To start this thread about teacher's experiences of OTT parents as there are frequent posts by parents about teachers!

[Mammajay]

I was in my class with a group of students when the door opened and in stepped an angry parent with an Alsatian dog pulling on the lead. The mum was demanding I returned her 12 year old daughter's radio which I had confiscated the day before due to her disturbing the lesson with it. I wanted to tell the mum to p... off but being a professional, I carefully removed it from my desk, returned it to the mother and asked her to ensure it was kept at home in future. That girl dropped out of school later. In the majority of cases, parents need to support teachers who are trying to maintain discipline so that they can teach and students can learn. Other teachers' examples of OTT parents???

My biggest irritation is parents who believe the bare faced lies their children tell them and phone to complain before actually checking out their story. Wasting time every week with 'he swears he did his homework...' etc

I'm not a teacher but it's sad how many parents are rude to teachers when you are the ones who look after and care for their children for 6 hours a day. I wouldn't dream of being rude to my sons teacher!

Despite all this I still love my job. It would be so much easier if I could get rid of unsupportive parents, pointless admin and child poverty. A big ask I know.

We had a bake sale at Christmas, all baked goods to be supplied by parents and staff. We have 3 children with disease so i and 2 other teachers made sure we got some free from things that they could have, all individually packed things so no cross contamination. i told the 3 children there would be suitable food so they weren't left out.
When the parents came to pick the children up i had the mother of 1 of the children come up and scream in my face, calling me a tonne of horrid names, about her poor child who had been singled out because of her disability...apparently i should have purchased more of a variety for the 3 kids, said child didn't like the 6 choices she had been offered. and the parent didst think she should provide anything for the bake sale as buying things like that cost her too much and she couldn't stand it so didn't want to waste her money..

@Maldives2006 Cases of MBPS were less than 0.5 per 100,000 in 1994. By 2000 the number had risen to

New end of year tradition right there...COTY cup...thank you!!

Not a teacher but work in a school. Part of my role is locking the gates, you know to keep the little cherubs safe.
There are 8 gates. (school grounds are masive, entrances on 4 different streets) Gates open at 7.30. Doors open 8.50-9. Gates close at 9.15-20 apart from the front entrance. At 9.15 everyday i am called every name under the sun. How dare i lock the side gates because they were not there on time. Now they have to walk around (in fairness its quite a fair way to the front entrance due to the layout of the school and surrounding streets). Can't i just let them through, no i have locked the gates on the other side meaning you will be trapped on the playground unless i walk all the way back with you, then back again to let you out. I still have other gates to lock and a job to do! have even been abused because it takes 5 mins between the first and last gate being locked, (i cant fecking teleport) one of the darlings could escape ir a mad man might get in.
Been called a cunt and spat at for asking a parent to take her dog off the grounds. (Dog cost 6k i'm not chaining it up outside it will be stolen.....)
Had a complaint put in against me and accused of calling the same woman a cunt for asking again for her to not to bring dog on to premisis. (Had 100s of witnesses so that didn't go anywhere). Had stones and bottles thrown at me by a parent (known substance abuser) because i asked her 16yr old to not play on the foundation stage equiptment- no asd etc. Just following in her mums footsteps. Which they then promptly broke.
Been accused of hs breach by a parent when a cubicle door "fell" on her child. Her 7yr old weighed 8st she and her friend thought it was fun to climb up and straddle the cubicle doors and swing on them. Unfortunately a cubicle door is not designed to take that weight and buckled at the top hinge and she fell off. But i personally nearly gave her child brain damage!

I think some people need their head examined, they have lost lots of respect for teachers police medical staff, it is almost like they get confused between a duty of care and a servant who they expect to get this service from without any gratitude or respect.
Coming out with I pay your wages with my taxes.
I know some people have genuinely issues with a teacher, but most of them are silly.
To all the teachers on the thread, I hope you all have a fabulous summer to release all the stress of the parents.

I had one in today saying I was a disgrace because her I wouldn't excuse dd from P.E when on her period. I didn't bloody know

I take my hat off to all of you. I couldn't teach. I coached my daughter's volleyball team for 12 weeks and that was enough. I had to speak to a couple of girls about their attitude and told one of them (the ringleader as such) that she needed to speak less and listen more. That was translated to the parents as "Coach Omafiet told me to shut my fucking mouth." And the parents (three separate sets) believed them.

Never again.

Ostend? This could be Rotterdam or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome....

@Maldives2006

You're missing a question mark and it's practising not practicing.

S for a verb, c for the noun.

HTH.

I'm not justifying parents or children being rude that’s unacceptable but teaching has become a profession that seems to be above critical feedback and reflection

Hahahahaha. Yes, teachers are definitely not scrutinised all the bloody time.

I've actually not got many stories of parental unreasonableness, in spite of many years in teaching. The physical brawl between two mothers in the playground over their daughters' falling-out was a memorable one though. Most of the ones I've been shocked by are posts by parents on MN tbh.

HRTFT because I didn't make it past
A Dad this time, waiting on a leavers assembly knocked on my classroom door (nearest to the hall) and asked where the cafe was. I said there wasn't one and he asked me to make him a coffee! When I said no, I was teaching he huffed and puffed. When I saw him in the hall 20 mins later for leavers assembly he was dramatically telling some other parents how rude I had been.

You're a woman, would it have been so difficult to make him a simple cup of coffee for goodness sake?

The story about the mum lying in front of the prom coach and the parent saying the teachers should strike in the school holidays made me

I had a colleague (also a parent) who threatened to report me to the governors for in his words 'pedalling pornography.' I was showing Polanski's Macbeth to Y10.
I also had a parent who reported me (as Head of Y11) because I was biased as all the students I had excluded were taller than me (I am 5 foot 1).

Hightism, innit.

I’m another teacher who has been labelled a disgrace and a danger to children’s mental health over the most pifflingly ridiculous issues.

Luckily I’ve been in this game long enough to know that it says more about the parent than my actual teaching or actions. I’ve made sure to openly discuss these sorts of complaints in front of new teachers so that when they are on the receiving end of this sort of overblown crap, they know it’s par for the course and hopefully they’ll be able to brush it off more easily.

As an administrator I witnessed amazing behaviour - a parent shouting and screaming because a child had been asked to redo a piece of very poor homework, threats to office staff because a mother whose son had forgotten his football boots didn't like that he wasn't given them instantly, interrupting a lesson (they had been handed to him at break) a teacher sworn at because she wouldn't look for a missing school jumper while the child stood and waited for her to find it - I could go on. I'm so glad I don't teach!

Hightism!! i am sure its a thing now.

Not teaching anymore, but my most OTT parent still makes me smile.

Teaching an infant class, end of the day, reading a story. It was summer term and hot, so the door to the playground where parents were waiting was open.

One parent comes in and sits down on a chair at the back. It's a slightly weird thing to do, but we're two minutes from the bell, so I let it go.

Just finishing up and asking my class of 6yr olds a few basic questions when parent's hand shoots up. I ignore it. I ask another question. Parent's hand shoots up again, this time accompanied by slight bouncing. Rinse and repeat a third time. I decide it must be very urgent.

"Yes Mrs Jones, how can I help you? Is it a question that can wait until we've finished?"

"Oh, no! I just wanted to tell you the answer!"

Refusing to write names on anything and then losing their shit when jumpers get lost. Arriving after the register closes and getting annoyed about having to take the child to the office to get registered. Refusing to believe me when I tell them their child has misbehaved and saying "he's never done that before" well, there's a first time for everything! At the
moment we are trying to work out how to communicate what school can and cannot be expected to do as parents don't seem to understand why we can't, for example, phone parents with important information because they can't be expected to read the newsletter.

Leaving aside the issue of how to deal with the parent, I'd be having a conversation with the head about how on earth she got as far as the classroom door - this is a serious safeguarding issue which can prevent parents from knowing their children are safe in school.

Not a teacher but PTA Chair
I had a parent ask me in all seriousness if joining the PTA would entitle her to a staff car park pass
I politely explained it didn’t
“Well, no point in joining then Is there?”