Funny Questions to Ask Students in High School

The questions

Open any question to see why it works.

1. 1

   What's the strangest thing you've seen happen in the cafeteria?

   Everyone eats in the same room, so this is the one question the whole group can confirm or dispute. It gets a story out fast, which is what you need in the first two minutes.

2. 2

   Which subject would you replace with a class on something you're actually good at?

   The second half is the useful bit: it makes them name a skill instead of just complaining about maths. Expect answers about games, cooking, or editing video, and expect them to be genuinely expert.

3. 3

   What's the worst excuse you've heard for someone being late?

   Reporting an excuse rather than confessing to one keeps everybody safe. If the room goes quiet, they think you are collecting evidence, so name a bad excuse of your own first.

4. 4

   What's the most confidently wrong answer you've heard given out loud in class?

   This works because the humour is about certainty rather than stupidity, and every group has one legendary example. Do not let a name be attached to it.

5. 5

   What's in your bag or locker right now that has no business being there?

   Physical objects get faster answers than memories, and several students will simply hold the item up. The oddest answers are usually leftovers from a club, a trip, or a dare.

6. 6

   If your year group had a mascot, what would it be, and would the school allow it?

   The second clause is where the joke lives, because it asks them to predict how adults would react. It also tells you how the year group sees its own reputation.

7. 7

   What's a school rule that's broken so often it's basically not a rule any more?

   Answers are almost always about phones, hoods, or corridors, and the students describe the enforcement gap more accurately than any staff meeting would. Ask this only if you can hear the answer without acting on it.

8. 8

   What's the funniest thing that's ever happened in an assembly?

   Assemblies are shared by the whole school, so the story is already common property and safe to retell. The microphone, the projector, and the fainting are the usual suspects.

9. 9

   If you could add one thing to the lunch menu and remove one, what's the trade?

   Forcing a trade produces a real opinion rather than a wish list. The item they want removed is usually defended by someone else, which is where the argument starts.

10. 10

    What's a trend at this school that's going to be embarrassing in five years?

    Teenagers are unusually good at this and will happily indict their own year group. The interesting part is which students exempt themselves from the prediction.

11. 11

    What's the most chaotic group project you've been part of?

    This is a complaint everyone owns, so it comes out easily and often at length. Listen for who describes themselves as the one who did all the work: that is usually accurate.

12. 12

    What's a phrase teachers say that's completely lost all meaning?

    It gives them licence to mock a form of words rather than a person, which keeps it fair. Answers land somewhere between funny and a genuine note on how the school communicates.

13. 13

    If you taught one lesson tomorrow, what would it be and how long before it fell apart?

    The second half is what makes it honest: they know exactly how a class behaves and will say so. Students who claim it would go perfectly are the ones to hand a real chance to run something.

14. 14

    What's the worst place in this school to get caught doing anything at all?

    It sounds like an invitation to confess but is really a question about geography and sightlines, so it stays harmless. The answers are usually a specific corridor and a specific window.

15. 15

    What's a club you'd genuinely join if it existed here?

    This is the question worth writing down, because it occasionally turns into an actual club. Push past the joke answers by asking who else in the room would sign up.

16. 16

    What's the most ridiculous thing you've overheard in a corridor with no context?

    Missing context is the whole joke, so tell them not to explain it. It is the question that reliably produces the biggest laugh with the least risk.

17. 17

    If school ran from noon until seven, who in your year would be unrecognisable?

    It gets them talking about sleep and mornings without you having to lecture about either. The answers are often about themselves, phrased as being about someone else.

18. 18

    What school tradition would you invent, and how quickly would it get banned?

    Inventing the ban alongside the tradition shows they understand exactly which part is unacceptable. The best answers are elaborate, cheap, and involve the whole year group.

19. 19

    What's something everyone in your year believes that's almost certainly not true?

    School rumours have a long life, and this is a way to examine one without accusing anyone of starting it. Steer away from anything about a named student or member of staff.

20. 20

    What's a story from this year you'll still be telling when you're twenty-five?

    This closes the set by asking them to sort the year themselves, which they rarely get asked to do. The answer is often much smaller and more specific than the big school events you would have guessed.