Oui mais ya des profs ils cassent la tête aussi

Most people grow up believing teachers are patient, fair, and understanding adults who only want the best for their students. Parents always tell us to respect every educator, to tolerate their strict rules, and to accept that their harsh words come from good intentions. For the longest time, I tried my best to follow that rule. I stayed quiet in class, finished every assignment on time, and never argued with staff members, even when their decisions felt unfair and unreasonable. But my senior year of high school completely changed my perspective. It made me realize the honest truth every student whispers behind closed doors: not all teachers are kind and reasonable, and some really know how to get on your nerves for absolutely no valid reason. I was a quiet, low-maintenance student. I never skipped class, never disrupted lessons, and never got into trouble. My grades were steady, I participated when called on, and I kept to myself for the most part. I had always thought good behavior would keep me out of unnecessary conflict with teachers, but I quickly learned that some educators pick at students regardless of their effort and attitude. My French teacher, Ms. Leroy, was the perfect example of this frustrating, irrational type of teacher. Unlike other instructors who focused on teaching knowledge and supporting students’ growth, she seemed to spend most of her class time nitpicking, criticizing, and draining every bit of joy out of learning. Her rules were endlessly strict and completely illogical. She would mark students down half a point for a single misplaced comma, scold the entire class for one person’s quiet cough, and mock students for small pronunciation mistakes that were normal for language learners. While other teachers encouraged progress and praised effort, Ms. Leroy only focused on flaws. She never once complimented anyone’s improvement, only pointing out what we did wrong, no matter how hard we tried. What made it worse was that she treated students unequally. She let her favorite students get away with late work and careless mistakes, while punishing average learners severely for tiny, harmless errors. I tried my hardest to stay on her good side. I stayed after class to ask questions, studied extra hours every night to perfect my grammar and pronunciation, and always turned in immaculate, early assignments. Yet no amount of effort was ever enough. One day, I submitted a three-page essay I had spent an entire week refining, double-checking every spelling and grammar rule. When she handed the papers back, I received a low grade with a single cruel comment: “You never try hard enough.” I was stunned and heartbroken. I had poured all my energy into that work, but she chose to dismiss my effort entirely just to criticize me. The breaking point came during a routine class presentation. I stood in front of the room, nervous but prepared, and delivered my speech fluently with no stutters or mistakes. The second I finished, instead of offering feedback or praise, she rolled her eyes and pointed out a single minor intonation error that no other student or teacher would have noticed. She mocked my accent in front of the whole class, made sarcastic remarks about my dedication, and cut my presentation grade in half on the spot. The entire room fell silent, and I stood frozen on the spot, embarrassed and defeated. After class, I stayed behind to talk to her calmly, asking what I could do to improve and fix the tiny mistake. Instead of giving constructive advice, she sighed loudly, accused me of being overly sensitive, and claimed I was making excuses for my “lack of talent.” In that moment, I finally understood what every student in our grade had been complaining about for months. This teacher was not dedicated to education—she simply enjoyed making students feel small, stressed, and incompetent. She loved holding power over teenagers and used her position to nitpick and frustrate us endlessly. I vented to my friends after school that day, and every single one had a similar story. One friend had been scolded for raising their hand too slowly, another for writing notes in the wrong color pen, and another for simply looking out the window for two seconds. We all shared the same tired opinion: students try their best to follow rules and learn, yet some teachers deliberately make school harder and more stressful for no reason at all. They are the ones who unnecessarily break students’ confidence, drain their motivation, and ruin the peaceful rhythm of school life.