I have had a recurring nightmare about being back in high school. I don't know why anyone would want to go back.

"The students teased her and told her she looked 30, when in fact they were incorrect. She was actually 32." 🤣. Dr Grande is off the hook. LOL.

"Her appearance is caused by a genetic condition." Yeah. It's called aging.

So 13yr old students thought the story didn’t add up, but 2 adults giving her a place to stay didn’t seem alarmed? Hmmmm

She was pretending to be 13 but drove a car to school and even THAT wasn't enough? Oh my gosh.

Having to hang out with seventh graders all day would drive me to the brink

She was teased, students saying she looked 30 . . . "The students, of course, were incorrect, she was actually 32". Your penchant for dry humor never ceases to amaze . . .

The scariest part is that she was well educated with a mastered degree?? And was a school counselor. This is why we can never judge a book by its cover. People are CRAZY.

What is the idea of pretending to be 13 when you're an adult? I WOULD NOT want to go back to that part of my life if you gave me a billion dollars.

DCF hiring people like this makes me understand why they are so incompetent

Crazy how they tried to gaslight the kids who knew she wasn't their age by acting like "stop being mean, you guys! She has a genetic condition and she's very sensitive :(

If she had pretended to be in grade 10 instead of seventh grade she might have got away with it

People thought a 30-year-old woman was 13? Her skincare routine must be immaculate.

This does not make sense to me at all! She has a masters degree, a state full-time job, and an inheritance, and she goes back to high school? My brain hurts.😢

A registered Social Worker with a Masters degree ... yet she invited a client into her home ? Her understanding of professional boundaries and ethical behaviour was abysmal ffs

I think I'll throw a "Now moving to my final thoughts" into every conversation from now on.

School staff: Why is that kid's car nicer than mine?

😂 the children had more intelligence than their educators.

Uuuuugh middle school. If there is a hell, it's all of us waking up in an eternal middle school.

We can be judged for judging others yet mocked for not trusting our gut feelings about something.

So the kids recognized she was older but none of the adults did?

Who'd even want to go back to 7th grade? As i recall, it wasn't all that much fun the first time around.

“The students teased her and said she looks like she’s 30. They were of course incorrect. Shelby was actually at that time 32.” I subscribed immediately 😅

I'm 73 years old but could probably get away with claiming to be 72.

I would have falsified my identity to get OUT of high school.

Going back to college would be fun. Going back to high school? No.

Kids seem to have an intuition when something is 'wrong' with someone who is interacting with them---hunches when someone seems 'pervy' or unsafe to them, or someone not being truthful....

there’s not enough money on this planet that could send me back to grade 7.

I bet lots of people could tell she was older, but didn’t want to offend her by bringing it up.

Well, that's enough internet for me today 😮. Off to the garden to plant azaleas it is, then.

I work at a school with an age range up to grade 12. In my opinion, she clearly looks physically different than any teen I’ve seen. How the adult staff and guidance counselors are unable to see that she’s not a teen is flabbergasting.

Kind of weird for the therapist at the facility took home a (to her knowledge) trafficking victim to her husband and their apartment…

If I had inherited a million dollars when I was young and single, I certainly wouldn’t go back to my school days. I attended five high schools, four of them in two years (due to family issues and moving a lot). I also attended five elementary schools and one junior high (7-9). I have zero desire to return to those days.

A social worker?! This is....disturbing.

It's frustrating to see so many comments saying some variation of "why would she do this!?" While Dr. Grande does bring up the possibility of personality disorders (she was never tested or diagnosed), the reality is she is absolutely suffering from serious mental health issues because of a traumatic childhood. Her parents failed to prepare her for the responsibilities of adult life, leaving her unable to navigate the inevitable stress of making her own way in the world, and so she reverted (mentally first then literally) back to a time when her life was more structured and she had less responsibility. While I feel sad for her I want to broaden the conversation out to the larger American society, because there are MANY people that struggle with adult life because they didn't have good models for adult living when they were young. Their parents are abusive and neglectful, emotionally immature and irresponsible in many different ways. While Shelby's case was extreme, I would guess that most Americans long for the structure of grade school. Our society has failed to provide adequate models for living throughout adult life, and many people don't get the teaching and modeling they need in childhood to know *how* to be an adult. Their bodies are grown up but they're still children inside. They then go on to have children of their own, repeating the cycle and passing the trauma onto the next generation. Shelby's parents were themselves children in some way. And again, most of us were raised by adult children that don't teach us how to regulate our emotions or meet our own needs. This is what has to be recognized and confronted if we want to help people like Shelby become productive members of society, instead of perpetual teenagers.

There's something discomforting about a licensed social worker with a Masters Degree taking in what they believe to be a minor without following the proper procedure.

i used to have this nightmare ... in it, i'm a grown man with a career and family and my high school principal knocks on my door and tells me that i didn't finish high school... at first, i feel cool about it cause high school was fun for me and i think i get to do it all again... cool right?... but then when i get there and hanging out with the kids in class, i , then i realize that i'm a grown man hanging out with kids... it's a nightmare... the moral, i suppose, is to study hard and enshrine that diploma and if you see your principal knocking at your door ... don't answer it....

You just said exactly what my conclusion was, Dr. Grande, she had such a lousy life as a 13 and 16yo, she wanted to reconstrut it to make it right, and she was a "social worker" to help others. I feel sadness with this case, who knows how her mind perceived her life at the *actual* ages of 13 and 16... Thank you Dr. G!

She didn't hurt anyone. Why are we investigating this case?? I'll give her a A+ for effort. Lot of trouble she went to, to pull this off. You go girl.

You couldn't pay me enough to go back to school I've already done. I work with a few high schoolers now, and any time they mention what homework they have, I say "I definitely don't miss high school."

As wacky as this woman's behavior is she's actually wildly creative determined and imaginative. It's alarming how many people she fooled. This is most def NETFLIX material. Thank u, Dr G.

Something similar happened in Fairfax , VA in the year 2000. A 27 y/o man made fake Dreamworks documents, posed as Steven Spielberg’s nephew, “Jonathan Taylor Spielberg,” and enrolled in a Catholic high school for some time. No one asked any questions. It was quite the scandal.

Posing as a middle school student when in your 30s is absolutely insane.

My goodness, what a bizarre tale! And while I generally enjoy Todd's story-telling, I feel there are a few holes in this reconstruction of events. So Shelby was living with "foster parents" while doing all of this school-swapping, as well as maintaining a full-time job as a social service worker? How could the couple not know something strange was going on, especially when she "time-travelled" not once, but twice, from 13 to 16 to 13 again? Also, I would have liked more discussion as to possible motive, because this just begs the question, "WHY???" I'm left wishing that the story was longer, and supplied more detail as to how exactly she carried out this deception and was able to get away with it. Not that I want to follow in her footsteps lol. Like many other commenters, high school is the LAST place I'd want to go, if I could time travel, but still....I'm left feeling rather unsatisfied and confused. "Curiouser and curiouser...."

Nice to see a case that doesn't involve a hideous crime. This one did relatively little harm to anyone but it's remarkable the amount of effort Shelby put into this scheme with a weak or unclear motive..

Reminds me of the Twilight franchise: superpowered young-adult looking immortals that perpetually attend highschool for some reason.

I hated school but part of me wonders if I'd go back in time, knowing what I know now and do it differently and erase the trauma of it...chances are I'd just embarrass myself in new ways though.

I’m a social worker of 15yrs. Thank you for making clear that she had no social work training or credentials. THIS is why title protection is SO important. This whole situation and her struggles are quite unfortunate.

As a retired LCSW Social Worker, educated in that field, this sickens me. I can only imagine she was hired with no background check. That seems incredible.

School was tough enough first time round.....

Weird weird weird. Hanging around with 13 year old sounds like the worst day ever

As a person who tries to help honest in most of my life, I can’t help but feel that we are living in a age of liars. The truth will set you free people, and it so much easier to keep your story straight when you tell the truth

Dr. Grande is the hardest working man on KZfaq!

Weird, I got kicked out of obedience school almost immediately. Took only a few minutes to realize I wasn't really a dog. Some people on the internet take longer than that to figure it out.

I've had nightmares where I'm adult and am back in high school. Not because of bullying or threats, but because it was just so boring and required so much class-work and home-work.

In Scotland a man went back to school to pass exams to get in to medical school to be a Doctor.

I have this as a reoccurring dream. I’m always back in high school and remembering it doesn’t matter cause I’ve graduated college so I skip a bunch of classes.

So strange. She had a job but stopped going to work so she could do school AGAIN.

I had a housemate named Shelby. She was a pathological liar. She promised a couple her baby and took payments, housing and food from them, then reneged after three months. She stole from me, lied about having a job, and and and. Sh stayed with me 2 months. Very scary person.

she wanted to have a family, so she went back to HS? she had a job, creating identities, going back to HS, why not just go out on dates? that seems like an easier way to have a family.

Your type of humor is so funny. The delivery is even better.

What interests me is how did she get along with her class mates? Was she an outsider? How could she stand hanging out with 13-year-olds?

Normal person inherits a million dollars: i'm going to disneyland! Crazy person inherits a million dollars: i'm going back to high school!

High and middle school worst years of my life!!! Would never want to relive it from a student’s POV! 🤦🏽‍♀️

I don’t get it. There are obvious differences in a child than an adult that age. I’ve always looked younger for my age but I never get mistaken for a child. People must not pay attention or something

Chronic liars often use lying to remove themselves from a past that torments them. The lying feels good and even opens doors of opportunity, so like a drug, it becomes habitual.

All that money at 30 years old.... and chooses to go to high school

High school was the worst time in my life.

I used to have nightmares of being back in High School. It would either be me at my locker and not remembering my code to open the locker and freaking out or I would be at the end of the lunch line and forget my lunch code. I do NOT want to repeat any portion of my school days.

Sad part is she got away with it. I hold BSW and worked Child Protective Services. One very big problem with Social Work is, government will hire ANYONE as a Social Worker! NASW has done NOTHING to fix this. Until this done ,no one will take Social Work seriously. She was a very sick person and should have never been able to get this far along in her lies.

If I wanted to pretend to go back to school, I'd choose kindergarten. No homework, and naptime. Though, I think it would be a bit hard to pull it off at 65. Oh, damn ... I'm retired, everyday is naptime 😀

Teacher: I notice your history grades are dropping. 13 year old: Let's talk about your retirement portfolio. How do you afford that Tesla out there on a teacher's salary?😂

She must have been traumatized during this time in her life and is trying to relive it, or correct it. It’s sad she definitely needs counseling.

And if a guy had done this, he would have been seen immediately as a predator, among other things.

Some people are just insane, and we have to stop making excuses for them, and deal with the situation as it is. Ms. Hewitt has mental issues, and needs help. Why that govt agency hired her is beyond belief.

Ok! Ok! 6:25 "Shelby was not motivated to learn anything in school....she was doing a pretty good job of impersonating a typical high school student." ROFL! Well done, Dr. G! It's why we love to listen to your analysis...best wishes from Florida.

I can't understand why somebody would want to do this.Thank you doctor😮

There's lots of comments questioning why someone would want to go back to high school, yet the reason seams obvious to me. As someone who was a loser in junior high & high school, I understand the temptation to want to go back & rewrite history & change who I was. I'm sane enough to know that moving forward is my only option, but I still get it.

This reminds me: in 21 Jump street or Beverly Hills 90210 everyone in high school looked 30 AND WAS 30! We all just suspended disbelief

When i was 30 i was asked for ID when going to a club or pub. There was a club frequented by young students, i was moonlighting as a cocktail waitress and working in a bank by day, a weekend job. I became friendly with some of the patrons, one of the giys asked me if i would like to come party and stay at his parents house for the weekend as they were going away, he wouldn't believe me that i had my own flat, car a mother of a 4 year old, or my age. Was fun being in that environment as i had a grim childhood, and was my mothers slave girl. I didn't really want to grow up on many levels, and had a baby face so i fitted in..

I am a mom and I would had lost it if I find out that there is a grown adult in my kid's class. Those institutions that didn't pick up on this right away have a lot of explaining to do! Like how does anyone let this happen?!

I so appreciate you making the distinction between job title and actual credentials of the employee

WOW, I would never want to be 13 years old and stuck at school at the age of 30. Clearly, this is beyond bizarre.

I was told that my comment here would generate an interesting dialogue.

If I was running a non-violent yet successful criminal enterprise, I'd hire her immediately. She could easily fill three openings.

Im lost, why would someone pretend to be a teenager again and go to school, what benefits are there doing that,i dont get it

This makes us so uncomfortable, especially the parents out there, because it proves there’s very little stopping full adults from getting dangerously close to your children. Granted teens have more critical thinking on average than a middle school child… but this tactic could be so heinous in the hands of a predator

I have a step daughter, she is 40 now but could actually pass as a 25 year, she is a special agent for the ABC in Va. and will often bust tellers not asking for id,s 🤣 but usually investigates drunk related crimes when they occur at bars. As you can expect she has a hard time getting the respect a 40 year old would.

Hard to believe anyone could have fallen for her being 13

This is sad, in a way. Seems she just wanted to “belong” but just didn’t know how

There was a sex scandal in my highschool. The principal was pork'n everything. Kids, female teachers, security guards. When they came to arrest him there was a big'ol ruckus

Couldn’t she pretend to be a 17-year-old student? 13 was pushing too far… and how did she buy the two-store house with cash??!

I spent some time around a pathological liar during an extended stay at a large Victorian building, I had been detained by spoilsports. I got the impression that she didnt really care whether people believed her tales which were outrageous in nature, it seemed like she just liked hearing herself saying these things. One evening she claimed she was getting ready to be picked up to perform at a big concert venue, later that night she was asked why she was still on the ward, she just shrugged, adopted a blasé expression and dismissively twirled her hand as if to say "who cares?"

If enrolling in a school and pretending to be 13 was all she did, then 14 years in prison is ridiculous when serial rapists and pedophiles get community service and no jail or suspended sentences.

This is a crazy sequence of events to pretend to be a child. Like a social experiment that she completely lost track of.

I really appreciate how Dr grande takes very serious topics and makes it thoroughly enjoyable to learn from. Absolutely love his sense of humor very intelligent witty and fun

Maybe she took "adulting is a scam" literally, and I feel her 100%

Some people get stuck early in their childhood, psychological trauma combined with a mild cognitive disability? The older someone like that gets, the more their life as an adult would become overwhelming and unfulfilling. Both the desire to live in the therapist's house and the fact that she must have been extremely happy with the challenges of a 13-year-old girl give me the impression that she was trying to build a fantasy world for herself in which she could emotionally function.

A Social Worker, someone who graduated College, yet has the intellect of a 13 years old.

Hmm, I wonder if the adults at English High School ever apologized to the kids who recognized her true age?