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.

Eurgh!

One of my teachers told me that when she was newly qualified and in her first few days working in a girls' school (presumably one without a uniform) she was pottering about in her classroom during break and an older member of staff came in and demanded to know why she wasn't outside with the other girls.

Agreed 👍

DS has his first residential trip next week at an outward bound type place 15 mins away, a few parents asked to stay on site and were told no. They want to go for a ‘dog walk’ in the woods to see what they are up to.

I airtagged DS’s blazer because they are £80 new and primary school children tend to lose stuff. It also stops some of the delightful parents keeping it for themselves (some admit that if their DC come home with another child’s blazer they keep hold of it until they find their one so that their child doesn’t suffer…selfish doesn’t even begin to cover it). So if he goes on a school trip he’s got an AirTag but it’s accidental rather than me not trusting the teachers.

When I was a governor I had parents make complaints that another parent looked at them funny in the supermarket at the weekend. I had to explain that there was very little I could do about that.

As a governor, I had a parent complain that another parent racially abused them in the playground (police involved). The parent accused the HT of being racist herself as a white woman- HT was black and wearing a headscarf as a practising Muslim woman.

Laughing at the ski lift one! 😂 But I can’t believe someone who is clearly so not laidback would let their child go on a skiing school trip! I’d be really anxious about my DC going on one because I’m slightly unhinged myself! 🙈

Back in the 80s/90s, I was a primary school teacher doing annual residential trips and we never had parents trying to join us or stalk their children. There weren't any mobile phone issues because no children had them. They'd say they were looking forward to a week's respite and cheerfully wave us off on the coach! Parents used to give us bottle of wine to take with us 'for the evenings'.

One year, on the first day, an 8 yr old girl tripped over a tree root and broke her leg. She was back the following morning in a plaster cast and wheelchair, which the other children took turns to push around!

One year, we took a group of 11 year olds wild camping on Exmoor. No toilets or showers (we dug a hole and put a canvas screen around it). Washed and swam in the fast flowing, freezing cold river. Food was very basic (lots of baked beans!) One day while hiking, the fog came down so we had to put them in single line and tie them together with ropes. We also did a couple of midnight walks in the woods, which they loved.

I feel sorry for the children these days whose parents wouldn't allow them to experience discomfort or a bit of rough living.

Not a teacher but some experience with other parents.

One child’s parents split up. Dad never came to pick the child up even when they were together but as soon as they split up decided he wanted to start. Turned up one day to do that and got aggressive, Mum stayed calmly delivered a devastating head butt and knocked him clean out,

Two sisters brought their children to the school, no issues until it turned out that unknown to one sister both children had the same father. Big fight in the playground.

This is a really old one… my Grandma was told off ( and yes caned by the teacher -but this was in about 1916 ) for putting fire crackers through their letter box! She went home and complained to her dad - who marched straight up to school and threatened the teacher with his fists. Difficult parent have always been a thing 😩

I kid you not, her daughter was only allowed to go go because mine was. Mine has this reputation, well deserved, for being responsible and, when the chips are down, dealing with a crisis. But she did find it hard letting her go!

Love a mum scrap!

It’s a bit off topic but I always find that really annoying. If the child misbehaves or gets into bother, is the well behaved child expected to put things right?

I agree. But in this instance this girl is lively and not bother but has a habit of wandering in the wrong direction and has minimal real life skills. They’re trying to teach her!

@Twilightstarbright

When I was a governor I had parents make complaints that another parent looked at them funny in the supermarket at the weekend. I had to explain that there was very little I could do about that.

As a Scottish Faculty Head, I once got a written complaint from a parent that one of my English teachers had looked at her "in an unfriendly way".

We had a mare in one school I worked in when a man moved back to the area with his family.

In our school we had his children from two relationships already. The Mums had already requested the children be kept apart as much as possible as they hated each other (one was his partner and the other his affair partner) and the children were all similar in age.

Then he arrived back with his partner and children and all the adults wanted these children kept apart.

The kids that were his from previous relationships didn't see him and didn't know they were his.
Kids from current relationship were under the impression he was their father, but he actually wasn't.

Absolute cluster fuck.

We used to get similar in a school where I worked many years ago, @travellinglighter @ARichtGoodDram .

The one that stands out is the poor lad who changed address after the summer hols. Apparently, the resemblance to the man next door had become unmistakeable...and the boy was shunted next door to live with his biological father and his wife.

In one school, we had several different family groups all with the same father. There were at least 6 different mothers, but the children all had the dad's surname. Apparently, he used to sell interesting substances.

Then there was another child who changed his surname halfway through the school year - he'd just found out the father mentioned above was also his father.

I once had a show and tell session where a little kid proudly showed photos of his new dad. ('Dad' had moved in over the weekend and Mum sent in photos for show and tell.)
'Dad' was the biological father of another little one in the class whose Dad had 'disappeared' the week before.
Thankfully, the kid wasn't in for show and tell as he was doing a group with another adult.
But seriously, how nasty of that Mum to send in photos knowing his bio kid was in the class??

That's happened to me a lot. I had a colleague regularly fail to recognise me and tried to send me out of the break time detention I was holding for some particularly silly year 8s.
And she wondered why my 5 year 8 classes were such hard work for me... maybe regularly undermining me may have been a factor? 🤦‍♀️

I very quickly learned never to wear white tops to work.

It happened elsewhere but less frequently and with a bit more grace.

Unbelievable!

I worked with an infants class years ago, and we were talking about things that make us feel sad. One little boy said: " I was sad yesterday because Mummy got cross with me because I let the weed man in!"

Seeing PP’s experiences with children from multiple relationships who can’t be together etc is sadly very common in some areas, I have a friend who teaches at a secondary school where fights and verbal disagreements between children and their various parents are common and often escalated on social media which then carries over into school.

We had a parent complaining because her police officer husband had left her for another police officer...who had come into the school to give the kids a talk on road safety.

that is appalling and they wonder why people don't wanna teach.. there is not enough incentive, money or anything else that would ever make me want to be a teacher you're all nuts saints, and I work in care so have different difficult adults to work with.

I'm amazed that an assault didn't warrant police attention. Doesn't matter what the reason is, it was still an assault.

Reading this thread makes me realise that some of the youth of today are off the rails and it's the parents fault.

not really, it impacts on the whole of society when they grow up and still have weight issues. My daughter's friend they were both 12 was diagnosed with NAFLD. It shouldn't be called shaming but these people clearly need support to learn about nutrition/cooking etc. Including on a small budget.

Never mind the kids, reading this thread makes me think that some of the parents of today are off the rails!