Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have initially been mortified but now a bit annoyed by call from school?

927 replies

8bitgame · 10/02/2021 11:22

I've named changed for this as it will be outing.

DS is 9. He is home schooling with lessons over Zoom.

This morning he had connection issues with Zoom - getting kicked out, camera freezing etc. I had to sign him back in a few times and he showed me that the video feed of his teacher kept freezing up and going very blocky. He commented that she looked like an 8 bit game - as in an old computer game where the graphics were pixel blocks.

About 30 minutes after his morning Zoom finished I get a call from the Head Teacher at the school. She is far from happy and it transpires that unbeknown to me DS had repeated his comment in the class discussion chat channel. He was saying he was having connection problems and then wrote "Miss X looks like an 8 bit game".

The teacher and then the Head have read this as him saying that Miss X looks like and 8 out of 10 and looks "a bit game".

I was mortified and explained this is of course not what he meant and that he was referring to the connection problems and the video feed being blocky and pixelated - like the graphics on an 8 bit game. Head was slightly mollified but still very stern and angry and I got a bit of a telling off. I apologised profusely and then had a chat with DS about not commenting on people's appearance and only using the group chat for stuff about work.

But now I've reflected I feel a bit put out as he hadn't really done anything wrong, he was commenting about his connection issues which were preventing him seeing the lesson and he's bloody 9 years old so who would read that in the way the school did??

AIBU to think it's a bit of a strange way to read that in that way and once they had the explanation maybe the tone could have changed a bit as he really hasn't done anything wrong?

I appreciate he could have found a better way to explain the connection issues and they might not be au fait with retro gaming but the only comms channel open to him was the chat feed he used and he's 9 so not always the best at explaining things.

When I told the Head he was having connection issues as were a lot of the class she said she didn't believe anyone else was (implying he was messing about and didn't have problems) WIBU to send a screenshot of the class discussion where several children were saying it had frozen and / or they had been kicked out and AIBU to think they've jumped to a bit of a conclusion here and gone a bit OTT especially by not backing down or changing the tone once it had been explained?

It feels like he's in a lot of trouble for something that is largely a misunderstanding on their part.

OP posts:
MistressoftheDarkSide · 10/02/2021 19:42

@Crackerofdoom I too think you've pretty much nailed why this whole situation is unfair to OP and her DS.

Hercules12 · 10/02/2021 19:42

Haven't read the thread but the op's ds did nothing wrong and the head should have apologised. It did make me lol though!

mathanxiety · 10/02/2021 19:45

@8bitgame, I think you need to refute what the school are accusing DS of in the strongest possible terms.

You need to be absolutely sure that none of this ever finds its way into any record associated with DS.

There is a serious reputation issue at stake here, and you need to set the record straight.

The silly attempt to deny that there are connection issues is another matter, but it bespeaks an attitude problem the school should be trying to correct in the interests of providing educational opportunities.

Students' comments on connection issues should be welcomed and encouraged, not batted away with denials. The school admin are seriously up themselves.

NasebohrenIstSchoen · 10/02/2021 19:48

Sounds like you handled it perfectly to me OP. One of my (secondary but only just!) students named themselves ‘Peter File’ on a website I was using today. A website that helpfully doesn’t have a ‘kick them out till they can behave themselves’ function-great! No misinterpreting that one! Sigh!

grassisjeweled · 10/02/2021 19:49

Omg Grin

A bit game

TheVelvetiser · 10/02/2021 19:52

@mathanxiety exactly that.

Stroppyshite · 10/02/2021 19:55

I wouldn't let this go actually. I would email both teacher and head and explain as you have here. It's up to you to defend him as he can't. They've clearly got carried away and the whole thing misconstrued. Don't be confrontational about it, but just explain. I feel quite sorry for DS at the injustice of at all.

2021namechanger · 10/02/2021 20:06

For those saying it was inappropriate- have you never said when a call is breaking up “you sound like a robot”?

Weird responses on this thread. Op I’d actually be pissed off that the head didn’t apologise actually.

SeasonFinale · 10/02/2021 20:09

What I find even more bonkers than the school's misunderstanding and mishandling of the matter is that 13 pages on there are still people saying that OP's son should not have been playing the fool or have been being rude. Jeepers! Grin

MrsBobDylan · 10/02/2021 20:16

I think it's funny, it would have had me laughing.

MrsBobDylan · 10/02/2021 20:17

Also 8/10? Just how good-looking is this teacher that she was disappointed with that?

Eckhart · 10/02/2021 20:19

@2021namechanger

For those saying it was inappropriate- have you never said when a call is breaking up “you sound like a robot”?

Weird responses on this thread. Op I’d actually be pissed off that the head didn’t apologise actually.

Deeply offensive comment to both robot and non-robot members of the community.
MedusasBadHairDay · 10/02/2021 20:54

Oh dear god, is this argument still going?? 😂

LolaSmiles · 10/02/2021 21:07

For those saying it was inappropriate- have you never said when a call is breaking up “you sound like a robot”?
What happened to me was even worse: a student commented that my face had frozen.
Can you believe the cheek of them! Not only were they making personal comments about my appearance, they sought to spread malicious rumours to their peers that my face had been exposed to sub zero temperatures.
Obviously I promptly reprimanded them and passed the situation onto my head teacher.

Grin (Jokes)
Backtoschool101 · 10/02/2021 21:07

Just asked my 7 year old what an 8 bit game is and he said like an old pixilated game... so yes many kids know this. But the teacher took that way out of proportion

Faultymain5 · 10/02/2021 23:38

[quote AStudyinPink]*@AStudyinPink he was talking on the class discussion group which is where they can ask their teacher about work or highlight any issues, such as IT issues they are having. This chat can been seen by the teacher, TA and all children in the class but the children are not allowed to chat to each other on it. It is for communication with the teacher.

He had posted that he was having connection issues and getting kicked out, then posted as a follow up "Miss X looks like an 8 bit game".

Therefore he was speaking to his teacher via the only method he has at his disposal to do this (he is 9 - he doesn't have an email account / mobile phone / bat signal).*

I get it, I think. The teacher he was describing and the teacher he was speaking to were different people?[/quote]
And your a secondary school teacher? I’ve avoided responding to everything you’ve said all day, but I came back for light relief and after several flounces you are still here? And still getting it wrong! Amazeballs!!! That’s referring to the level of astonishment, not a compliment, not wanting to confuse youConfused

HarrysWife · 10/02/2021 23:43

she clearly loves herself. i would screenshot it and send them a message asking her not to sexualise your childs comments. and that shes a 4 at best.

IsabelleSE19 · 10/02/2021 23:59

That's what you get for choosing Confessions of a Window Cleaner for family movie night, OP.

Seriously, though, I'd be pissed off too – for them to let this stupid misunderstanding get as far as the HT actually phoning you is ridiculous.

Faultymain5 · 11/02/2021 00:08

@SamLovesLembasBread

A gentle scold for playing class clown and potentially distracting other students from their work would've been okay, as long as they've explained that the chat isn't for fun and games, but the fact is that they over-reacted because the joke flew right over their heads. They then refused to admit they were wrong and laugh it off, which would've been the appropriate response. They either didn't understand / believe OP's explanation or they couldn't bear to admit that they'd made a mistake.
How did he play the clown? If you’ve read the Op’s posts how on earth did you get to that conclusion?
Happymum12345 · 11/02/2021 00:31

This has really made me laugh. Absolutely bonkers. I bet the teacher and head feel daft.

Nith · 11/02/2021 00:44

@AStudyinPink

What subject do you teach? Please don't say English.

What is the issue with what I said?

It demonstrates a fundamental comprehension problem. No-one reading OP's explanation of the function of the chat as a means of communicating with the teacher during a lesson could sensibly understand that to mean that he was talking to another teacher about the class teacher. Yet you did.
Rainboom · 11/02/2021 00:55

I'd be flattered to get an 8 out of 10.

Enough4me · 11/02/2021 01:01

Best comment by @HarrysWife:

she clearly loves herself. i would screenshot it and send them a message asking her not to sexualise your childs comments. and that shes a 4 at best.

It is all so ridiculous, I hope your DS isn't put off by all the unnecessary fuss!

AStudyinPink · 11/02/2021 06:48

Okay, so we all perceive that there was only one teacher (as the OP dodged that question).

Therefore, if anyone - particularly those suggesting I am the one with the comprehension difficulty - can explain how someone talking in the third person about that same teacher is addressing that teacher (as the DS was asked to use the chat function only to talk to the teacher and not his peers) rather than talking about them, I would appreciate it.

I’m not going to engage with anyone who can’t use their manners.

AStudyinPink · 11/02/2021 07:00

And your a secondary school teacher? I’ve avoided responding to everything you’ve said all day, but I came back for light relief and after several flounces you are still here? And still getting it wrong!

So much so that I can’t resist this: it’s you’re.