School Suspensions That Never Should Have Happened

Punishment System

School punishment systems differ all around the world. Some schools are relatively relaxed when it comes to their punishment systems. As long as you don’t do something extremely out of line, you can stay out of trouble.

But then you get schools that are exceptionally strict with their rules. Oftentimes, kids in these schools are suspended for ridiculous reasons. In this list, we will be looking at some of the most surprising reasons why student Redditors have been suspended.

Mrs. Duckworth

So for context, at my old high school, we had a Vice-Principal whose name was Mrs. Duckworth. As you can imagine, there were a lot of jokes circulating around the school about her name, and one student decided to make sure she knew.

The student walked past her in her office, and you guessed it, he said, “Quack Quack.” She didn’t take it very well, and the next thing we all knew, the student was actually suspended over it without even a disciplinary hearing.

Story credit – Reddit/Panz04er

Self-Defense Against The Bullies

There was this kid in middle school that was always getting bullied. Despite going to tell teachers and administration, nothing changed. His parents got involved, and even the few friends he had stood up for him as much as they could. He still got beaten and picked on almost every day, and his abusers suffered no consequences. This went on for an entire school year. So over the summer, he took self-defense lessons.

Come next year, the bullying started up, but this time he broke one of the kids’ noses. However, he got in trouble and was permanently suspended from school. This caused such an uproar from his parents and other students that even the local news got involved. It was a mess, but he ended up having to go to another school district, and I think the principal resigned over the incident.

Story credit – Reddit/_jlouise_

“Ethnically Inappropriate.”

A friend of mine was suspended until he took his cornrows out. They claimed that it was distracting and “ethnically inappropriate.” My friend was adopted and did not know his ethnicity (he is noticeably not 100% white, not that it should matter). This was a predominately white school in the Midwest back in ’02.

Another friend of mine found that the dress code was not gendered specific, so he wore a dress to school. He was suspended for the rest of the day, and they changed the dress code right away.

Story credit – Reddit/Benkei929045

Dressed Inappropriately

I get called to the Principles office, and when I arrive, I’m greeted by my parents, the two other students I was rooming with, and their parents. Long story short, our teacher chaperone had seen one of us standing at the front desk of the hotel “dressed inappropriately.” Yup, swim trunks, literally what hundreds of other students were wearing. That teacher followed him back to our room, “being escorted by hotel staff” (to open our door).

We were all honor students, and this was a trip for a club that revolves around community service, and the teacher didn’t bother looking into or even discussing the incident with us to find out what was going on.

The school staff would not let us explain, and we were all suspended for two weeks and were not allowed to go on field trips for the remainder of our junior or senior year.

Story credit – Reddit/Cstix

Made-Up Prank

I went to a high school where we had to wear uniform Oxford shirts with a front pocket. One year the seniors started goofing around and “pocketing” each other. It was a dumb made-up prank.

Sort of like pantsing, except they’d tear the victim’s shirt pocket off. By the end of the day, a lot of students no longer had their shirt pockets, and half the class was on in-school suspension.

Story credit – Reddit/bluesailor

Fun And Games

My ex-partner’s younger brother brought in a water gun (like those cheap, neon orange dollar store ones) when he was in 4th grade. A 4th grader doesn’t have any malicious intent when it comes to that.

The brother got expelled immediately, and they actually had to move to a different town because there was no school he could transfer to. It seems so extreme to do that to a child when his intent was probably positive.

Story credit – Reddit/essrisify

Not The School’s Business

About 5 of us got together one weekend in 11th grade and got drunk at someone’s house. Somehow the school found out. I didn’t get expelled or suspended, but I got detentions, and my parents were called.

But it didn’t even happen at school while is the headmaster involved? Even though it technically was illegal, I don’t see why it was any of their business in the first place. Schools are mysterious.

Story credit – Reddit/speckofSTARDUST

Half-Rotted Meat

A group of kids from my brother’s class put half-rotted meat into the air conditioners of the science building. This was about a month before graduation, so the outside temperatures were well over 100 degrees, and not running the A/C was a health hazard. On the other hand, running the A/C made the bad smell worse.

All the classes had to be moved to other rooms or corners of the auditorium and library for that last month. No idea how the kids were caught, but they were suspended for the rest of the year except for finals and not allowed to participate in prom or their graduation ceremony.

Story credit – Reddit/mountlane

Dead Snake

I got sent home from school because I discovered a dead snake in my backpack and asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom to dispose of it. He sent me to the office. The assistant principal thought I brought it in on purpose.

For days I couldn’t figure out why or how the snake turned up in my bag. But soon, I found out that my buddy had put it in my bag several days earlier to scare me. My dad thought it was hilarious.

Story credit – Reddit/greenmonster304

A Fruit Cup

My friend knocked over a fruit cup and didn’t clean it up. The cafeteria workers asked her to clean up the mess, and she said no. I think I offered to clean it just to end the whole thing, but they wanted her to do it.

I’m not sure exactly what happened after that. But my other friends and I were pulled out of class to talk about it, and the fruit-spiller got suspended for her ‘attitude’ or something like that.

Story credit – Reddit/Klaudiapotter

“Not Going To Pass.”

There was a girl who got expelled three months before graduation because she “wasn’t going to pass,” yet one of the teacher’s kids had a lower note in each of the same classes. It was a small school with a lot of favoritism and discrimination.

This definitely didn’t help out the girl at all. She ended up getting pregnant and kicked out of her house not two months after we all graduated. It was a real pity. I hope she’s doing okay today.

Story credit – Reddit/bbrown235

“Twice The Allowed Length.”

 

I went to a private school that had a conservative rule about the length of a boy’s hair. One guy had hair that was about down to his chin, which was way past the limit. He was given repeated warnings and write-ups to get it cut over a two-month period until, finally, the principal said his hair was twice the allowed length, and he needed to cut it by half.

The next week he showed up to school with half of his head buzzed. We thought it was hilarious, but he was suspended for a week and wasn’t allowed to return until the rest of his hair was the same length.

Story credit – Reddit/link-to-the-pastiche

“Froggy”

I was in grade school. Four of us were playing four square: me, a guy, a stuck-up teacher’s pet, and another girl. I kinda liked the other girl, so I was calling her names and teasing her. Nothing too bad. The teacher’s pet said she would tell the principal I was bullying her if I called her one more name.

So I asked the girl what name I could call her. She said, “I don’t mind Froggy,” or something like that. I said, “Okay, Froggy.” The teacher’s pet told the principal, and I was expelled for bullying.

Story credit – Reddit/biomaster09

Laughing At Fires

I was laughing at a fire. My English teacher was explaining how we were going to do the fire drill, the guy who was sitting next to me told me a joke. I was laughing at his joke. He was laughing too. But I got in trouble. She yelled at me and said, “YURI DONT LAUGH AT FIRES.”

Then she sent me to the principal’s office, and I got suspended. The guy who was sitting next to me didn’t get in trouble. I still don’t understand how or why I got suspended. They didn’t even let me explain myself.

Story credit – Reddit/Yurix98