Almost everyone has amazing memories from field trips. Whether it was a trip to a museum or a national park, as kids we all loved the idea of getting on a bus and going on a school trip. Some people have hilariously wild memories of those trips. And by wild we mean disastrous. So much so that these people couldn't stop themselves from sharing the stories on Reddit. Reading these you might think this is something out of an “American Pie” movie. Trust us, it’s not. Now let’s go on a field trip and check out these absurd stories that go down in American public schools.
1. Kidnapping.
It’s the first week of the school year. You are a new second-grade teacher. Wearing your shiny shoes and the best tie you got you patiently wait for all the kids to get on the bus. The kids are all happy and on the bus ready to go on a field trip!
The thing is, it’s your first day on the job. No one remembers you, not even your “responsible” colleagues, like the bus driver! Just like that, the bust takes off with you standing in the parking lot. Panicking and thinking the bus driver kidnapped the kids and you are about to lose your job.
2. Sleeping in a Church.
Being a fifth-grader is fun. And when it's your first school trip you are super stoked. Especially when it's an overnight trip to Washington D.C.! Being on a low budget, the sleeping place was an activity hall of a local church that kindly organized everything.
Boys were sleeping on one side and the girls on the other. A girl screams in the middle of the night and then all of them scream. You look at the wall of windows the girls are sleeping next to and there is a completely naked guy standing outside staring at the girls. Cops were called, girls were traumatized.
3. 190 pounds middle schooler.
A trip to the local ice-skating rink sounds fun, right? It’s not if you have to help out another middle schooler who is 190 pounds. How do you need to help him out? Well just be his stability object.
This is exactly what happened on this trip. Next thing you know the kid dramatically slips and falls to the ground. In the process, he manages to push you to the ground and cut 4 of your fingers. Next thing you know you are being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
4. Hunger Games.
Summer, the favorite time of the year. And this is when the canoe trip to Tuolumne River, California took place. As a high schooler, you love the adrenaline rush from the activity. So does the kid next to you, who repeatedly yells “paddle harder” to another kid in front.
The kid in front did not like being yelled at. He didn’t like it at all, thinking that he is in the Hunger Games, he turns around and starts beating the “paddle harder” kid with his...paddle. As the bludgeon is happening the rest of the kids struggle to drag the canoe to shore.
5. "Energy drinks".
A 15-year-old 9th grader thought it would be a cool idea to hand out energy drinks to a bunch of the boys on the school trip. The teachers didn’t think much of it. The boys however loved it. Instead of an energy drink, the bottles were filled with beer.
It took the teachers an hour to notice something was up. But by that time it was too late. We were losing it. One kid was vomiting. Another kid got slightly hit by a car and the rest of us were laughing like the buffoons we were.
6. Just a water hose.
Apple orchard, fresh air, dew is still covering the leaves. As a teacher, you are loving this field trip. All the preschoolers are running around picking apples. But that one kid who is always a problem is just standing there.
As you come up to him to check on what’s going, fresh air is no longer fresh. The kid pooped his pants. With no restrooms around in the field and just a water hose, you need to help the kid clean up. Now picture the rest of the story...
7. The cool teacher.
Some kids wanted to grab a Happy Meal from McDonald's at the airport. Trying to be the cool teacher you let them do it. Only to realize that you have 10 minutes left before the boarding gate closes.
It’s never fun to miss a bus, a train, or your flight! Now imagine that you are also responsible for 30 kids getting on the same flight…The plane took off with happy passengers (there were no screaming kids) and all of our bags.
8. “Turn back”.
Yosemite National Park. We were stoked. As we were being led by our tour guide we were learning about the wild. As we approached a little creek we decided that learning about the wild is not enough.
So we decided that crossing the creek over a thick log is the thing to do. Of course, the teacher started yelling “turn back”. And we did but the kid in front slipped, smacked his face on the log, and knocked out all of his front teeth. They were baby teeth so he had them all back by the next school trip.
9. Loud bang.
A bus full of 4th graders singing songs heading down a farm. We were excited to learn how cows are milked, eggs are collected, and so on. As we approached the chorus of the song we heard a loud bang and tires screeching.
The bus comes to a full stop. There is a dead wild turkey in the middle of the bus. The teacher in front had a line of blood on her face and a triangle-shaped glass in the middle of her forehead. We never got to see the cows.
10. Memorable.
The Art Museum was supposed to be a memorable trip for the 6th graders. And it truly was memorable, but for the wrong reasons. Knowing that there might be some nude art in the museum, the teacher gave us a speech about acting mature once inside.
As we are entering it starts raining, a guy drives by on a scooter throwing flyers in the air. They had very graphic pictures. The rain plasters the flyers to the sidewalk. Our teacher starts scrambling the flyers while on her knees and hands. We were nothing close to mature at that moment.
11. Hunting enthusiast.
Third graders went on a field trip to Buttermilk Falls State Park in New York. That same day one of the kids decided to wear all green camouflage clothes. The hunting enthusiast kid decided that it will be a great idea to hide from the rest of the group.
The teachers started panicking as they were yelling “David”. About 10 minutes later everyone started hearing cries for help from the bushes up the hill. It took another 10 minutes to find the kid all tangled up in poison ivy bushes crying with a rash all over him.
12. Monkeying around.
It all started with a kid monkeying around in a zoo. As we approached a balcony overlooking a gorilla habitat one kid threw a stick. The stick landed near a gorilla that threw the stick up like a spear.
The stick smashes on the same kid's face and knocks him down the habitat. Knocked out cold from the fall, the kid just laid there with the gorilla sitting at the other end of the habitat staring at him. Within seconds five zoo workers rescued the kid. He was fine, just had to get some stitches.
13. The luggage compartment.
We were in high school on a bus ride. At this point of our adolescence, the boys were already interested in girls more than the actual destination of the field trip. One couple disappeared from the bus during the trip.
The teacher in charge thought he lost two “kids”. A few minutes later he found them half-naked making out in the luggage compartment. For the rest of the ride, the teacher spoke to them about teen pregnancy, which to them was as embarrassing as being caught.
14. The wrong...
After watching the “Night at the Museum” every kid in class was all fired up about our trip to the actual American Museum of Natural History in New York. That same day there were another 4 schools that had a trip to that museum.
At the end of the day, we returned to Philadelphia, and all the kids were being picked up by their parents. But one kid just stood there sobbing and confused. Turns out he got on the wrong school bus and his parents were waiting for him in Hartford.
15. Lion King.
A group of kindergarteners was taken to the zoo. The best part was the lions behind the huge glass. All the kids loved The Lion King and thought this was the best thing in the world.
One kid ran back to the room where you could see the linos. When the lions are fed the room is locked for visitors but the kid was so short the guards didn’t notice him. It took 30 minutes before the security guard noticed the kid on the CCTV. By that time the teachers were pale and panic took over.
16. Canceled.
One day the school took us to see a hockey game. Arriving an hour early we had just enough time to rent skates and have fun on the rink. The teachers decided to join in on the fun.
One teacher should have never joined. It was her first-time ice skating. As she was struggling to keep her balance one of the kids who was flying at full speed knocked her down. The teacher hit her head on the ice but managed to get up right away, only to realize there is blood all over the ice and her. The game was canceled.
17. Heist.
It was supposed to be a school trip to a science museum. But it turned out to be a museum heist by an 11-year-old. As a group of kids was making its way through the museum the teacher noticed that one kid is missing.
As she was approaching the information booth, to ask for the kids' name to be announced over the speakers, a security guard came by. The guard was holding the missing kid by his backpack. His backpack was full of stuff from the souvenir shop. It was worth around 900$ of stolen souvenirs.
18. Labrador.
As a teacher, it’s always stressful to be in charge of kids on trips. And there is always that one kid who just misbehaves no matter what. On this trip to feed the ducks in the park, there was that one kindergartener.
Next to the pond was a bench and an older gentleman was sitting on it with his labrador next to him. The kid decided to suddenly grab the dog by the collar only to scare it away. Turns out it was a service dog and the guy on the bench was blind.
19. I'll just kill her.
We were on a bus heading back to school from a field trip. The teacher in charge of us had strong allergies to oranges. We knew it since we were never allowed to bring them to class.
On that trip the teacher made one kid mad, so mad he decided that he wants to kill her. He managed to get some fresh orange juice during the trip and on the bus ride, he spilled it on her! She had a severe reaction and was hospitalized. The kid was expelled and we had to deal with a substitute teacher for a week.
20. Evel Knievel...
As a 3rd grader, riding the water park slide makes you feel like Evel Knievel. On our trip to the water park one kid thought he could become the daredevil before everyone else did. The teachers gathered us for a safety speech and noticed that Jorge was missing.
The next thing we saw was him running out of the pool naked and with a split forehead. Turns out his swimsuit got caught in the middle of the slide. As he was trying to free himself, someone collided with him.
21. Ice challenge.
We were either in 2nd or 3rd grade and went on a trip to an aquarium. The place had a room that showed how fish lived during the ice age. And the room had an ice wall. One of the kids thought it would be a great idea to bet who can hold their tongue the longest on ice.
In less than a minute the teachers heard a bunch of boys crying. Three of us were standing with our tongues frozen to the wall. The other 3 were crying with bloody tongues after they called it quits on the challenge.
22. Physics.
We had a trip to the aviation museum, the boys loved the place. The museum had an attraction, a centripetal force machine. The machine was great for the kids to understand what g-force is. One boy however thought he can define the laws of physics.
As he was in the machine he somehow managed to undo his seatbelt. Naturally, he was flung out of the machine and smashed into a glass wall. All the girls had glass in their hair and the boy walked away without a scratch.
23. On the ground!
We were on a school bus heading to a football game in the neighboring county. One cheerleader girl had a fight with the teacher on the bus. Being the quick thinker that she was, she called the cops.
She told them that there is a device that looks like a bomb on the bus, and gave a description of the teacher who is “acting suspiciously”. The bus was pulled over, the SWAT team raided it and the teacher got thrown on the ground and arrested. Some 15 minutes later so was the girl...
24. Tantrum.
A bus full of first graders was approaching train tracks. One spoiled first-grader threw a tantrum over the front row seat. He got up from his seat in the third row, ran to the front, and punched the kid who was sitting in front.
The teacher started breaking them apart, kids were laughing and the bus driver got distracted. To a point where he didn’t notice the lowering arms closing the tracks and somehow ignored the alarm. The train whistled, the kids screamed, the teacher saw death and the bus driver slammed the gas pedal in reverse breaking the barricade and saving us from the deadly collision.
25. An eye for an eye.
We loved going to the SeaWorld, dolphins, whales, alligators, manatees, otters, and sea turtles! They were just magical creatures for us as we watched them do all sorts of cool tricks.
We even got a chance to get kisses on the cheek from dolphins. A kid who was just stupid gave one dolphin a punch, it wasn't strong but strong enough to piss off the dolphin. Seconds after the punch the dolphin did a 180 and slammed the kid on the head with his tale. The kid had a concussion and the rest of us couldn't stop laughing.
26. Debate champion.
We once went on a trip to a farm in a Hutterite colony. One of the Hutterites showed us around and explained how they farm, make cheese, and in general, just shared their lifestyle.
One girl thought it would be great to debate our guide on his lifestyle and beliefs. The teacher ended the debate once it got a bit heated. As we arrived back at school we realized that we left the debate champion back at the farm. She had to stay overnight at the colony and follow their rules, her parent picked her up the next day.
27. Different college.
Last year of high school, the school took us on a tour of a college campus. We had great hopes for the trip and everyone was all super excited. In the backseat one of the boys started crying, everyone just kind of ignored it until he stopped crying.
The second he stopped crying the bus driver slammed the brakes and everyone realized that the boy just jumped out of the window. Apparently, his girlfriend told him (on the bus) she will be attending a different college and is breaking up with him. The kid was ok, just some gnarly road rash.
28. Good kids.
We were good kids from a catholic school who went on a school trip to New York City. The part with the "good kids" was only true in the eyes of our teachers...
All we really wanted was to get stoned and have some fun on the bus ride back. So one kid decided to get some weed off a guy in an alleyway. The dealer turned out to be an undercover cop. Instead of getting stoned, we ended up outside an NYPD Precincts with the teachers trying to figure out what to do.
29. The zoo.
Our teacher decided that a trip to the zoo will be a great idea. We were already teenagers and didn’t really care about the zoo all that much and were just messing around the entire trip.
One girl thought it would be fun to ride a swing. The swing was a baby swing, she ended up getting stuck in it! The teachers had to call the fire department to help her get out. We thought this was hilarious and made sure to make the girl “Snapchat famous”.
30. So fun...
Being a teacher is fun. So fun that sometimes you have moments that will make you want to choose a different profession. This day was the day I thought of “screw this” I need a different job.
We were in a science museum checking out the cotton gin. One girl took some cotton and chewed it. The kids were laughing and so was I thinking how silly this was. Within minutes the girl had an asthma attack and I was giving her mouth to mouth. Turned out she had allergies no one knew about.
31. Trees and animals.
A school trip from Denver, Colorado to White River National Forest was going to be great! We were going to learn about the trees and animals that are in the park.
We just learned about some particular tree and squirrels that climb it. One kid was so captivated by it that he decided to climb the tree to see the squirrels up close. The teachers noticed him and told him to come down. And he did, only to break a branch in the process and crash. He was transferred to the hospital by helicopter!
32. Final destination.
We were heading down to Orlando. Final destination? Disney World! We felt like we were the luckiest kids in the world to have a trip like that. But we were not so lucky with our bus driver.
The bus driver thought he knew a shortcut. So he decided to take an exit on the hideaway, only to realize he messed up and we were in orange groves somewhere near Orlando with Disney World visible in the distance. The bus got stuck in the mud and we never made it to park!
33. Drugs.
I was a stupid high schooler who experimented with drugs in high school. We went on a school trip to a cow farm and on the bus, together with a friend we took some ecstasy. When we arrived on the farm the drug kicked in.
The energy and confidence levels rose and we told ourselves that cows need to be free in the wild. We snuck away from our group and opened the gates for the cows to exit the shed. The farmworkers didn't notice anything until all of the cows were wandering around the farm. There were no cameras and no one ever found out who did this.
34. Grounded.
During a visit to a botanic garden, I decided to play hide and seek on my own. I ran away from the rest of the kids to a butterfly garden, locked the door, and sat there in the bushes looking at all of the butterflies flying around.
An hour went by and no one found me, another half an hour went by and I heard a “he is here”. I looked up and there was a cop standing in front of me. Turns out the teachers couldn’t find me so the police were called! I was grounded for a month.
35. Snoring.
As we were on the highway coming back from a trip there was a loud noise of snoring. At first, everyone was laughing and the teachers too. They thought someone was goofing around making a sound of a grown man snoring.
Some time went by and the snoring went on. The teachers at this point told us to stop as it was distracting the bus driver. But the snoring continued. One of the teachers got up to walk down the bus and screamed when she saw that there was a homeless man sleeping at the backseat. He asked for a ride and we snuck him on the bus.
36. The city.
One teacher had an idea to take a bunch of high schoolers to Las Vegas. We were excited! And then we found out it was to a Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition and we were not really going to see the city.
One kid had a brilliant idea and right before we were going to go back on the bus he slashed all the tiers. At this hour the bus driver couldn’t find a shop that would tow the bus and change the tiers. The teacher in charge had to find a hotel for us to spend the night at. We got to see the city!
37. Group 2.
We went to the North Antelope Rochelle coal mine. The trucks were as big as buildings, the coal miners looked like superheroes to us and the coal wagons looked like rollercoasters.
Once we approached the actual mine we got in these little cars and the mine tour began. We were split up into 2 groups. As we were touring the mine, the car stopped and we were told that the group in front got stuck. There was nothing left to do but to walk out of the mine.
38. Something ridiculous.
It was a nice clear, summer day, we just got done checking out Manhattan from the rooftop of the Empire State Building. One kid who would always cause trouble decided that this day is no different and he will do something ridiculous.
As we were exiting the rooftop, he ran down 10 floors in the fire exit. On each floor, he would set the fire alarm off. Once he was done he took the elevator down and watched everyone being evacuated from the building.
39. Cultural museum.
During a trip to the cultural museum, we stopped by a massive international grocery store. We were going to get a bunch of ingredients for a cooking calls that we were supposed to have the next day.
One kid dared another kid to eat some pepper. The pepper turned out to be Carolina Reaper, one of the hottest peppers in the world. The kid couldn't breathe and was taken to a hospital.
40. Aquarium.
I took first graders on a trip to the Camden Aquarium in New Jersey. The kids had loads of fun and got to see a bunch of fish, otters, and penguins.
Back at school, I noticed that one kid's bag is wet and moving. The kid managed to take a baby penguin and stuff it in the bag. The poor guy was taken out of his backpack and safely returned.