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People Break Down The Worst Ending They've Ever Seen In A Film

People Break Down The Worst Ending They've Ever Seen In A Film
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In a time when we are constantly looking for something to watch, but rarely have time to sit down and enjoy something, picking a good film can be tricky. No one likes to watch a whole movie to get to the ending and have it be so disappointing that you wished you didn't watch in the first place.

Ask Reddit gave us a list of the movies that have the worst endings, and sometimes the worst beginnings and middles too. If you're wondering what to watch next, this list should help narrow down what to avoid all together.


Redditor Asap_lucky69 asked:

"What is the worst ending you have seen in a movie?"

Spoilers ahead, so readers beware.

Passengers was overall pretty creepy.

"That Jennifer Lawrence/Chris Pratt movie where actually she doesn't mind marrying her stalker who took her utopia life away and living just the two of them forever and ever."

- 360Saturn

The comments got into a little debate over Jennifer Lawrence reaction to the criticism of the film.

"Passengers is the movie I believe you're talking about."

"Although I will add that it annoyed me how after the internet called it out as a creepy relationship. Lawrence said she agreed and if she had noticed it while reading the script she'd have swapped the characters around. No. That's just as creepy."

"The better ending would have been one of the planned ones, where Pratt's character dies in the finale. Then it cuts to like 6 months later and shows Lawrence's character deciding to open someone else's pod up. Showing that humans crave social interaction."

- NinjaBreadManOO

"Lawrence said she agreed and if she had noticed it while reading the script she'd have swapped the characters around."

"That's not what she said, or what others were saying. The criticism, which she agreed with, is that it would've been more palatable if Pratt waking her up were a twist revealed more than halfway through the film instead of showing him doing it early on."

"That would've made it so that there wasn't any underlying issue known to the audience as the two characters' relationship progresses. We would've found out about what Pratt's character did the instant Lawrence's character does, and we would have to reconcile with it just as she had to. One of the main themes of the film is forgiveness, but it's harder for the audience to forgive Pratt's character when they're watching him go into that relationship knowing the truth, rather than being surprised by it."

- fiddleskiddle

Wonder Woman wasn't such a wonderful ending.

"WW84"

- GomeyBear93

"Yeah, like, ok, the entire world gets wishes granted and nobody ever mentions it again WTF."

"Especially Bruce Wayne who would've wished his goddamned parents back to life."

- Emperor_Cartagia

"Not only does the entire world get wishes granted, but they are all willing to take their wishes back to stop the apocalypse. No way."

AggravatingCupcake0

"Man I hope nobody wished their dead spouse/ kids back to life then had to undo that willingly. That's the sort of trauma that f*cks you beyond repair."

- Wind_Yer_Neck_In

"Also, it's weird that nobody wished for the apocalypse, considering how nut jobs like the Joker are running around in this universe. Are they really saying not one nihilistic a**hole would wish for a meteor to crash into the planet just for funsies?"

- LimitedTimeOtter

The Forgotten was an ending we wish we forgot.

"The end of 'The Forgotten,' with Julianne Moore was straight trash."

"I was in the edge of my seat the entire time, then it ended with, 'It was aliens.' F*ck was that disappointing."

lazypoko

"I enjoyed that movie for its peculiar jump scares. It's also the first instance I can remember of the 'surprise T-bone crash' which a million movies have done since, but it was effective in this movie. But, whack conclusion, especially how everything was nearly undone, and she was the only one who could remember the film's events."

- yeyjordan

"Aliens with advanced, seemingly incomprehensible technology - who decided to just re-wallpaper that kids room and call it a day."

- Strokeslahome

"Everything about that was ridiculous. Alien space magic deletes memory! Close up of protagonist looking confused. But wait! Her uterus hurts! It can only mean one thing! And then an alien gets yeeted... which, honestly, was pretty funny."

"Rest of the movie was decent."

- MenAreHollow

Signs didn't really make sense in the end.

"'Signs' -- Maybe next time you decide to invade an entire planet, make sure it's not mostly made of instant death sauce."

- KirbyBucketts

"They could have made the ending great if in the last scene they zoomed out from the field as the automatic sprinklers turn on and you heard aliens screaming."

- jdiben1

People Share The Scariest Thing They've Ever Experienced While Home Alone | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

"It makes a lot more sense if you consider the creatures to be demons rather than aliens and that the little girl was turning all the water into holy water (remember they said an angel was seen at her birth)."

"Not saying that it makes the movie better, just that it makes the movie make more sense."

- Hypersapien

"I thought that was the entire point of the movie. We never technically see a flying saucer, the aliens don't really seem all that intelligent, and the movie is about a priest who has lost his faith. They even make a point that the way to defeat the 'aliens' is found in one of the holy cities of the middle east."

"That's the twist of the movie. You go in expecting a film about aliens, but it turns out their were not aliens, but rather demons, and all the signs of alien invasion were that of a demon invasion misinterpreted."

- Nambot

"That's plausible but still stupid. The explanation I like is that the trip to Earth is an alien frat house hazing ritual. That's why they show up naked to the acid planet. Also they're drunk the whole time, which is why they can't open doors."

- Porrick

"I love this theory to death and that's exactly what I'm going to imagine is happening the next time I watch Signs. You have just improved that movie so much for me, thanks!"

- LimitedTimeOtter

The movie musical My Fair Lady.

"My Fair Lady. She just goes back to the man who disrespected her like she has Stockholm syndrome."

- lllSnowmanlll

"That p*ssed me off too! The original play it's based on apparently ends differently (I think she does plan to marry the other guy) and I was mad they changed it. It was completely out of character for her, the moving ending with her staring sentimentally at the back of his head. Ugh."

- I_DRINK_ANARCHY

"That's a great movie though. Rex Harrison's ability to get cast in multiple musicals with 0 ability to sing is astounding."

- themilkman42069

"And the 1938 movie Pygmalion, based on the play, also has her come back to Higgins in the end. The playwright, George Bernard Shaw, was disgusted with that. (I've never seen My Fair Lady, but Pygmalion would be my answer to the original question. That ending sucks.)"

- Temmere

"I've heard that the author (book) never wanted them to end up together. Henry Higgins was meant to be a gay man."

- PleaseShowMeYourPets

"Throughout that movie he is referred to as a 'confirmed bachelor,' which is old-time-y speak for gay."

- Secksiignurd

Batman vs Superman missed some opportunities.

"Batman vs Superman"

"'Hey Boss, what do we do if Superman tries save his mom.'"

"Lex: 'Oh torch her as soon as you suspect something'"

"'What if a different caped jackass shows up?'"

"Lex: 'What like just some guy? I want you to fight him, one by one. Don't use your guns. Hold your guns but just run at him face first. And of course if your mothers have the same name just take the night off, we all have our limits.'"

- cyainanotherlifebro

"Is it cheating to pick a movie that also has a bad start and middle?"

- obscureference

"They missed an opportunity for Aquaman to talk about 'Thomas' in Justice League and have Batman lose his sh*t."

"'WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?'"

"'Calm down, it's my dad's name. And my mom's your ex.'"

- ChronoLegion2

"Superman could just burn Batman with his laser eyes at a safe distance. Superman has super powers. Batman has a toolbelt. The entire premise is crap."

Live_Presentation502

The new Predator ended up being ableist.

"The new Predator movie (2018)."

"Turns out the aliens were really after our autistic kids. Also the last 10 minutes was them so desperately building for a sequel. completely unnecessary and so insanely cringe"

- Musical_Tanks

"Let me rephrase that: The Predators in this movie didn't hunt for sport but to unironically weaponize autism."

- GOD-OF-A-NEW-WORLD

"They're speaking the actual truth. Predator is after Earth's autistic kids because apparently autism is the next step in the evolutionary chain and they want to exploit it."

"Because the kid's autism powers were so great he managed to learn their whole language in a single day and now they want to splice his genes or something."

- Tobias_Atwood

"And it pulls the trick of managing to think it's smartly trying to show autism in a positive light while actually reinforcing the same damaging trope as most movies with autistic characters. That it's OK they're weird, because they get to be super smart. Which, spoiler alert, is not how autism is for most people."

- Wind_Yer_Neck_In

War of the Worlds.

"Spielberg's War of the Worlds. The reunion in Boston which apparently none of the Martians bothered to attack, with the teenage son somehow having survived when no soldiers had and walked to his grandma's house and realized he really loved his Dad after all. Did I mention it was a Spielberg movie."

- spoon_shaped_spoon

"I will give the movie credit for sticking to the book's original ending, though."

"Some people felt it was anticlimactic, but I felt it was brave, when they could so easily have copped out and gone for a big "Tom Cruise action hero" type ending instead."

- MisterMarcus

Happiest Season did not come to happy ending.

"Did anyone here watch Happiest Season? Kristen Stewart's character spends the entire film being harassed by her girlfriend's (who by the way seems to have 0 redeeming qualities herself) toxic family. Oh and she meets a hot, wonderful lesbian that validates her feelings and she should have ended up with."

"And then after she dumps the girlfriend for being awful the girlfriend (who by the way has previously assured people she'll be better and did not) and her family have a cathartic shouting match and are magically better people. So the girlfriend does a dramatic run-after-her moment and she goes back for some reason??? And hangs out with the toxic family? Run girl! Run!"

- PoorCorrelation

"Oh I know that movie was just HORRENDOUSLY bad. What was baffling was the fact that it was directed by a lesbian. Like... why would you agree to this?"

- Jubjub0527

"Ugggh this movie. I liked it, generally. Tbh movies about stress in relationships almost always stress ME out, so I avoid them. I stuck it through this one, just knowing Aubrey was going to get the girl and it was going to be so cute and I'd probably cry happy tears. Instead I ended up sitting on the edge of my boyfriend's bed repeatedly exclaiming "f*cking WHAT?!""

- CaimansGalore

"Mission Impossible 2. Every character turned out to be another character wearing a mask. The movie came out in 2000 and the masks were so detailed that you could make out with your arch-enemy and think it was your boyfriend."

- han7nah

"The worst mask scene in that movie is when Tom Cruise puts a mask of himself on some thug and tapes his mouth shut and they kill him. Why, in the ever loving f*ck, would anyone carry a mask of THEMSELVES with them."

- Chandra_Advocate

"The plot was a rip off of the movie Notorious. I saw MI2 first and then was on an old movie kick and saw Notorious and suddenly realized how much similarity there was."

- FestiveVat

"I think they ripped the idea from a Scooby Doo episode. Both of it has people wearing masks and doing crime as a main plot point."

- superjet_dino_monkey

Thank goodness this Redditor asked this question. There are definitely some movies to avoid after reading this list.

What we're still wondering, is how did these get from the writing room, to the filming set, to the editing floor without someone saying, "Hey, maybe this isn't that good!"

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

The Wittiest Things People Have Ever Heard Someone Say

Reddit user SubmergingOriginal asked: 'Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?'

Two women laughing
Photo by Dave George on Unsplash

Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.

More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.

Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.

Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.

Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:

"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"

Don't Give Me So Much Credit...

'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."

"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."

"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."

"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"

"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher

Eternal Optimism...

"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."

"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465

Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...

"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”

"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”

"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia

Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office Giphy

Double Whammy!

"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."

"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93

Can't Hide Your DNA...

'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."

"She cracked the code."

"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93

Self-Sufficient!

"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."

"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."

"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'

"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody

Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations Giphy

A Miracle!

"My brother-in-law’s comment."

"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."

"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."

"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."

"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."

"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."

"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"

"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn

Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...

"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."

"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."

"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."

"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."

"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379

Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K. Giphy

A Bit Too On The Nose?

"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."

"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."

"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."

"'What would you expect to find there?'"

"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB

Not Yet, Anyway...

"I was working with my friend and his dad."

"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."

"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."

"His dad asked, 'what for?'"

"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."

"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890

Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...

"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."

"She told this story to him:"

"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."

"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."

"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."

"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."

"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."

"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."

"She asked him what was wrong."

“'What’s wrong???'"

"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714

On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO Giphy

Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...

"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."

"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52

Read The Room People!

"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."

"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."

"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"

"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl

There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".

As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.


When I was in high school, my friends and I went to a pizza place after school nearly every day. In addition to a slice of pizza, we would each buy a soda. The place offered free refills (this was back when not all places did this), and we thought it was really cool. However, I used to wonder why they would do this. Wouldn't it be more profitable to them if they forced us to buy a second drink?

Four years later, I began working in a restaurant and learned that more often than not, the cups we gave out for soda cost more than the syrup that went in the drink. The restaurant offered us free food on days we worked, but we couldn't get drinks for free unless we brought our own cups.

This was shocking to me and put free refills into a whole new perspective. We could sell the soda for more than it cost to make, but no one would buy a soda if we tried to sell it for more than the cup cost. It would cost us less to allow customers to refill the same cup for free than it would be to give or even sell them another cup because it would cost the business a lot to replace each cup.

Soda cups aren't the only things that have a high mark up price, and they're not the only products people were surprised to find had a high mark up. Redditors know of lots of products that they were surprised to find out has a high mark up and are ready to share.

It all started when Redditor petrastales asked:

"What product unbeknownst to most people has the highest mark up?"

​Equality Doesn't Exist

"Back in the early 2000’s I was managing a restaurant - garlic bread was selling for 3.95 and cost 0.07 to make. Not all food items are equal when it comes to margins!"

– leyland_gaunt

"I came here specifically to mention pizza. The profit margins on pizza are nuts, you have to suck at making it to not stay open."

– DreadedChalupacabra

"Yeah, it drives me nuts when you can request add-ons, but it's like $3 for a few pieces of camembert, or $2 for some chopped tomato, when it probably cost $5 for an entire 1kg bag of tomatoes."

– Writerhowell

How Cheesy

"Yeah and like 1.50 of that pizza was the cheese."

"Cheese is the most expensive part of a pizza assuming youre not doing some weird specialty stuff."

– Doomstik

"Can confirm. Worked at a pizza place. An incompetent employee was supposed to fluff a box of cheese but dropped it on the ground by accident. the owner was there. I swear I saw him shed a tear because that box was $120 of pure uncut shredded mozzarella and that was supposed to become like $1,000 in pizzas."

– PM_Sexy_Catgirls_Meo

That's Nuts!

"Yeah I worked at a place that did charcuterie, I apologized to the chef for munching out on the fancy olives all night. He said he didn't give a damn, as long as it kept my hands off the roasted cashews. Big jar of olives was like 15 bucks, the equivalent of cashews was like 200 bucks."

– hudson27

Bamboozled

"Reminds me of the never-ending pasta at Olive Garden. Pasta is dirt cheap and incredibly filling. The chances of you eating enough that it's actually a good deal for you is very slim."

– IBJON

"When I was working at a chain pizza restaurant, the storage manager wanted to get pasta on the menu, because of the profit margins. It's crazy because it cost us $2.10 to make a 17 inch pizza, and we sold them for $14."

– fukreddit73264

Not Worth It

"Flavored seltzers at a brewery. The beer costs 10x as much to make, but they charge almost the same at the tap."

– LocoCracka

"I have a buddy who made seltzers at a brewery in the Bay Area. Some malt liquor, very little flavoring, and a ton of soda water."

"Couldn’t make a cheaper adult beverage if you tried."

– Ikarus_Zer0

Ma, I Can't See!

"Glasses."

"Luxottica owns most major eye wear stores, costs them a few dollars to make and you pay hundreds for them."

– godnrop

"My cousin taught English in China after college in the early 2000s, apparently they had machines in malls where you could look into a pair of holes, do a vision test, get a prescription, and have a pair of glasses automatically ground for you in like 2 minutes for about $5, and the only reason we don't have that in the US is regulations."

"I travel to China frequently for work. I just take the USA prescription for family and friends and they have them made in about an hour or less. Family and friends give me an idea of frames they like and they pop the prescription lenses in. I pay about USD40 for the top-grade lens material that is antifog and anti-scratch."

i3f8j

"I don’t really object to paying $50 for an eye exam, I object to paying $300 for a pair of frames. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to take the prescription the optometrist gives you, enter the numbers into the machine, and get the same $5 glasses."

river4823

​Message Received

"Back in the day, text messaging."

– alien109

"That's why I left T-Mobile in 2005. They were charging me for incoming texts but offered no way for me to block them. So basically, someone else had control of my bill."

– CGYOMH

"I remember being young, spending the $20 I worked so hard for so I could get minutes, only for a friend with unlimited minutes to spam me with a few texts and take it all away. What an upsetting time."

– Boopcheese

Ice Ice Baby

"Soft drinks in pubs. Especially the ones from “the tap”. Costs pennies and they charge £3 for a pint of it. Probably the biggest earner in a pub."

– lucky_1979

"Especially when they just cram a glass with ice and then lightly moisten it with the actual drink you ordered."

– jamesmowry

"My work just came out with a policy that we need to completely fill the glass with ice because it "keeps the drink colder for longer".. eyeroll."

– metalbridgebuilder

"The nuts and bolts section at your local big box hardware store is the highest markup isle. 500% or more. If you need more than a few bolts, go shopping at a proper hardware supplier."

– SatanLifeProTips

"Whenever I go through one of these aisles and look at the price for a single bolt or screw, I look at the overall assortment and think: There must be tens of thousands of dollars just for the shelf-price of fasteners I see right here in this aisle alone."

"The markup is crazy, but why do I want to buy a box of 100 screws if I only need two?"

– lemming_follower

Second To One

"The second-cheapest bottle of wine on the menu."

– slocki

"In order to not look cheap, many people will buy the 2nd cheapest item on the menu."

– AprilsMostAmazing

"Wine in restaurants in general. The markup on wine is wild. My boss used to get whatever was “on sale” from the distributor and usually pay $3-4 a bottle and sell it at $10 a glass."

– she_shoots

Pour Some Sugar On Me

"Candy floss / cotton candy. £4.99 for legitimately 10p worth of sugar."

– Tylervdub

"I used to work food service at an amusement park for a summer job."

"A manager told us that the cost of making a bag of cotton candy, including ingredients, labor, etc., was 19 cents...we sold it for $3."

– etm105

Look, Don't Drive

"Those button batteries in store."

"They know you need one asap cause your car won’t unlock so you are stuck."

"Wait 1 day and you can get a dozen from Amazon for same price."

– kindrudekid

Medical Supplies

"As a Diabetic I'm pretty sure it's Insulin."

– PraiseThePun81

"Can’t believe I had to scroll so far to find this."

"I spend over $13k annually on ‘good’ insurance that doesn’t cover half of the things I need as a diabetic. I spend half that again on the insulin and supplies. It’s a racket."

– Nosce_Temet

H2O

"Water."

– ganic-Lie4759

"Bottled water is so highly marked up as to qualify as a scam."

"At no extra cost aside from the bottle (I don’t have a water meter) my water is completely free. It tastes as good or better than bottled."

– 6033624

I didn't know about any of this!

I can hear my wallet crying.

Black and white photo of a teacher pointing his finger toward an unseen student
Photo by Immo Wegmann

Teachers are meant to impart knowledge to the next generation, but they have to get the kids to pay attention first.

Not an easy task.

So many, too many schools are plagued by kids who have no self-control.

Teachers end up playing referee, counselor, and parent in addition to their teaching role.

All of those additional hats don't come with any additional pay.

It's no wonder we're in a teacher shortage.

Redditor _Planet_Mars_ wanted the teachers out there to share some rough student stories, so they asked:

"Teachers, what is the worst thing you've seen a student do?"

I once saw a kid drive their car into the school office.

They were drunk.

Thankfully no one was injured.

POP!

"The was a loud pop and a flash in the back corner of the classroom. I asked the student sitting there what happened. She said it was firecrackers. I sent her to the office. While she was still in the office, I realized the electrical outlets in the room didn’t work. At that point, another student fessed up that the student sent to the office had put a pair of scissors in the outlet. I’m not sure why that student thought it was better to lie and claim she was doing fireworks inside the school?"

mynamelessname

Pain

"When I was teaching preschool, I had a little girl, between 3-4, walk up to another girl who was sitting on the rug reading a book, grab her by the hair and slam her head into the wall. They hadn’t been interacting in any way prior. When I asked her why she did it, she said she 'wanted her to know it hurts.'"

No-Doubt-8748

That Kid

"A different type of bad than most of these."

"I was a teacher at a poor inner-city school. I had a lot of wonderful students but some difficult ones. One was the worst — bright but was always sleeping through class and acting up and never doing homework. I lived about 30 minutes away. One night, I stopped by the local Wawa after a night out with friends. Was at least 11:30 pm and I was already dreading the early morning drive to school. And who should be checking me out but my own 'problem' student."

"He was working late to make money for his family and then getting home at 1:00 am or later before heading into school on 4-5 hours of sleep. He was a smart kid. Really smart. I hope things worked out for him but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d been allowed to have a childhood and focus on his education."

Low_Cartographer2944

Blame the Heat

Sweating James Mcavoy GIF Giphy

"It gets very hot here in the warmer months and so the school put out those big containers for water for everyone. Well, one student was caught peeing into a bag and dumping it into the containers."

huzzahserrah

Some kids really need some deeper therapy.

Peeing in bags? Seriously?!

From Beneath

"My wife is an elementary teacher and has a kid this year that likes to slip under their desk and lick toes (we live in a warm state) and they all think he will grow up to be a creeper."

CherryManhattan

BOOM

"This was the worst thing I know of that happened at my high school."

"Someone brought a blasting cap to school (OK, that's a bit dumb), and flushed it down the toilet (that's REALLY dumb). Then told a teacher about it, because maybe it wasn't such a good idea (their best idea that day, really)."

"Wound up with that restroom being taken out of service while the fire department x-rayed the plumbing to find and remove the (admittedly tiny) explosive. Took several weeks before it was back in service."

gogstars

Sad

"My favorite teacher in high school was a very kind a lenient man. Do your work, be respectful, and follow the major school rules and you and him would be cool. The one thing that would seem minor, but that he was very strict about was taking any medication in any way shape, or form in his classroom."

"One day, I needed to take some Advil for cramps and asked to take it. He said I needed to go to the nurse for permission. I ended up asking him why he was so strict about it. it turns out, he had a student pass out in class one day at his former school. He tried to wake her up and called the nurse, but she wouldn't wake up. They called 911 and by the time they got there, she had died of an OD on narcotics she took in the bathroom that she had hidden in a Tylenol bottle. I don't know how he went back to teaching after that."

musical-nerd24601

Painful

Moving Season 2 GIF by Paramount+ Giphy

"Saw a 4-year-old purposely push a piece of furniture over onto another 4-year-old at preschool. It actually really hurt the other kid, and her parents took the school to court."

MPD1987

Kids are brutal.

No wonder people home school.

Baby on back in their crib
Photo by Alex Bodini on Unsplash

Some haters will disagree, but parenting is hard. Every parent is going to experience their journey differently from the next parent, and it stands to reason that they're going to make some differing decisions, too.

But some decisions are made based on facts while others are made based on old wives' tales and myths, some of which have long since been debunked.

Because that's how Grandma did it and how Mom did it, some of these myths are trying their best to stand the test of time!

Redditor BITE_AU_CHOCOLAT asked:

"What's a disproven parenting myth that way too many people still believe?"

Allergy Prevention

"To prevent allergies, avoid giving your child these foods until they are much older…"

"It has been proven over and over again that exposing your child to traditionally allergy-prone foods in very small amounts when they are younger drastically reduces allergy potential. Even to the point of doing so in utero."

- UsesCommonSense

Instant Maturity

"Having a kid will cause someone to step up or straighten out or grow up or mature, etc."

- Exploding_Muffin

"I have a family member that tried this. He and his girlfriend were addicts. They specifically decided that they should try to get pregnant as motivation to stop doing drugs. It didn't work."

- HoopOnPoop

Nonverbal, Not Deaf

"That nonverbal kids don’t understand what you say. This one is common in the autism community."

- Kwyjibo68

"I work in dementia care. Lord knows this isn’t the truth for either population."

"A lady I took care of several years ago was thought to be nonverbal and beyond the ability to understand speech. We were changing her one night, and she looked at me and said, 'When does school start back?'"

"Clear as a bell. I was in college at the time."

- bookishkelly1005

No Spoiled Newborns

"You can not spoil a newborn. Their brain is still quite underdeveloped, and actually, by refusing to answer their calls, you can give them self-regulation issues as they develop without that safety in processing new stimuli."

"Edited to Add: I said newborn because I meant newborns. Not babies that need to be practicing lifting their head, etc. There are people who start fussing at parents about this as soon as they bring their newborn home, forgetting that this baby is experiencing everything BRAND NEW, and needs a safety system."

"And also I did raise two humans, and I very much remember being a new mom."

- TinyGreenTurtles

The Power of Multilingualism

"That a child shouldn’t be exposed to a second (or third) language until having mastered their native language. I’ve heard this so many times from people who have no idea about multilingualism."

- lrbdad626

"My sister's first language is English, and her husband's is Spanish. They're both bilingual and speak both languages in their household."

"My sister remembers her daughter noticing when they switched between languages when she was well under a year old. She'd be watching them intently and do a little startle when they switched. Kids' receptive language develops earlier than a lot of people realize."

- dorky2

Dads Are Parents, Too

"Dads are more than babysitters."

"It's been 20+ years since I was a single father, but the attitudes towards men and parenthood haven't changed as much as they should have."

"Don't ask a dad if he is giving mom a break today. Don't assume dad doesn't know how to settle down their child. Don't stare at Dad at the park when Dad is there with his kid(s). And for god's sake, can businesses install a change table in the men's washroom!"

- keiths31

"Oh yeah, this p**ses me off to no end. And no matter how many times we tell the school not to, they will ONLY call my wife if there is some issue during the day. She is 100% unavailable during the day, while I WFH (work from home) and can come deal with anything at a moment's notice."

"Once, my poor kid sat in the infirmary for two hours because they were waiting for mom to return their call. Finally, she herself piped up and said, 'Can you try calling my dad instead?' and I was there five minutes later. You would think they would eventually learn but nope... still happens to this day."

- dcmcderm

Why Is Comfort So Taboo?

"Picking up your baby too much will spoil them. For f**k's sake… pick up a crying child and meet their needs. Sometimes it's just a need for comfort and bonding with their caretaker."

- laurenderson

Disturbing Gender Norms

"Daughters are nightmares and sons are so easy to raise."

"The really disturbing part is women seem to believe this more than men."

- lilymunsterisaqueen

Best Practices, Who?

"That there is anything even remotely approaching a consensus on best practices when it comes to raising a child. I've only been a parent for five months and the sheer volume of confident, authoritative, and completely contradictory advice I've received has been staggering."

"As best as I can tell, just work on keeping them healthy, secure, and loved, and try to muddle your way through as best you can on rest."

- liebkartoffel

Don't Let Regret Run the Show

"I'm an older parent. In my opinion, a lot of who the kids grow up to become is simply them. For the kids who turn out well or don't, people will look back and think, 'If I had only done this more often!' and pass it off as advice."

"Parents shouldn't beat themselves up. Don't traumatize the kids. Don't spoil them. Support them in their interests. Outside of that, just let them become who they will become and enjoy the ride. It's a shorter run than you think at the time."

"At some point, we as a society may find that electronics are bad, something in our food is a problem, lack of interaction is an issue, etc. but as an individual parent, it's really hard to swim against the stream. It's fine to research and take reasonable steps to avoid this but I see too many young parents totally overwhelmed with advice and data."

- fish1900

Breaking the Cycle

"That all parents, specifically mothers, have an instinct that will kick in eventually and your child will be your world."

"Mine told me from a very early age that I wasn't the kid she'd wanted, I was ugly, fat, whatever. I finally ended things completely this year when she told me she's always hated me and never wanted me. I needed the closure."

"She made my life h**l, especially since she had two kids after me that she loves."

"My daughter hasn't ever been shouted at (by that, I mean raising my voice), hurt, or made to feel like less than the wonderful person she is. I suppose I can thank my mother for showing me how not to be."

- earthtomanda

Not the Same AT ALL

​"That love, respect, and fear are the same thing. They're f**king not."

- LaliMaia

"'Is it better to be loved or feared?"

"'I want my kids to be afraid of how much they love me.' from Michael Scott's School of Parenting (on 'The Office')."

- Millerisabast**dMan

Not In Debt

"This destructive myth that we are OWED respect and love from our kids. NOPE!"

"They are attached to us, yes, but love and respect are earned. Fear is not respect; guilt is not love; we chose to have kids, they had no say in the matter. It is incumbent upon us to reach them by mirroring the behaviors we value."

- I_wear_foxgloves

"This goes hand in hand with some parents thinking their kids owe them anything in return for meeting their basic needs. You see this especially when children become adults."

"Parents telling their adult children, 'You owe me X because I fed you and gave you a roof over your head.' It’s utter bulls**t. Your child never signed a contract saying that in order to be born, they owe you something in the future."

"Keeping a child safe, providing food and water, a roof over their head, etc… those are basic needs that your child deserves. If you aren’t prepared to provide those things, don’t become a parent. Your kids don’t owe you anything, not as children and not as adults. Respect is earned and not bought. A child’s relationship with their parent(s) is not transactional."

- CatmoCatmo

Public vs. Private

"That you can tell if a stranger is a good parent by how their kid behaves in a random instance you happen to observe."

- JuniorPomegranate9

Resilience as an Excuse

"Kids are resilient and will get over stuff without it correctly being addressed."

"No, we remember everything In our tiny and impressionable brains."

- Pleasant_Tooth_2488

The misconceptions presented here are truly heartbreaking in some cases and mind-boggling in others.

It's hard to unlearn behaviors and what we thought were facts, yes, but if we want to be better people, and better parents, we absolutely have to figure out how to do it.