Weaskedmembers of theBuzzFeed Communitywho work as teachers to tell us about their worst encounters with parents.
Unsurprisingly, the stories were completely infuriating.
Here’s what people shared:
1.
“I teach high school math.
She expected me to get everything graded while teaching and planning all day.
She threatened to go talk to the principal about this.”
Anonymous
2.
“First year teaching.
First day of parent conferences ever.
meganblair
3.
Obviously, the child had issues following basic instructions and rules.”
francesjoys
4.
“Im a librarian at an elementary school, not a teacher.
Ive had some REALLY annoying parent experiences, but this one takes the cake.
Two years ago, this mom tried to ban a quarter of the books in the library.
Thats not an exaggeration.
Almost all of those books were about POC and/or LGBTQ+ people.
moonlitrat
5.
“Preschool teacher here.
“There was a student who attempted to steal another student’s brand-new iPhone.
Her parent went ballistic afterwards, not because her sticky-fingered daughter stole the phone.
According to mom, Sticky Fingers did not feel safe.
Her mom threatened to sue.
Nothing was done about the theft, and the aforementioned sticky-fingered student was allowed to return to the school.
“English teacher here.
‘So what did I do?’
‘You yelled at her!
‘No, I didn’t.
I was just asking her to pay attention and have a go at answer!’
‘NOOO, my little girl would never lie to me!
You BULLIED my poor little girl!'”
But, this mother kept saying how I bullied her POOR LITTLE GIRL.
Poor, poor baby girl.
The girl was 15!!!!!”
mudda8139
9.
“I worked in the special needs department of a high school.
My son comes through here, so I can, too.
Ill be, like, three minutes, anyway.
Im just picking him up.’
I would like to make it clear that the student being picked up was okay.
He was not leaving early because he was sick or anything.
We all told my boss to sue her or something for her doing that.
My boss was afraid of causing drama because they went to the same church.”
“I taught high school math.
I had a student in the back of the classroom being very distracting to others.
I moved her to the front for the remainder of that class period so everyone could pay attention better.
“I moved to a new state after six years as an elementary school principal.
I’m a big believer in contacting parents.
First day on the new job, I called a parent of a misbehaving child.
I had just introduced myself when the parent interrupted and said, ‘Mr.
Principal, let me stop you right there.
I have to put up with him for 15 hours a day.
When hes there, hes your problem.'”
“As a high school drawing teacher, I believed a student had traced a picture.
But, I knew how the game was played, and I gave her a low A.
My mistake was questioning the student.
I asked him what he wanted me to do, raise her grade?
No, he said, ‘I want you to believe that she didnt trace it.’
There was no way I was going to believe something that I didnt believe.”
cornygoat29
13.
“Parents who are in denial will waste your time and ruin your sanity.
I have worked in special education.
Parents put tremendous stress on teachers because we cannot cure or fix their child.
Some principals and administrators think teachers can bridge all these gaps.
COVID brought more problems and changes.
Technology and 24-hour access has ruined education.
Parents think you should cater to their needs.
Sometimes it has nothing to do with the children.
You are never rewarded for being an expert in your field.
Administrators just use you to meet their needs.
The only people who suffer are teachers and students.
It is getting worse.
Kids are probably less educated and morally blocked.”
janenecampbell1
14.
I had a student copy another’s design almost completely.
When the copied piece was turned in, I gave it a 0 for plagiarism.
So disappointing the example these parents set for their child.”
“I teach high school math.
During a parent-teacher conference, a mother came in heated.
She said she was mad I didnt respond to her email about her son.
I apologized and replied that I didnt remember seeing the email come through.
She whipped her phone out to prove me wrong.
When she found the email, she started yelling at her son.
He had told her a different teacher’s name, so I did not receive the email.
They left without an apology.”
I had a conference with the students father, the principal, and the student about the incident.
The student told us that he found the stick and was showing it to other students.
His father turned to me and said, ‘See?
He was doing you a favor and should be commended for it.’
“I had a fourth grade student constantly getting in verbal fights with other students.
I had spoken to the mom about it multiple times with little success.
One day, a fight turned physical (we broke it up).
You expect me to talk to them about it, and its ruining my relationship with them.’
LADY, ITS YOUR CHILD.
Policy is I have to tell you, and you should want to know.
This was one of the incidents that pushed me to leave the job.
PS: Pay teachers more, c’mon.”
One day, I overheard the kid tell his friend that his mom did all his homework.”
A student’s father called asking if it was true and asking if it was mandatory.
I said yes, all assemblies were mandatory at our middle school.
I told him he was being inappropriate and said he should talk to the principal.
I left teaching about 18 months after that happened.
Parents are the worst part about teaching.”
notjoshselig
22.
“I taught preschool.
I had a parent email me saying I was deliberately excluding their child from activities outside of school.
“My director wrote back, admitting it was her fault.
The parent just said, ‘Oh, okay,’ and that was the end of it.
dmcrowe12
23.
When I taught sixth grade, I had a student who told constant lies to adults about her actions.
The boy had bruises all over his back from her.
This mother didnt even care when I tried to explain what really happened.
It was a very difficult battle all year.
packofdogs
24.
Her daughter had a 20% attendance rate.
I was like, ‘Madam, how will she know?'”
Turns out she had been attending daily dance practice for the entire month.”
“I caught a student with an 8.5x11 typed ‘cheat sheet’ during a test.
So, therefore, he didnt.”
“I had a parent file a false police report claiming I physically assaulted her child.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
