Teacher’s ‘Jokes’ Questioned by Students, Calling Him Out For Unacceptable Behavior

A young woman received more than 26,000 reactions and over 1,500 comments on social media for her story about her teacher, who would make inappropriate jokes in the classroom, causing her to feel uncomfortable.

The original poster (OP) was a 26-year-old female taking an intensive bakery course that involved an 8-hour lesson on Wednesdays, led by her 50-year-old male teacher.

Although the teacher came across as friendly, his sense of humor often skirted the line of acceptability with his frequent s** jokes targeted at her and other girls. Nevertheless, the remarks were still seen as humorous by everyone.

One day OP was caught off guard by an unexpected situation involving the male teacher. He called her over during the class, saying that his friend had sent him a video that reminded him of her.

The video was pornographic in nature and depicted many females having s**. The situation caused OP to become uncomfortable and frozen, unable to react other than a nervous laugh. She awkwardly chuckled in surprise.

Despite feeling wronged, OP chose not to speak up and instead ignored what she had seen, returning to whatever task she had been doing. OP acknowledged that she should have said something but ultimately did not.

OP worried about the teacher’s joke for a week and felt the experience greatly affected her. “It’s been making me lose sleep since last week. I feel grossed out, objectified, and my self-worth has plummeted,” she commented.

As a result, OP decided to confide in someone she trusted at the school about what had happened. The person suggested that an investigation should be launched into the teacher’s behavior.

This has made the student feel guilty, as though she was responsible for getting her teacher in trouble. She had intended to give him a warning first. She now asks if she is an “a**hole” for reporting her teacher over this joke.

Reactions on Social Media

Some of the comments shared similar stories about inappropriate behavior from teachers or authority figures that were written off as ‘jokes’ but felt anything but funny to those experiencing it. Others shared advice on how best to handle the situation, such as seeking counseling and filing a formal complaint with the school.

Ultimately, they agreed that what this teacher said was not a joke, and it constituted s**ual harassment. She was right to seek help regarding the situation.

“NTA. A 50-year-old man knows that showing his student pornography is not a joke. He wants you to think it’s a joke, so you’ll doubt yourself like you’re doing now. You’re not getting him in trouble; he’s getting himself in trouble,” one person with 35,900 ‘upvotes’ said.

One person with 10,100 upvotes replied. “Exactly this. NTA. That was not a joke; that was s**ual harassment.”

“Oh boy, I was s**ually harassed in high school by one of my teachers, and he also claimed it was a joke,” one person admitted. “I think it was so that he could deny it was harassment and then blame me for taking it ‘too seriously’ or whatever.”

Another person agreed the teacher was in the wrong. “A common strategy for many types of abusers. If it’s a joke, then not only did they do nothing wrong, but they get to be offended at you for misinterpreting. ‘You really think I’m that kind of person?’ Then they go with further playing the victim or even more harassing behavior played off as a joke.”

This article, Teacher’s ‘Jokes’ Questioned by Students, Calling Him Out For Unacceptable Behavior was syndicated and produced by TPR Teaching. Source: Reddit.

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