Teachers - tell me about your unhinged parent experiences.

[NC28]

Purely for entertainment purposes , of course.

Inspired by the thread about the teacher who got an email from a kids mum because the staff didn’t buy her daughter flowers after the school show…what other unhinged, entitled or downright crazy things have parents moaned about at your school?

Parents are fucking lunatics at times, so I hope you all have WhatsApp groups with your colleagues to laugh at them in your spare time.

Not a teacher but the parent.
My youngest attended a school a few towns away that had a specialist unit attached that tailored to his needs, I was away in Spain when I got the phone call from his teacher saying that my son was telling another child about the film called annibel that he watched the night before, i explained i was away and that i would phone my dh to find out what exactly happened,
Turns out youngest ds wouldn't stay in his room on his own so slept in our bed, I use the term sleep lightly as he doesn't sleep any way dh put on bugslife to watch and he fell asleep the film ended and Netflix came up with the main menu we think and our 8 year old decided to watch a horror movie on his own.
Called the school back spoke to his teacher and explained what had happened and it's basically the same as what our son had said only he went on to say that he didn't really recommend the film as it was boring in parts and the acting was really bad.

The school where I taught had a very good choir (still does) a select few Junior School boys joined early as trebles. They did a trip every summer (usually a week's cathedral residency) but one year we visited the USA. As well as teaching in the Junior School, I sang as an alto, also in the Chamber Choir, so I was the obvious choice for singer/JS chaperone. Some parents felt their JS sons were too young for an overseas trip; school holiday time, so no pressure either way, but one Dm dithered and fussed, eventually agreeing that we were sufficiently responsible to take him.
Obviously they had the itinerary, but when we checked into a New York hotel on the first evening, guess who was in the lobby?
He had been having the time of his life, being made much of by the VIth form girls, and was not overjoyed to see her.

Omigod!!!!!
😯😯😯😯😯😯

Was that a faith school? I don't expect you to give precise details in a public forum like this but do have recollections of something happening like that in a faith school near to me.

None of us know everything of course but, honestly, some people have absolutely no idea what their children are like at school.

I lived in Spain for a while, and they have some similarly wacky ideas about how colds are caught, and the severity of them 😂

😳😂 This is when I miss the laughing emoji! Brilliant 🤩

I was quite surprised last term when my year 9 son had cross country in PE. He’s not the biggest fan of it but he’s quite capable at it and has no health concerns like asthma so I told him to try his best and crack on. I later found out that about 10 girls who are very sporty netball players didn’t fancy it either and so all their parents wrote notes to say that will not be participating in the PE lesson because they didn’t want to. No health issues at all, just didn’t fancy running! Apparently the PE teacher was really annoyed but couldn’t do anything about it.

And it's not bossy to micromanage whether a child wears a cardigan?! How ridiculous 😂As long as the child isn't at risk of hyperthermia or heat stroke, they can make that decision for themselves.

This is my favourite so far, against strong competition.

I had an activity planned with a visitor. Said visitor got covid and cancelled. One parent complained that her child had been excluded from the activity and said it was disability discrimination and that I had excluded her because of her behaviour. Even went to a solicitor about it to push for court about it! Wouldn't reason that no child got the session! When her solicitor got the confirmation that it had been cancelled with evidence to prove it they suddenly backed down.

I’ve had a fair few unfortunately- one school allowed us to have contact from parents before and after school and a parent sent me a complaint that her child hadn’t been chosen to answer a question I’d asked in the day and as I didn’t reply promptly enough she reported me to the head for “laziness”

When pregnant with my first and got “evacuated home” same time as the children due to the summer 2022 heat got asked when I’d get my marking done as their child needed to know their score asap 🤪 and when I got pregnant with my second got told how it was such an inconvenience for my class as I was part time and would take time out for maternity appointments 🫣

Another time, at a different school parent was in a rage that her child told me he didn’t like RE and I continued to teach him it and explained the importance of learning about other religions and beliefs. She proceeded to tell the head that I waste learning time as I “get changed in front of the children” for PE… I used to change in the toilets on my lunch as per the school policy. Safe to say the policy changed for staff to come into school in their PE clothes as nobody needed that accusation.

One more- I told a child to act their age the once… he went home and refused to come in to school saying “she called me a baby I can’t go back in until she says sorry” the mother also asked me to apologise as it was a huge effort to get him to school. Neither were happy when I explained I couldn’t apologise as I stood by what I said and wasn’t being dictated to by a small child.

The joys of teaching 😅

Omg 😲 🤦‍♀️

Sorry that was for @Storynanny1

Bickybics if only every school had a HT like yours.

I agree with you on this.
Ive had some awful teacher and met a few as well.

I'm cringing!

I had a parent complain that I was bullying her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend because I would not change the whole class seating plan to allow the couple to sit next to one another. They were 8!

😆😂Yet another comment that desperately needs the laugh emoji!

This has made me laugh 🤣🤣

Not me but my SIL had a parent email her to complain that the children had behaved badly during a birthday party (at the weekend, not in school) and that it was the school’s job to make sure they behaved for the parents. Because the parents couldn’t possibly manage their own children.

I know a parent socially from my childrens school who made a formal complaint to the school as on a drizzly day her daughter (in Mary Jane type shoes) was told by a teacher at lunchtime not to splash in puddles outside as her feet would get wet. This parent was telling anyone who would listen about this.

Possibly identifying as I've told this one a few times to folk over the years, but I'm a teacher. The parents who've stuck in my mind from almost 20 years ago were the couple who waited one parents evening to see me. It was the end of the night, all my colleagues had gone, and when they told me their son's name I had to explain that I didn't teach him. They argued "but why would he have made an appointment with you?" and wouldn't accept my explanation that he hadn't, I'd never met him! His Mum then rang him, on the phone said "no it isn't, no she hasn't got blonde hair" etc, so very clearly their error. She hung up, they didn't once apologise and then asked "well can't you tell us how he's doing anyway?!"

I live in germany atm and teach english. I got a new year 5 class last summer (they start english in year 3) and after the first lesson a mother called to complain because i only spoke english to the students 🤷🏻‍♀️

I used to work in a day nursery. I was in the 2 year olds room, one child on his birthday had both parents come in with siblings, with all their presents so the child 'could open them with their friends' . The parents were confused that the other 12 or so two year olds wouldn't sit to watch the birthday child open all their gifts and got cross when the other children wanted to open and take presents for themselves. Absolutely batshit, still can't believe management let them.

I love this thread 😂 asking if we can keep a bottle of ketchup in our fridge for their lunch, can we give their 6 year old a bottle of milk at break (baby bottle), can we tell them when the fire alarm will go off as their child doesn’t like noise, they have a snotty nose so cannot go outside at all, i didn’t know which un-named jumper belonged to their child. The list feels endless!

Female. Although that may or may not be a barrier!