Teacher’s Classroom Riddle Gets An Answer From First Graders That He Does Not Expect

Think back to your days in the first grade. What was on your mind? My thoughts never really went far beyond the simple pleasures of candy, football and my bike, so it is quite a shock to discover the deep and philosophical musings of today’s kids.

Teacher Bret Turner of Albany, California, decided to try and bamboozle his students with one of those annoyingly smug riddles, that despite its deep and existential wording actually has a boringly logical answer based on letter placement and spelling. “It was a morning brain-teaser,” Mr. Turner explained to Bored Panda. “It’s the first thing they see when they come into the classroom to get the gears churning before they start their work. We talk about philosophical themes on a first grade level all the time.”

However, there was one kid who was having no truck with such banalities. The novice Nihilist blurted out his startlingly sombre response to a hushed audience, leaving Mr. Turner at a loss for words in the presence of such profound wisdom. “When the student said “death,” there was a subdued silence that fell over the room, and I said something to the effect of “wow, great answer,” Mr. Turner revealed. “Young kids talk about death all the time; grandparents, relatives, especially pets. It’s fascinating to them, and also normal.”

Mr. Turner’s riddles often throw up the unexpected, opening doors to the unfiltered creativity that many kids possess. “A day in first grade is filled with funny, curious, bizarre, extremely deep, introspective, existential, eyebrow-raising quotes. It’s one of the best parts of the job, and rolling with it is a blast,” Mr. Turner told Bored Panda. “Guesses to riddles are always great, and often the “wrong” answers are better than the correct ones.”

Unsurprisingly, the class was largely unimpressed when the actual answer was later unveiled. “They were not that impressed with the answer. But they love riddles, especially ones that trick you a little like that.”

You can scroll down below to check out Mr. Turner’s riddle, kindergarten Kierkegaard’s brilliant response and some reaction from a delighted internet. Also, please feel free to add your own surprisingly deep and meaningful kids quotes in the comments!

(h/t: Mashable)

Teacher Bret Turner decided to bamboozle his students with a riddle, but it took quite an unexpected turn

Classroom riddle on whiteboard with unexpected first grade answer discussed on Twitter.

Tweet from a teacher about unexpected first graders' answers to a classroom riddle.

Teacher’s riddle tweet about unexpected first grader responses goes viral with humorous comments.

People reacted with amusement to kindergarten Kierkegaard’s surprisingly deep response

Tweet about Gen Z being existential nihilists.

Tweet about unexpected first graders' answer to teacher's classroom riddle, involving novel "A Void" by Georges Perec.

Tweet reaction to unexpected first graders' riddle answer, humorously suggesting future screenplay talent.

Barbara Kelley tweets about unexpected first graders' response to classroom riddle.

Tweet about an unexpected answer from first graders to a classroom riddle, shared by Mike Fleisch.

"Tweet discussing a surprising answer from first graders to a riddle in the classroom.

Tweet about a first grader's unexpected riddle answer in a classroom setting.

Tweet reacting to a teacher's unexpected classroom riddle answer, suggesting giving a kid an "E" for effort.

Amanda Blount praises unexpected answer from first graders to a classroom riddle on Twitter.

Tweet from user about an unexpected answer from first graders to a classroom riddle.

Anna Campbell's tweet praises a classroom riddle's insightful answer from first graders.

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