Effective student-teacher relationships lead to positive behavioral development of students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the influence of student-teacher relationships on the passive-aggressive behavior of students. A phenomenological research design was used to observe the classroom phenomena of two private sector schools that willingly agreed to participate in the study. Notes taken from twelve scheduled classroom observations, seven follow up interviews of selective students, and five teachers were used as sources of data. Data were audio recorded, transcribed, and an iterative process was employed to code responses in NVivo 10 which merged into some themes and sub-themes. The findings uncover several important ways in which student-teacher relationships might influence the passive-aggressive behavior of students in the classroom. It was revealed that the passive-aggressive behavior of students was driven by the fact that students were mainly dependent on teachers, disliked teachers' authority, lacked self-confidence, and wanted to avoid responsibility without confronting the teacher. While more warm, friendly, and welcoming behavior from teachers can ameliorate students' passive aggressive behavior, strict teacher behavior has the opposite effect exacerbating passive-aggressive behavioral issues among students. Traditional teaching should evolve with interactive pedagogies to develop interest, positive behaviors, and active learners.