1. A boy who admittedly likes to kill things.
I work at a summer camp. One year a kid (he was 12 I think) killed a caterpillar and made his fellow campers really upset. Then, when I took this kid aside to get him to calm down and to explain why what he did was wrong, he said to me “I like killing things. What’s wrong with that?”
2. A boy with a predilection for abusing cats.
I had a student whose parents were abusive; it was evident by the physical marks, however school administration could never do anything for multiple reasons. Anyways, the cops were called to the boy’s house one afternoon just a few weeks before summer vacation. They discovered that the boy had tortured local neighborhood cats by trapping them in makeshift, cardboard cages and then lighting the boxes on fire; apparently he used a magnifying glass to sear the cat’s fur and would let them out disfigured but alive so he could continue at another point.
Most were stray cats, however the cops finally found out when a passerby saw the kid stick a firework up a cat’s behind and thereafter throw it hammer-style across an overpass. Really fucked and never heard from the kid since. The parents ended up splitting and pretty sure the kid went to live with his grandmother.
3. A truly creepy kid who sees “death everywhere.”
I was a kindergarten teacher for a while, and one little boy came up to me and said: “I found a dead mole in my backyard, I talked to it, and it talked back. There’s death everywhere…”
4. A boy with classic sociopathic tendencies takes an all-too-typical route.
When I was in kindergarten there was a kid named “Joe” who asked if he could use the restroom and when the teacher said he’d have to wait, “Joe” and another kid proceeded to piss their pants.
Also around that time, “Joe” once came to my house randomly and pissed in my kiddie pool. My mom saw it happen through the window, and then “Joe” came and rang the doorbell and asked her, “are there any kids here to play with.” My Mom said “NO.”
This kid had a childhood of anti-social behavior, including acts of animal abuse and arson (he burned down a house and a business, on two different occasions) before he turned 18.
It reached a point where he raped his ex-girlfriend and then murdered her by stabbing her almost 20 times. He is serving life in prison for his crime.Oh, and I almost forgot another thing he did while a teenager. He pummeled a kid who was much younger with bricks in the woods near my house. The kid that was assaulted has physical and mental scars because of that.
5. A kid who was expelled from school for his threatening behavior.
My mom had a student in her preschool class who was always full of morbid thoughts. He was expelled in the 11th grade for threatening to bomb his high school and lashing out a knife on his least favorite teacher.
6. A 3-year-old boy who threatened to kill the baby inside his teacher’s pregnant belly.
Unfortunately, I met a little boy that had some serious issues. I was assisting in the three-year-old room of a preschool when I was pregnant. I was about eight months along when one of the kids started acting out more than usual. At one point, he got into the toolbox (my dumbfuck boss wasn’t great about locking it up after she used it with the kids), grabbed a screwdriver, and came at me with it, saying “I’m gonna stab your tummy and kill your baby in the head!” my boss grabbed him and restrained him. My husband insisted I resign unless the kid was moved to a different class, but his parents pulled him out the next day. He’s six now, out there somewhere with his serious rage problems.
7. A frog killer from summer camp.
One of the kids in my summer camp took the little baby frog I caught and stepped on it and laughed at me while I cried. Is that sociopathic behavior or is that just how little boys are?
8. A fellow classmate who murdered her own mother.
I went to school from grade 4 through to high school with a girl who planned and carried out the murder of her own mother. She was a terrible, manipulative cunt and I hated her a lot. Everyone laughed at me. Teachers asked why I couldn’t be more like her. My parents shrugged it off as a crush. My “friends” wondered why I had such a hate-on for her.
High school roles around, she’s inexplicably absent for a long time. No one tells me why. Turns out they finally found out she was responsible for her mother’s death and she’d gotten away with it for a year. Here’s the worst part: EVERYONE KNEW EXCEPT ME. All my “friends” figured I would do something like TELL THE POLICE SHE COMMITTED MATRICIDE because I had such an “unreasonable” hatred for her.
9. Sometimes you can glean sociopathic tendencies from a kid’s favorite part in a Harry Potter movie.
I work at a pediatric dental office where we have TVs on the ceilings above the patient chairs. We have apple TVs so we’re able to let the kids pick whatever movie they want and we can rewind it, pause it etc. One kid was watching Harry Potter 1 and asked me to rewind one part because he said it was his favorite. It was the scene where Voldemort kills Harry’s parents. No joke.
10. A 1st grader who was basically possessed.
Danish teacher here. A 1st grader came up to me, looked my straight in my eyes and said nothing for ten seconds. Then she spoke, telling me how she wished the “blood red pigeons from the lake would come to take her away.” She then started to speak English; I can’t remember what she said, but it was four long sentences in perfect English, which she doesn’t speak. Anyway, she’s not a sociopath, just kinda weird, she just graduated and is still weird, but she’s doing fine.
11. A creepy kid who ended up becoming a murderer.
A friend of my parents is an elementary teacher. One day, while she was over for dinner, she told me a story about this creepy kid in one of her classes. This kid would only draw bodies and weird shit, and wouldn’t talk unless forced. Just a kid with a bad vibe around him. Years later, it turned out he pushed someone over the railing on a bridge. The person caught the railing, but the kid stomped on his fingers until he fell into the ravine below. Went on to kill a few more people before getting caught. Creepy stuff.
12. A student who claimed that the clock was speaking to him.
I had a student tell me that the clock on the wall was telling him bad things.
13. A kid who was an incontestable budding sociopath.
I worked for a year as a support aide for a little boy who was in grade one (around 6 years old?). He had been expelled from his prep class at another school, reportedly for killing his class pets. The second day of his new school (before I started with him), he was suspended for repeatedly ramming a little girl’s head into the monkey bars. The worst story I heard was how he concocted a plan to kill his friend’s little sister. Apparently the family friend was complaining about his little sister, saying he hated her, so this boy got a knife from the kitchen and tried to lure the girl into a room with the apparent intent on stabbing her. He also knew where his father kept a gun (unusual in Australia). I spent a year working with him and would talk to my mother (an experienced psychiatric nurse) about his behavior. She would often say that he sounded like a budding sociopath. He was extremely impulsive and violent and never seemed to show any remorse or regret for what he would do to other kids, only that he had been caught and punished etc. I have no idea what happened to him but I do often wonder.
14. A 6-year-old who stabbed a fellow classmate.
I coach my son’s soccer team and one of the kids got expelled from school for stabbing another kid in the chest with a pocketknife. He’s six. Knowing how fucked up the parents are makes it sadder.
15. It takes one to know one…
I’m good at picking out sociopaths because I am one.
I babysit children of all ages, backgrounds, religions, whatever. Every once in a while there’s always that kid that’s a pathological liar — will lie even if it gets everyone in big trouble. There’s a need to have a more exciting life. They spend time developing lies and trying to live them out. It affects friendships and getting tasks done.
There’s the kids that hit, bite, fight. Do whatever it takes to get their way and will expect that everything automatically go their way. They don’t feel bad or apologize. A lot of them will make themselves out to be the victim.
16. A preschooler who suggested to his fellow classmate that she pluck her cat’s eyes out.
I taught a preschooler a long time ago. He used to creep me out a bit. Once he threatened a five-year-old girl to fork out her cat’s eyes, boil them and eat them with ketchup. She cried her eyes out, and he just told her how easier she’s making it for him to pluck her eyes out as well.
Other examples include explicit descriptions of how he’d rape them if he ever got the chance (which I really don’t want to repeat), or kill their parents/siblings and eat them. He lacks empathy. He steals. He lies — left, right and centre. Even his parents are scared of him.
17. A student who became a serial killer.
My 9th grade teacher, who is 60+ years old, taught a guy who was always quiet in class and never said anything. He ended up murdering dozens of females (according to one website, as many as 40), most of which were never proven. He’s currently serving life in a federal prison.
18. A student who decapitated a baby bird.
I taught a weird 7-year-old. He had a creepy look to him — limbs too long for his body, oddly shaped head. He was also rather socially awkward and would say strange things in an attempt to make conversation. That’s probably not sociopath material though. However, one day a bunch of kids came running over to tell me a baby bird had fallen out of its nest onto the playground. I went over to check it out. Unfortunately I was too late as the weird kid had decided to decapitate it with his ruler.
19. A violent kid with a happy ending.
When I was about 8 I developed conduct disorder. I lied to everyone about everything, even I’d it didn’t matter, I stole thousands and thousands of dollars worth of stuff, I started fires and vandalized buildings, and I tortured small animals and neighborhood pets. I grew out of it after a while and never behaved like that ever again. In fact, I’m totally normal now which really confused me for a long time, because after taking some psychology classes I was worried I was a sociopath or that one day I would become a killer. It turns out, just recently it was discovered that bipolar disorder can manifest in children at a young age, and the symptoms cross over with ADHD and conduct disorder. So I’m not a sociopath, I’m just crazy.
20. A student who never sleeps.
My friend is a teacher and one of her students lives in her apartment building. He never sleeps and is always in the underground parking. I would truly be scared if I was her.
21. A student who brings a knife to class.
I currently work in a school meant for children with anxiety and I am 95% certain this boy will be a sociopath. He brings a knife and is always trying to bring harm to the girls of the class.
Btw I’m a female staff member, almost been stabbed 12 times in 4 months.
22. A neighbor with a penchant for skinning animals.
One of my best friends had this neighbor (“Cody”) who was her brother’s age (“Rob”). When they were about 8, the Cody made Rob come down to the local river with him, promising to show him this really cool fort that he made in the woods. Well, there was a fort… decorated with the skins and pelts of a ton of animals that Cody had killed and skinned. He then apparently dropped the carcasses in the river after skinning the animals. The fort had frog skins, bird feathers, raccoon pelts and tails, squirrel fur and tails, and even the coat of a cat. Rob ran the fuck out of there and told his parents. Cody was only 8, so he was sent to therapy.
This was right after Rob’s family moved to the neighborhood, and none of the other neighbors with kids had thought to warn them that their kid was going off with the local crazy. Apparently this kid routinely killed frogs and squirrels and would parade them around to the other kids. He duct-taped a dead squirrel to a girl’s window.
23. A kid who drew a very disturbing picture in class.
There was a kid in my daughter’s Kindergarten class that was decidedly…off. Everyone had just returned from Spring Break and the kids were tasked with drawing a picture of what they did while on vacation, which the teachers then captioned according to what the child said, and hung up around the room.
Most were various scenes of beaches or snowmen but this kid drew a standing stick-figure pointing at a stick-figure on the ground and what looked like snow or hail. The caption said, “On my Spring Break I shot a man. It was raining when I shot him.”
