It’s been 18 years since a girl told me I laugh like her dog. I still think about that,” one TikTok user commented.
“In middle school, a girl said to me, ‘Your mom really lets you wear anything,’ and I still think about it,” another user wrote.
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A girl told me, ‘You just really like those pants because you wear them all the time.’ I was poor. I didn't get it until years later,” another user revealed.
There are several reasons why middle school girls torment some of their classmates and attempt to bring them down whenever they are presented with the opportunity.
Some may believe they will move up in the social hierarchy by picking on others, while others desire to gain acceptance from certain social groups.
Many of them are most likely experiencing insecurities about themselves, their appearance, or their social standing. To cope with these insecurities, some may resort to mean behavior toward others to deflect attention away from their own vulnerabilities.
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According to a survey conducted by Glamour, girls experience bullying far more than boys, with 30% of girls reporting being bullied compared with 22% of boys.
However, if you were bullied in middle school and were the target of mean girl slander, it does not mean that what they said was true, and you will never rise above it.
One of the best ways to combat bullying and harassment in middle school is simply being kind to your classmates, even those who attempt to give you a hard time.
Responding with kindness to meanness not only demonstrates emotional maturity and resilience but also offers mean girls, who may be struggling with their own self-image, a different perspective.
If they ask if you’ve showered or say they like the shirt you’ve been wearing each day, respond with a thank you and a smile, letting them know that their nasty comments will not hurt your self-esteem.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.