AITA my classmate “saved goldfish” by releasing them into the ocean, I called her a d**bass?

A student overheard a classmate proudly sharing a TikTok video where she “rescued” goldfish by releasing them into the ocean. Being knowledgeable about fish, the student bluntly pointed out that goldfish are freshwater creatures and would have died almost immediately in saltwater, sparking a heated exchange

The classmate and her friends accused the student of being a bully, leading to a disciplinary meeting with the school principal and mounting tensions with their parents. To explore the full story and the ethical dilemmas involved, read on…

‘ AITA my classmate “saved goldfish” by releasing them into the ocean, I called her a d**bass?’

My classmate recently made a tiktok and she showed a group of people at lunch time it. They were next to our table so I overheard the girl say “hey look at my tiktok I made come check it out” and in it she explains how she “rescued” goldfish from the pet store and released them into the ocean so they can live free.

I was horrified upon hearing this, I love fish and have several aquariums so I’m fairly knowledgeable on them. I walk over and I ask her to show me the video and I face palmed, she asked me why and I said “you realize you’re actually a d**bass right, this is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen” her friend says “well that’s just rude,

why would you say that, because she cares?” to which I had to explain that goldfish are freshwater fish, they can’t survive the ocean because its saltwater so all of those goldfish were dead in minutes. They basically choked to d**th as salt filled up their gills. Lastly, you never release animals into the wild.

There are goldfish that are destroying our rivers and lakes because of dumbasses like her. They say that I’m a b**ly and walk away. I later get called into the principal’s office who told me I was expected to apologize, and I said no, I stand by what I said.

F**k ignorant people who destroy the environment. My parents were called over and I got sent home and my parents are pissed I refused to apologize. I might get suspended.

Take a look at the comments from fellow users:

Sailor_D00m −  NTA! You’re 100% right on BOTH counts! That would’ve been a pretty awful d**th for the gold fish AND yeah releasing captive bred animals into the wild usually either results in that animal dying OR local flora and fauna suddenly having to compete with an invasive species. She meant well but that stark reality check on your part was definitely warranted

Soiree1999 −  NTA, but a different approach might be more effective. Ask questions. “Did you know that goldfish are freshwater fish?” “Do you understand what happens to freshwater fish when they are released into saltwater?” Lead her to her own dumbassery…

JudgeJudAITA −  ESH – to quote The Dude “You’re not wrong, you’re just an a**hole”. Your classmate is a well-meaning i**ot. You seem more interested in being superior than in getting her to stop causing damage.

WebbieVanderquack −  ESH.. I stand by what I said You need to learn how to say important things calmly and without insults. People are more likely to listen to you, and less likely to accuse you of being a b**ly.

Novel_Ad_7318 −  ESH. This is… oh my god. Okay, yeah, your classmate sucks here for not realizing that her actions are less than intelligent and should inform herself about an animals needs before doing something like this. HOWEVER, insulting someone over this out of nowhere isn’t good behaviour on your side either.

Noone is going to listen to your reasons if you insult them.. ​ ETA: The “out of nowhere” phrasing was not referring to there being no reason to get heated – there was one. It was more that OP started out with direct insults instead of FIRST explaining herself and only when prompted by the friend actually stated what the issue here was.

I do think that OPs heart is most likely in the right place, but acting like this will most likely never get her point across, which invalidates her ability to educate people on topics like this. Also, imagine you are this classmate – also still rather young.

You… well, tried to do a good but stupid thing, someone asks you for the video and suddenly they start insulting you without you being able to reason out why? This is the out of nowhere I am talking about.

If-By-Whisky −  Tempted to go E-S-H, but I’m voting YTA. Also, you missed a huge opportunity here dude. Obviously you’re right, but it isn’t ok to just go up to someone and call them a d**bass. Praise in public, criticize in private. Then, if the societally-harmful behavior doesn’t stop, publicly shaming becomes an option.

You jumped straight into public shaming before giving her a chance to correct her seemingly well-intentioned mistake. Also, get real: it’s not like you’ve never done anything stupid before. How would you like it if someone started publicly calling you a d**bass in person, when they could have just taken you aside privately?

As for the missed opportunity: why the f**k didn’t you just DM her or talk to her privately in a kind and respectful way? You would have gained huge cool points with this person had you done that. Think about it from her point of view. She posts something publicly hoping to get likes and attention from it.

You tell her why it’s a problem. She realizes that she’s done something incredibly stupid in a very public forum, and now there’s a risk that everyone figures out how dumb she’s been. But because you came along, she can take down the video or apologize before word gets out, and the potential for public humiliation disappears.

She probably would have been incredibly grateful to you. Don’t get pissed off next time- think about what you can do to be useful. Also, for the record, I too am an aquarium person and would have been very upset had I seen this.. Edit: thanks for the awards!

slydog4100 −  ESH. Never lead with the insult, no matter how justifiable it is. Explaining facts without launching with the d**bass part might have actually given her pause to consider her actions in the future. Instead you insulted her which threw up a wall and no matter how accurate your statement on her actions,

no facts will get through. She sucks for all the obvious reasons. And the school, too, sucks if they’re going to suspend you for not apologizing while also not actually educating their students well enough to understand this sort of “Activism” does more harm than good.

bamf1701 −  ESH. Factually, you are 100% correct and your classmates did nothing to help those animals. On the other hand, the way you told them that pretty much guaranteed that they wouldn’t listen to what you said or have any chance of being convinced. Your heart may be in the right place, but your mouth is so very much in the wrong place.

StinkyJane −  YTA. In the words of Lebowski, “You’re not wrong, Walter. You’re just an a**hole.” Being factually correct (which you were) doesn’t mean you behaved correctly (you didn’t). You inserted yourself into a conversation that didn’t involve you for the express purpose of belittling and degrading someone else.

You can gently correct someone’s incorrect understanding without hurling invective at them and going out of your way to make them feel small. Edited to add: I just wanted to clarify, it *is* important for this girl to know that she shouldn’t do this in the future.

But you can’t come in hot to a conversation that doesn’t involve you and start berating someone like this. (It would be different if the girl was bragging/laughing about intentionally torturing goldfish, but she was acting out of ignorance, not malice.) Pulling her quietly to the side to let her know this isn’t a good idea,

or even very gently correcting her in front of the others would have been the right approach here, and likely would have produced better results. Learning kindness and diplomacy now will take you far in life.

lkvwfurry −  ESH, you are correct but you handled it poorly.