‘Refused to feel small again’: Viral post reignites questions on teacher behaviour in India’s schools

As conversations around student mental health deepen in the wake of the recent Delhi school student suicide — where alleged classroom harassment is at the centre of public outrage — a deeply personal post on Reddit has struck a chord with thousands of readers across India.

The post recounts how a moment of humiliation in 10th grade became a turning point for the writer, reflecting the silent emotional battles many Indian students face within the classroom.

The Reddit user begins by describing a cheerful school life suddenly disrupted during a routine biology class. After a light-hearted note-taking race with a friend, the teacher walked back in and publicly berated the student — not only in front of classmates but also after calling in additional staff members to witness the scolding.

“I still remember feeling my throat tighten, my eyes fill up,” the post reads. “I cried that day. Not because I was weak, but because that moment felt like the whole world had turned against me.”

The teacher then warned the student she would be questioned again in the next class. Instead of fear, that line triggered something else entirely. Over the following days, the teenager didn’t just revise the lesson — she studied the entire biology textbook, page by page, diagram by diagram, determined never to feel “small” again.

When the teacher finally returned and began questioning the class, almost everyone struggled. Except her.

“She asked me five questions in a row. And I answered all five. Calmly. Correctly. Without hesitation,” the user wrote. The teacher’s attitude changed instantly; the student went from being humiliated to becoming the teacher’s “favourite,” not because of brilliance, but because of resilience built under pressure.

Years later, now in college, the student faced a similar situation — a professor mocking her for failing to solve a math problem on the board. This time, however, she felt no shame.

“Not knowing something today doesn’t mean I will never know it,” she wrote, adding that the strength she built as a teenager “still protects” her today.

The account has resonated widely on Reddit, especially as India grapples with rising cases of student distress, pressure, and alleged harassment in schools and coaching environments. The Delhi incident, where a student’s death has sparked fresh debate over teacher behaviour and accountability, has led many online to share their own stories of classroom humiliation.

The writer ends her post with pride, not bitterness: pride in the child who broke down in class, and pride in the young woman she grew into — someone who refuses to let a moment of pain define her success.