There’s nothing quite like becoming incredibly self-aware of your age and how quickly time slips away, and these teachers know it all too well. Recently, I asked teachers of the BuzzFeed Community to share a moment in the classroom when their students made them feel reaaaaally old, and I’m half-laughing and half-gaping over these stories:
1. “I had to explain to a sixth grader what burning a CD meant. They could not grasp the concept and didn’t understand why someone would need to do that. I’m not even that old!”
—Emilie, 28, Texas
2. “My students point out and smile when they say I am from the 1900s.”
—grouchybubble684
3. “I have no idea who the celebrities these kids are talking about nowadays are. In fact, I’m not even sure if they know the difference between an actual celebrity and an influencer. And every time I hear a new ‘brainrot’ word (as they call it), I truly feel like a neuron of mine just stops firing.”
—Justin, Oregon
4. “When we saw the same iPad I had in my bag on display in a museum.”
—Anonymous
5. “I was going over the Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure with my 11th-grade US history class. I rapped Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’: ‘Well, my glove compartment is locked, so is the trunk in the back, and I know my rights, so you gon’ need a warrant for that.’ The students had no idea that was a line from a very popular song and thought I was just secretly a really good rapper.”
—Trent, 38, Washington
6. “I teach high school freshmen. One of my students, well-intentioned, said to me that I look ‘really good for my age.’ I’m 29.”
—Anonymous, Colorado
7. “I had a student ask me if I knew what TikTok was.”
—Sammie, 27, Washington, DC
8. “I was having my students watch a movie related to the content we just learned. I held up the DVD to the class, and my freshmen were bewildered. ‘Is that a disc?!’ they asked. I explained it was a DVD and asked how else we would watch a movie in class. They said to just watch it on YouTube.”
—Andrew, 50, Florida
9. “I mentioned 9/11 in one of my college classes, and one student said, ‘I was born that year.'”
—Anonymous
10. “During the set theory unit, I asked the kids to describe this set in words: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon. I got blank stares. Then, one student asked if they were leaders of foreign countries. Only two of the 36 kids knew, and they were seniors in high school. I’ll just use Marvel superheroes next time.”
—A., 40, Arizona
11. “When I have to repeat myself a lot, I joke and say, ‘I should record a tape for you, that way I can just replay it!’ I said to my class, and my students stared at me blankly and asked what a tape is.”
—fall_vapor_knj
12. “My middle schoolers only know who Miley Cyrus is and not Hannah Montana. I nearly quit on the spot.”
Byron Cohen / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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—Shannon, 34, New York
13. “One of my students asked if I knew a song that they had put in their recent ‘oldies’ playlist. I gave them permission to play it since we were near the end of the period, and everyone was just finishing up their last tasks. I was expecting them to play something by The Beatles or Queen, or whatever else, so I was absolutely stunned when they started playing ‘Closer’ by The Chainsmokers. Huh?!?”
—Ryan, California
14. “I was trying to describe a good, spooky show for kids to get into in a grade-one classroom, so I mentioned one of the classics: Scooby-Doo! My students looked at me and asked, ‘What’s that?’ Aged me 30 years in an instant.”
Warner Bros.
—anaalam
15. “I was teaching orchestra, and I found myself saying, ‘That’s lit, fam.’ All of the kids gave me strange looks.”
—Anonymous
16. “I felt old when I saw my teenage students wearing flared and baggy jeans, and the girls wore middle parts in their hair. I thought it was old-fashioned, like what my mother would have worn in the ’80s. Turns out, it’s back and trending, and my side part and skinny jeans are now out of style!”
—Anonymous, 32, United Kingdom
17. Lastly: “I was teaching a book that was set in the early ’90s, and I had to explain collect calls, what a bounced check was, and that broadcast TV didn’t stay on 24/7. They were baffled. When I mentioned that the internet used to have a sound when it connected, a student looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Wow, you guys from the 1900s were weird!’ He made it seem like I was born in 1904 rather than 1984.”
Bob Rowan / Corbis via Getty Images
—Rene, 41, New Mexico
Not knowing Hannah Montana is WILD. If you’re a teacher, when did your students make you feel old? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below!
Note: Some stories have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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