Schools can be some of the world's biggest rumor mills. Teens congregate in corridors, spreading unverified stories, gossip and speculation. Careless whispers, broken telephone and words that spread like wildfire... The next thing you know: it's the biggest scandal of the century. But it never actually happened.

Whether it's a secret love affair, a teenage pregnancy, or a student who cheated in the latest exam, many a reputation has been damaged due to people making up tall stories. But sometimes, the rumors actually do end up checking out.

Someone asked, "What popular [rumor] in your school turned out to be true?" and the responses read like the script of a new season of Gossip Girl: a band teacher has an affair with a student, a basketball coach marries a girl on the team, a 12-year-old falls pregnant over the summer break. Here are some of the most shocking stories...

#1

In my Catholic (Jesuit) high school, one of the priests and one of the nuns were very close friends. We all loved them, and we could see that they were quite fond of one another (and they made a really nice looking couple). We used to affectionately kid them about "meeting in the tunnel" between the convent and the rectory. A few years after my class graduated, they both left their Orders, got married, and had kids. We're all happy for them.

Blake Lively and her co-stars made gossiping look cool back in the mid-2000s when they acted in the hit series Gossip Girl. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it follows a group of ultra-elite, hyperprivileged Manhattan private-school teens kids who seem to get away with anything and everything. But there's an anonymous blogger watching their every move... and broadcasting it to the world.

While the series had people glued to their screens, waiting for the latest gossip and scandal to be revealed, in real life, rumors can be extremely harmful and even dangerous.

#2

We had heard an underclassman (she was 15-ish) was sleeping with a local army guy, but nobody really believed it until the day our school got locked down bc her boyfriend showed up with a knife. The boyfriend (in his thirties) was intending to force her go get an abortion, but our principal was a b****s who locked her in his office, then took the boyfriend DOWN and held him in a headlock until the cops arrived.

#3

In middle school, there was a rumor my 7th-8th grade Social Studies teacher owned a pet donkey. Turned out to be true. The donkey’s name was Pedro the Donkey.

Experts warn that gossip and rumors can destroy someone’s self-confidence and self-esteem, lead to depression, thoughts of self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety, and a host of other issues.

Gossip and rumors are similar but not the same. "Rumors are pieces of information or stories that have not been verified, meaning the person telling the story does not know for certain if it is true or not. Whereas gossip is usually an embarrassing personal detail shared to incite shock," explains Sheri Gordon, an author, Certified Professional Life Coach, and Bullying Prevention Advocate.

#4

The band teacher was having a long-term affair with one of the students....we were in 8th grade. Her parents apparently knew about it all along and were fine with it, but one of the other band parents noticed inappropriate behavior when she was helping chaperone a Disney trip they were all on.... it was BIG news lol.

#5

Paige WAS pregnant....none of us believed her. We were 13 and we were just about to start S*x Ed classes in a few weeks to learn about s*x so we all thought she was making it up. Then she started to gain weight but she had always been kind of overweight and so no one really believed her then either. Then she brought sonagram pictures in because she was sick of people not believing her. Most people believed her after that. Then she got taken out of school and this was back when FB was super popular and everyone was talking about her baby a few months later she had posted all these pictures. Sorry I didn't believe you Paige....I looked her back up when I was 15. She had a second kid.

#6

That one of the students was actually a cop. Turns out he *was* a cop and busted one of the actual students for selling handguns in school.

If you thought 21 jump street was unrealistic think again. Cop was a 33 year old male and undercover for like half the semester.

Gordon says that rumors are typically spread from person to person and, like broken telephone, can change slightly each time they are told. As a result, she says, they can become exaggerated and altered over time.

"Rumors can involve just about any topic and often run the gamut," adds the expert. "Most of the time, people who spread rumors do not bother to determine if there is any truth to what they are saying."

Gossip, on the other hand, usually involves shocking or personal details about someone, and is spread behind their back. "Gossip almost always causes pain and humiliation," warns Gordon.

#7

When I was a sophomore in high school, the basketball coach became the new principal of the school. He had a girl who was on the girls basketball team worked in his office. (Back then students were allowed to work as an office assistant if their grades were good and if they’re seniors) She was there almost all the time even when she wasn’t supposed to be.

The rumor was that they were sleeping with each other, because people would see them doing things after school, like running together and go out to eat somewhere. These rumors were later blew off as nothing because even though he was the principal, he still devoted his time to an after school jogging/running class to help students and teachers stay active and keep in shape and buying dinner at McDonald’s for a student isn’t the same as taking them somewhere more extravagant like steakhouse.

After I came back as a junior from summer break. Everyone in are class and in the entire school found out that they both got married and were expecting their first child together. He was married with children from a previous marriage that ended after the girl graduated from high school.

#8

That a 12-year-old 6th grader had gotten pregnant over summer break. Our Los Angeles county suburb (it was a small and far-separated from LA itself, see how large that county actually is on Google if you are unawares) was so scandalized by this “rumor” that a newspaper article came out with a cartoon drawing of a pregnant girl in a pretty little girl dress and ribbon in her hair — playing with dolls and kneeling next to a doll-house — accompanied the story about the “little girl who got pregnant and planned to keep the baby.” She was interviewed. I remember her name but it’s unnecessary— the whole town knew who it was.

What’s wild is that the kids in Jr. High actually had a baby shower for this 7th grader as she got close to full-term, and all brought in packs of diapers and formula for her on a designated day. With the teachers, principal, and probably the school district in support of this.

The year was 1984-1985.

#9

There was an 18-year-old freshman who was pregnant, and there was a joke spread that this was her 4th kid. They said she was first pregnant at 12 years old and that was why she never finished 9th grade.

I actually made friends with her because we both walked the mile in PE, and I felt bad that people were spreading this rumor and making fun of someone who obviously is trying to better themselves for their baby.

Well, turns out, it was actually her 5th kid. She had one set of twins at the age of 13. Then at 14 she was trying to be a mother of 2 and finish 9th grade, but she got pregnant again and dropped out. I realize now that the entire situation was very concerning. I hope she got some guidance.

So why do teenagers (and adults) engage in this harmful behavior? Experts say there are several reason some people love to gossip or spread rumors...

One is to make cover up their own shortfalls. "When people feel bad about themselves, they sometimes target other people to try to make themselves feel better," Gordon explains. "As a result, they talk about others to deflect attention from themselves."

Another is to be part of the circle, fit in, or be seen as cool. They may feel like they won't be accepted if they don't join the nasty rumor mill, and often, says Gordon, peer pressure plays a big part in spreading rumors or gossip.

Australian educator, writer, speaker, and consultant Linda Stade says for some kids, gossip is a form of currency. "The amount of information you have about others is a measure of how connected you are," she explains. "Connection is status."

#10

The head lunch lady was stealing from the kids, turns out the last year I was there she had stolen more than 100k from us.

#11

That the History teacher was gay. He was a well groomed guy and had a sort of high pitched voice. Kids started getting really s****y about it, and then someone found him on a gay dating app with a topless pic and spread it around school. S**t hit the fan and parents started complaining because god forbid an adult man go on a dating app for adults. He wasn't fired but he ended up transferring schools.

This was in 2010 in NY, so it wasn't even some redneck podunk town. It was just a bunch of s****y homophobic suburban parents encouraging their s****y homophobic kids.

#12

My High School Janitor was my baby brother's dad.

Some people spread rumors or gossip purely for clout.

"When teens know a secret that nobody else knows or are the first person in the group to hear a rumor, they become the center of attention," explains Gordon. "As a result, kids who are trying to fit in or climb the social ladder might use gossip and rumors as tools to gain popularity."

Then there are the power-hungry gossipers. These people will go to great lengths to be be in control, even if it means putting others down.

#13

There was a family in my town that foster-to-adopted all their kids. Everyone had known one of their daughters since she was quite young and then they adopted another girl her age when we were in 8th grade. They did NOT get along. When the original girl developed epilepsy a few years later, her new sister claimed she was faking and everyone thought she was so mean and ostracized her.

Eventually, she had to fess up to faking the seizures all along when she signed up for basic training, which she never even completed. Unfortunately this was after we all graduated, so we never got to apologize to her sister :/.

#14

There was a rumor that my high school health teacher got dunked on by Kobe Bryant when he was in high school. He played varsity basketball at my hs which is in the same district as the one that kobe went to. Whenever people brought it up in class he would deny it and get really mad. Sure enough someone found an old highlight tape on youtube of kobe from high school and there was my health teacher getting posterized by the legend himself.

#15

There was a rumour that this kid helped m****r a guy during a robbery.

It was a small town, and the day after the robbery/m****r it seemed like *everyone* at school was talking about this kid being involved.

Someone else was convicted, an older former student, and the rumour sort of faded out. We all graduated, some of us moved away, and the rest of us avoided the psycho.

A decade or so later, he was arrested and convicted of the m****r when his accomplice flipped on him to get parole.

Gordon notes that some people indulge in gossip simply because they're bored. They need drama and get a first-class ticket to the rumor mill in order to add some spice to their lives.

"As hard as teachers try to make their lessons enthralling, the most interesting thing about school for most kids is…other kids. When something notable happens, it is discussed. If nothing notable happens, stories become embellished," says Stade.

Gordon cites a study, which found that people’s natural curiosity can cause them to seek information even when it is not useful for them personally. Getting their hands (or ears) on that information brings about warm, fuzzy feelings.

#16

At my high school two kids who were cousins were dating. They always denied it but a lot of people still believed it. They did look weirdly similar, but a lot of people just chalked it up to coincidence.

About a year later they broke up and totally stopped interacting. Rumors started that their parents got involved or found out and shut it down, and it was again left to speculation.

At our five year reunion somebody who knew their family said that it turned out the rumor about them being cousins wasn't true. They were half siblings and didn't even know until their parents put it together one day.

So kind of true?

#17

Athletics coordinator was fudging documents on kids’ addresses so they would be able to go to our school instead of others in the district. We won like five state championships that year.

#18

That some kid had built a room in the ceiling above a closet to hang out and hide his stash of contraband snacks/sodas that he'd sell in the hallways.

He literally cut a hole in the ceiling of a closet within a closet and snuck a mini fridge up there. Only got caught when he plugged too many things in and caused power issues in the school. They had an inspector come in to find the issue and he was like, "Why's there an extension cord going up into the ceiling?"

Kid got wind of it and managed to clear everything out (had a rug, chair, lamp, and other stuff in addition to the mini fridge) by the end of the day. They still caught him a few days later, but it was impressive.

A more sinister reason that some people spread rumors is to seek revenge. Whether out of jealousy, or in response to something the person did to them, they use gossip and false stories to hurt or get back at someone. As far as the gossiper is concerned, the other person deserves it.

Stade says it's important to teach children the dangers of spreading rumors or gossiping. This also means educating them on not indulging in it. They can learn to speak up against gossip, or even say nothing at all...

“When someone is gossiping, look away and don’t say anything. Don’t smile or nod. Say nothing and then change the subject,” advises Stade.

#19

Beloved cousins who were apart of the popular group in school were rumored to have been sleeping together. Very few believed it. Couple years after graduation they announced on Facebook that they had a kid together.

#20

Two sports teachers were having an affair with each other, even though one of their spouses was also a sports teacher in the same school using the same dinky office. Rumor was confirmed when the two dudes had a fist fight in the basket ball court

#21

"Dr" Palermo the band teacher never received his doctorate in music like he claimed. It was weird, he use to force all his students to address him as "Dr" but when he came back from his leave of absence we all called him by "Mr" like nothing happened.

#22

This was a roumour that went around my elementary school. basically my school had a lock down but they didn’t tell us what it was for. one kid came in the next day and told us that his sister said it was a cow in the field in between the high school and middle school. so my second grade class went and told everyone else in the school. the next day we had an assembly that confirmed this rumor.

#23

In high school: that the biology teacher was growing weed in the environmental lab. Supposedly he did it for 30 years without anyone noticing. No one could ever prove it though.

Later on, I was assigned to be the agent taking care of some of his financial matters, so I went to his house to have him sign some paperwork. He had a hydroponic setup there, so I asked him about the environmental lab. It was like Han Solo in The Force Awakens.

“It’s true. All of it.” Then he offered me a brownie.

#24

That one of the seniors in my school wrote all over the men's room bathroom about bringing a b**b to school.

The b**b squad evacuated us all, dogs came and they found one in a random locker. It was absolutely nuts, kid got arrested two seats next to me in english class a couple of days later once they could prove he did it.

#25

That I stole a pen, the rumour was fricking buzzing but man it was like the worst pen in the school so It was not worth stealing that pen.

#26

A former teacher at my school used to smuggle bibles across the border into China, this was back in the 80s when China was just starting to open up.

#27

Our teacher got drunk and took her top and bra off at a bar. Pics confirmed!

#28

Two of the science teachers do shrooms together. found out cause one of their sons was a student

edit: apparently this happens a lot, this was in norcal.

#29

There were rumors that there was a network of underground tunnels that connected every building on my college campus. Didn't believe it til I walked through them myself.

Edit: Well I kind of expected this to stay buried but here we are! To clear up the mysteries still remaining and elaborate a bit: 1) Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI (but the tunnels are under the main campus in Allendale). 2) Can confirm they were maintenance and steam tunnels, some older sections may have doubled as b**b shelters. As a student I had a job that allowed me to request keys to pretty much anywhere on campus without question. The first time I found the tunnels was because I opened a door labeled "Maintenance" in the basement of a dorm, and found myself staring down an incredibly long corridor.

For my GV brothers and sisters who are on campus now, look for the big metal cylinders scattered throughout campus that look like huge central AC units or HVAC related. You'll sometimes here fan sounds coming from them. Those are access points/vents to the tunnel system. Off the top of my head, I know there's one outside Mackinac Hall, one outside Kirkhoff if you enter by the clock tower, and one outside the back entrance to the music building. There's dozens more, but it's been a while. Happy hunting!

#30

New physics teacher was a total creep. The old" spidey" sense kicked in for all of us. We could all tell something was wrong with the guy. Most of us dropped the class. Plus he sucked as a teacher and everyone was failing.

Years later i stumble across a news article saying the teacher was fired and arrested for video taping girls in the classroom through the use of camera hidden in the classroom. Mostly aimed at cleavage and upskirt/shorts shots. We knew he was a weirdo. Time always tells the tale.

#31

These took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Girl in my high school got into a very bad car accident and was in the hospital in a full body cast for a very long time. During that time her boyfriend somehow managed to get her pregnant and she later had an abortion. Years after high school I became friends with someone who was her best friend in high school. She told me that it wasn't the first time this boyfriend had gotten her pregnant or that she had had an abortion. Also there was some controversary over whether the hospital s*x was consensual or not. Also her parents had to pay a lot of money for her to get therapy.

Also in high school there was this kid I viewed as an arrogant punk. He always had a ton of money and was into photography (apparently his father was a professional photographer). The rumor was that he was paying a lot of money to the hottest girls in our school to pose n**e for him "Penthouse-style". At the time I had seen Playboys but no Penthouses and didn't realize that the poses in Penthouse were a little more explicit. I ran into him a couple of decades later and we went to a nearby bar to have some drinks. He seemed very humble at this point as if life had and grinded him down. He admitted to me that he had become an alcoholic. I told him about the rumor and he confirmed it, saying his father had put him up to it and that his father was the one who wanted the pictures and that was why his father gave him so much money. After his father died he inherited all his stuff and while going through some boxes he ran across the pictures. He destroyed them immediately not wanting get caught with them because they were of underage girls.

#32

That the creepy track coach/computer teacher with a Corvette and a hair transplant (worst case of midlife crisis I've ever personally seen), was banging an underage student.

#33

A rumor that out school’s senior prank of 2018 was going to be putting rotisserie chickens in every toilet in the school (except the special needs bathroom) came about around half way through second semester up until the end of the year and low and behold, It happened.

#34

A girl moved to our school after her parents were m******d. There was a rumor that she was being investigated. Turns out, she did m****r her parents over them not liking her older boyfriend.

#35

A chemistry teacher was running a lab in his classroom. It happened right before Breaking Bad first aired. Happened my freshman year

#36

Most of the football team actually did have syphilis, and they were spreading it like wildfire.

I went to a Catholic school and I've never seen a stronger argument for providing free condoms to teenagers. None of these kids were poor. They could've gone and bought their own prophylactics any time they wanted, but they just didn't bother.

#37

There was a rumor that an incoming freshman had gotten so drunk over the summer that he passed out on a golf course and golfers found him the next morning and thought he was dead. They called to report a dead body.

I know the rumor is true because the kid was me.

#38

There was always a rumor that the head janitor was a huge pothead and would smoke with students in one of the storage sheds away from the main building. I always figured it was b******t until my friend CJ sent me a pic of him and the janitor smoking weed while surrounded by folding chairs.

#39

There was a rumor that a sub teacher was actually a new transfer student. He was able to cover it up for a week before getting caught. He stopped going to school after that. Years later we heard news that he was arrested for check fraud and identity theft. He was basically a con artist, impersonating airline pilots, doctors and lawyers. He cashed in fraudulent checks amounting to millions of dollars. After serving his sentence, he was recruited by the FBI and helped develop a patented check security/authentication that helped companies fight againts check fraud.

#40

Some girl had s*x with her half brother, we all thought it was rumour until she got drunk at a party and told everyone.

#41

Rumour was our new substitute English teacher was suspended years back for choking out a student.

By the end of the week with him he threw a table at a student and threatened to k**l him.

We were debriefed by our usual teacher when he came back. Was confirmed. We were not surprised.

(Edit: We were outright bad and did everything we could to test this rumour. Kids are terrible.)

(Edit-it: Given my guilt on receiving karma for being a terrible student, thought I'd give a quick shout out to all the teachers out there. You guys a f*****g champions that go way under appreciated and not just by your students. For all the youngins reading all these comments thinking 'that's f*****g hilarious/yeah sounds about right/what a psycho': adulting can be brutal and very few jobs are as challenging as fronting a room full of teenagers that will destroy you given the chance and being able to not let it get to you. We may have a greater level of responsibility, but we're still human.).

#42

It wasn't really a rumour, more of an open secret. One of our English teachers was in the IRA.

One of our history teachers once showed us a documentary about the early years of the Troubles, mainly the Civil Rights Movement. And sure enough, in the film, you can see our English teacher standing holding a rifle without even a mask on him. At that point it wasn't really a secret anymore.

IRA membership was supposed to be secret, but if you were in it everyone knew about. The fact his membership was confirmed with that video always made me laugh

*Edit*

Was not expecting this to take off the way it did overnight. So here's a bit more context.

This happened over 20 years ago

The school is in the north of Ireland, in a republican area. A lot of people (myself included) would have had relatives involved with the IRA and/or INLA. For example, the father of one of the boys, in my year at school, was a genuine local legend because of what he had done during the 70s when he was 'on the run'. Other people would have been very close relations to a few of the Hunger Strikers, who died in 1981. Everyone and I mean everyone would personally know a member of those organisations, even if they weren't related to one. What I'm saying here is, the IRA were an entirely normal part of our society. The vast majority of people would have seen them as legitimate and no different to how other normal societies would view their police and armed forces.

So, whenever we seen our teacher in the video no one was shocked, or anything like that - everyone already had an idea that he'd been a member. We just thought it was funny that he wasn't wearing a mask.

#43

There was a rumor going around in my high school that an English teacher and a biology teacher were sleeping with each other. I thought it didn't make any sense at all, other than being strict teachers who graded harshly it's not like they had anything in common and I'd never even seen them talking to each other or interacting in any way. They were both married and besides, she was young-ish and attractive and he was um...not. I had always figured that someone who managed to flunk both classes at the same time just decided to start a rumor.

My brother is 6 years younger than me and during his time at the school they both were fired suddenly in the middle of the school year. Turns out it was true all along, they had been caught "fraternizing" on school grounds. I was pretty surprised. Of all the weird rumors that go around in a typical school, THAT was the one that had to be true.

#44

Our freshman science teacher was a massive jerk to any girl, and would frequently throw the dress code book at girls for the slightest issue. Everyone said it was because he was pissed his daughter became a s******r... that ended up being true.

#45

Kinda a funny one. There was an ongoing rumor/joke that there was a pool on the roof of the gym. The rumor started because the swim team would do their stretches up there before heading to the actual pool across town. (Don't know why they did it up there)

The year that I graduated was also the last year of that gym because it was going to be demolished. During the last few weeks of school, the swim team actually snuck a small kiddy pool up there and left it there till the school officially closed for summer break.

I knew about it because I've got friends on the swim team.

#46

One of our teachers where f*****g a rich students dad for expensive cars and other s**t, heard her talk about it in the hallway on her phone.

#47

My AP US Gov teacher was the daughter of Phil Jackson. We all believed it and during his last Lakers game her and her family was there and shown on screen. Got a screen shot of her at the game and shared with some friends. We all knew for sure then but we never really brought it up to be respectful as she didnt like the attention for it.

#48

One summer, we came back to school and noticed that the very popular drum-line instructor and one of the female drum-line members (16 years old) had both disappeared. Obviously, we jumped to the conclusion that there was an inappropriate relationship going on.

Just a few years ago, I was sitting next to a band teacher at a bar, and I relayed this story. He confirmed that it was true.

#49

That the butch bully of my school was going to stab me. The teachers found her 3 days after an altercation I had with one of her lackies waiting on the oval for me to come to school and showing the knife to a big group of kids in my year level. I'd refused to go to school after the fight thankfully. She got a weeks suspension...

#50

Rumor: that a new freshman girl (I was sophomore or jr) was caught shooting h****n in girls room. 10-20 years later talking casually to a woman in a business setting saying she’d started school where I was but caught early using h****n in bathroom-it was a dealbreaker with the school for some square reason. She didn’t know I heard the rumor-I didn’t tell her either. Her family was loaded and she, a freshman, drive to school in a Porsche or jaguar. I remember that rumor too. Definitely same chick.

#51

That I wrote my name in permanent marker on the history teacher's overhead projector.

"Why would I write my own name on the projector, that doesn't make any sense! Someone else wrote it to set me up!" I said.

But I was only acting.

It was I who wrote it.

#52

There was a rumour that a teacher had s*x with whole basketball team turns out it was half of the team. Worst part is her son was on the team. Her husband ended up divorcing her and her son left with his dad.

#53

I went to a Catholic school. The big rumour that I remember being true was that the middle-aged principal(late 40s, early 50s) was banging the MUCH younger(early 20s), super pretty art teacher while his wife was sick and dying from cancer.

We found it it was true when he suddenly got suspended and his wife divorced him. It was an ugly divorce. They had three kids and she was terminal, but still had the fight in her to leave him and fight for custody of her kids.

#54

The vice principal was a d**g dealer. I met his sister and confirmed it to be true. He grew and sold magic mushrooms. I would have thought it was cool if he wasn’t trying constantly to get kids arrested.

#55

When I was a freshman some seniors were counterfeiting money. This was around 2004-05. They made some pretty convincing bills and spent them around town (including the school cafeteria).

That year I learned that the secret service has a counterfeit investigations department.

53 School Rumors That Sounded Way Too Wild To Be Real, Until People Found Out They Were Actually True

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