I don’t recall ever telling on anyone during my school days, but I do recall BEING TOLD ON several times by folks who I still view as TRAITORS.
I’m just kidding, it was elementary school and some kids just didn’t have older brothers and sisters to pound them into submission every time they even thought about being a tattletale…
And, boy am I glad I learned that lesson at an early age.
Because nobody likes a tattletale!
Let’s take a trip down memory lane with folks on AskReddit.
1. That’s a good excuse.
“He said a bad word!”
“I’m standing right next to him and I didn’t hear anything.”
“Well, I can read his mind.”
2. The other one.
“Little girls runs up to me at recess and says another girl called her the C word. I was thinking, “Oh no, not the C word.”
I explained that she was just going to have to tell me exactly what the other girl called her. She said she called her “co*chie”.
Not at all what I was thinking.”
3. All kinds of upset.
“I had a student (2nd grade) that would stick her tongue out just a little when she was concentrating.
One day during silent reading another kid came to tell me she was being rude to him. I explained she wasn’t and it was just something she did when she was thinking really hard.
His response was, “Well I don’t like it,” to which I replied, “Well then don’t look at her.” He was all kinds of upset but stopped complaining.”
4. Snitch.
“In second grade my friend told the class tattle tale that he was a snitch. And the kid stood right up out of his desk and yelled to the teacher “HE CALLED ME A SNITCH, I AM NOT A SNITCH.”
And my friend said “you’re doing it right now, stupid.” And it was all during a silent reading time and it was super quiet up until that point.”
5. Oh, relax.
“When I was a substitute teacher a kid told on me to the principal.
I had made the okay sign with my hand at about chest level. This is the same sign that if placed below the waist and someone sees they get to punch you.
This kid told the principal she thought I was going to punch her…”
6. Summer camp.
“I was a summer camp counselor (18 years old) at the time. A boy (we’ll call him Brian) about 13-14 years old came up to another counselor and I almost crying.
He complained younger kids (4-5 boys about 10-11 years old) were teasing him because of how he ran. Brian claimed (lied) his gym teacher told him “humans run faster by not using their arms.”
We asked him if he could demonstrate his “superior human ability” and show us this run. He literally ran like a Naruto ninja, and looked absolutely ridiculous…we had to fight hard to hold back the laughs. We told the younger kids to stop teasing him, but also suggested Brian his “gym teacher” may be wrong.
Whatever you are picturing, magnify the insanity by 10. It was like he learned how to run watching only Napoleon Dynamite and Naruto.”
7. Kids are weird.
“Miiiiiiiissssssss…. The girl in front of me in the line won’t stop saying mint.
He was correct, she was indeed repeating the word mint…”
8. From a 17-year-old?
“”He took a pen from the drawer and not a pencil!”
This was after I told my 17 year old students to grab a pencil and paper because we were going to do notes that day. I have no rules about pens not being used, I just didn’t say the more generic ‘writing utensil’.
And the student who tattled wasn’t on the spectrum and wasn’t normally super literal.”
9. Stop breathing.
“For breathing too loudly.
Grade 4.
I wanted to just walk away for good.”
10. Well, what am I supposed to do?
“I was told on in fifth grade for looking at a boy.
The teacher sided with me because our desks were positioned so we were facing each other!
Where else could I look!!!??”
11. Imaginary toys.
“I’ll never forget the time a kid came up to me furiously upset that his friend stole his toy…. Seems relatively fair right?
Until about 5 to 10 minutes later, when I finally calmed him down enough to discover that this supposed “toy” was an imaginary made up one.
REALLY?! Like you just can’t imagine up a second one, or a few hundred spares? Turns out imaginary toy politics are quite strict.”
12. Tattletale!
“Girl stayed after class to tell me someone at her table didn’t take notes. I was kinda shocked and didn’t have a response for a few seconds.
I teach college students, so this was someone who is considered an adult.”
13. Fell into a trap.
“In 7th grade, I still had no idea what a swastika was.
A Jewish friend was explaining it to me and had me draw it out. After I drew it in exact detail to what he said to do, he immediately got up and told the teacher I was drawing swastikas.
I tried to erase it but the damage was done.
I got a weeks detention on lunch for that. Even after I explained what happened.”
14. That’s quite a name.
“When I was a kid I was in an argument with my best friend.
He went home crying to his parents because I had called him a ‘mighty maggot’
His parents asked why I would call him that.
‘Because I called him that first’ he responded.
Cue his dad calling me ‘mighty maggot’ for the rest of our friendship!”
Do you remember any tattletales from your school days?
If so, tell us all about it in the comments.
We’d love to hear from you!
