‘Spot the teacher’ trend hilariously highlights how adults are looking younger and younger
It’s weird to think about, but Gen Zers are not just entering the workforce— they’re being tasked with leading the next generation. Recent education grads in their early 20s are now standing in front of high school classrooms filled with teens just barely younger than themselves.
It’s always been this way, of course. Teaching has typically attracted young professionals who aim to carve out long careers in education. But there’s just something about adults these days. It’s hard to put your finger on, but they just look…younger. Sometimes, they even look indistinguishable from their own students.
“Spot the teacher” trend with young teacher is shockingly hard
Schools all over the world are having fun with the viral “spot the teacher” trend.
These videos feature lineups of students from the school, with one teacher lurking incognito among them, dressed similarly for disguise. In many cases, it’s almost impossible to figure out which person is the adult and which ones are teenagers.
One Instagram video from The Jackson Preparatory School in Mississippi was so tough, it racked up over 30 million views. Can you solve it?
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If you picked the young social studies teacher in the blue baseball hoodie, congratulations!
Some viewers were able to crack the code, but many fell for the red herrings: number one in glasses and number five in the “teachery” quarter-zip.
The school was kind enough to post the reveal and end everyone’s agony over the correct choice.
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Here’s another head-scratcher with nearly 3 million views
This one comes from the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, an all-boys preparatory boarding school.
There are tons of red herrings in this one. We’ve got a wedding band, a bow tie, an academic-style jacket, and suspects who are barely containing their laughter. Frankly, they all look guilty.
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The school never posted an official reveal, but sleuths in the comments figured out that the culprit was none other than Mr. Eiselstein, the math teacher. He’s number five in the lineup.
Shockingly, he’s not a first-year teacher, but has been teaching full time at the school since 2020, per his LinkedIn profile.
Here’s one more super challenging one
Just kidding. It was only a matter of time before people started having a little bit of fun with the trend.
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Why do adults look so much younger now?
It’s a much-discussed phenomenon that adults—even 30-, 40-, or 50-year-olds—seem to look a lot younger than they did decades ago.
There are a lot of factors that play into this. For starters, cigarette usage has dropped dramatically, and skincare and sunscreen use have increased. Simply put, we take a bit better care of ourselves now than previous generations did, and it often shows.
Definitely. These are my parents when my mom was pregnant with me. They were like 23. pic.twitter.com/Eoa3wDs42D— Debbie White ⚾️💙⚾️ (@rockiepie258) December 27, 2019
Definitely. These are my parents when my mom was pregnant with me. They were like 23. pic.twitter.com/Eoa3wDs42D— Debbie White ⚾️💙⚾️ (@rockiepie258) December 27, 2019
More crucially, though, is the way adults dress. Men used to wear suits and women wore dresses almost every day without fail. When you take a 23-year-old guy and put him in a hoodie and jeans, he won’t look much different from your average high schooler.
The concept that people looked older at a younger age in the past is called retrospective aging. A lot of it is based on our own perception—black-and-white photos, grainy video footage, out-of-date fashion—but there is some science behind it. Ivy League research suggests humans are aging more slowly now than ever before.
However, as commenters point out, there are always tells that someone is a teacher, no matter how young their face looks. It’s the subtle things, like the deep exhaustion behind their eyes or a gentle, knowing wisdom painted on their face. Or it could be the lack of the signature high-schooler broccoli haircut.
It’s hard not to wonder what teachers will look like in another 20 or 30 years and whether “spot the teacher” challenges in a few decades will be completely unsolvable.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60 countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
If you’ve never heard of a tagua nut, you’re not alone. The seed of the South American tagua palm isn’t well-known in the 21st century, but in the early 20th century, it was all the rage. Though edible at certain stages of development, it’s not primarily used as food. Rather, it served as an eco-friendly alternative and precursor to plastic and ivory.
In fact, it was plastic that caused the decline in demand for the tagua nut, also known as “vegetable ivory.” The scientific name for it translates as “plant elephant,” which makes sense considering how similar the solid form of the nut is to ivory from elephant tusks.
In fact, according to clothing expert The Iron Snail, the........
