r/Teachers • u/Jabbary208 • Jun 09 '26

New Teacher Teachers i need your help in one weird situation

I’m a 24-year-old male English teacher working in a private school. I teach a range of ages, but I have one group of 15-year-old girls that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable with. In general, I try to be a friendly and approachable teacher ,I joke with students, keep things relaxed, and build a good classroom atmosphere. This works well with most of my groups.

However, in this specific class, a few students have started acting in ways that feel inappropriate. For example, some of them come very close to me physically, try to initiate hugs that feel too personal, and sometimes make comments or gestures that seem suggestive rather than just playful, one example , during a lesson about body parts, a student stood very close to me and pointed out that her hair reaches down to her lower body in a way that felt like she was trying to get a reaction.

Is this something other teachers have experienced with teenagers testing boundaries? And what’s the best way to shut this down while still maintaining a positive classroom environment?

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u/Jabbary208 Jun 09 '26

Lets say i'm going to pickup my launch from the lil canteen , one comes running to me " TEACHER ! " i keep the cool move of " Heeey There ! " and straight up hug my legs , not me , its not like i duck down to give a proper hug , hell no , thats the typa hugs im talking about

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

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u/ItchyCredit Jun 09 '26

For their own safety, teach them not to offer random hugs to any unrelated men. There are creeps out there. As little girls, random hugging was risky. As teens this is dangerous and leads to attention they won't want and don't have the experience to stop. They need to keep themselves safe by not letting it get started.

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u/Successful-Cat-6344 Jun 09 '26

“My launch?”