UK teachers report rise in problem parents

[Tabitha005]

Rude and disrespectful parents were a big issue when I worked in education ten years ago and, from this article, it seems to be an increasing concern.

Who’d be a teacher, eh? The shit they have to put up with is awful.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/mar/13/teachers-mental-heath-parents-behaviour-education

I'm assuming that's aimed at me. I've been a teacher, my husband is a teacher. My point is that just labelling parents as entitled may make genuine concerns be ignored. But let's just pretend that it's only parents that are the problem shall we.

Oof, yes, if the ones on our local Facebook group are anything to go by! Constantly ranting (on the public town Facebook group 😂) about how their precious little dears got suspended for squaring up to a teacher or using a racist slur and how ridiculous the school is. Every other parent piling in to say about how unfair the school behavioural policy is.

My dc is not an angel. She’s gotten one detention ever (15 minutes for rolling her skirt up, that taught her and she never did it again 🙄). Meanwhile everyone else is bringing knives to school and kicking off when their little soldier isn’t allowed. I can only imagine what teachers have to deal with.

Besides the fault of the parents for not parenting the other problem is that we’ve had successive governments that have pandered to parents and put the onus on schools to parent.
Where is the accountability?
if your child is in nappies because you can’t be bothered to potty train them then no school etc. Sadly for many it wouldn’t work as they can’t be bothered to get them to school at all let alone on time.
I wanted the best for my DC and supported them throughout their education but so many parents don’t give a flying ***
You have to feel sorry for them.
Our society needs a complete reset.

It’s unacceptable for anyone to be threatened whilst just doing their job.

It always saddens me when I see posters saying ‘abuse against staff won’t be tolerated’ in hospitals, schools, public transport etc. I do believe the vast majority of people in these public services are doing their best but they bear the brunt of other people’s frustrations with life.

Life is really shit for many people in the UK right now. It’s hard and I think people’s anger is misdirected but that’s a whole other discussion!

Oh my god. Why wouldn’t you be pleased?

This is part of the issue, but the biggest issue is the lack of respect many parents have for teachers. If parents won't back teachers up teachers have no chance of instilling aurhority. Often those with the least respect, have the worst behaved children. They know their children are little shits, but don't like anyone else pointing it out because they know deep down it reflects on how they as parents have failed.

Not a teacher but parent of of kids PS age.

nice village school and yes some of the comments so shock me (and I would say most of the parents are supportive of the school)

example, my son (p1) slapped a boy this week (out of character for him but a few big changes in our house this week) I called the other Mum and apologised. Thanked the teacher for handling it. My son lost his switch for the hour of switch time and was made to spend a long time writing an “I’m sorry card” to his friend (took an age as he’s learning to write)

Mu daughter (7) was cheeky to a doctor recently about how long we had been waiting. Let’s just say she will never do that again.

I think it is overall the minority of parents but it only takes a few to make the job of a teacher hellish.

Kids will be kids but no ones little darling is perfect and teachers and parents should be working collaboratively to navigate tricky situations and supporting each other.

I dread to think what this generations children will be like towards authority

I fully agree, governments look to schools to deal with deeply entrenched societal issues which mostly stem from poverty and ignorance. Schools, especially teachers, cannot possibly deal with these issues and are thus being set up to fail!

I immediately mute WA class groups because of the mad wankery thats spouted in them.
I’m constantly surprised by how much shite parents come out with. One parent went apeshit about school losing their child’s coat. Mate, your kid lost their coat. They’re 10. If you’re soft enough to send your child into school with a £400 coat and don’t write their name in it, you’re a fool.
If some parents cared as much about providing their child with basic parenting as they did about making sure that their kid was kitted out in the most expensive gear possible then their children would have much brighter futures.
Like any occupation you naturally get teachers who are crap, same as you get crap nurses, crap shop workers, crap accountants. But if your child goes through school and you take umbrage with every single teacher/TA/head then you’re the problem.

I think in the past, parents were ignored by schools, ‘we know best how to educate your child’ etc. And that attitude is still there - we’re re the professionals. Plus the enforcement of ridiculous rules, teaching them about ‘being in the wrong body’.
Sometimes respect needs to be earned.

Now parents can email class teachers directly we are absolutely affected by this.

I think there are multiple issues at play:

1. the rise of ‘gentle’ or permissive parenting. I’ve rolled my eyes at some of the other parents in school at some of the things they’ve come out with. I’d love to actually say ‘no actually your child is a pain in the arse because they have no boundaries. You might want them to be a free spirit but that doesn’t work in a classroom’. The kids all know.

2. over anxious parents. We’ve had reports at our school of parents writing in every day. Now I suspect some of this comes down to a lack of SEN provision.

3. those that don’t give a shit about school.

23 years in education- a job I have loved- and I have two weeks left. I decided the cost of continuing was too much.
Taking a pay cut of over half my current salary and leaving education altogether.
Unreasonable and extreme parents are often the minority -but are on the rise.
What we have been subjected to as a leadership team recently, people would not believe.

I blame social media and instant communication methods for a lot of this.
A child comes home and tells parent that teacher did X. Parent instantly fires off an email. In the old days it would be write a letter or phone and by the time they’d done that they would calm down.
I often get random posts on Facebook from people I don’t know moaning about their kids school. It is usually around the fines. School don’t set the fines and don’t receive the fines. They have a legal obligation to record accurate attendance. It’s a government policy but that seems lost on the hard of thinking.

One of my son's schools had a single front door that opened directly onto a busy road, so parents were not allowed beyond the front door and couldn't congregate on the busy road. It was locked after drop off. It's a divide and conquer tactic that worked brilliantly. If the parents don't gather, they don't work themselves into mutual bitching frenzy - they barely chat. I think more schools should adopt this, it stopped so many problems.

Schools do know best how to educate your child at school. They are the professionals. You can choose a different school if you don’t like a uniform policy.

Most parents and schools manage to find a balance. If one side isn’t willing to listen(or worse, both) that’s when things massively deteriorate.

I had a parent adamant that not only x pushed their kid , but that they broke their arm. Wanted x fully dealt with, their partner threatened the child and the class teacher. We showed them the CCTV . X was nowhere near their child and he had in fact , tripped over his own feet. Their reply? “Well, Johnny still feels that he was pushed and X has it out for him”. Where do you go from there? With tangible proof that it didn’t happen.

Never mind that Johnny's arm was only broken when it suited him and suddenly he was good to go to play football/dodgeball.

Behaviour in my daughter’s class (mainly amongst the boys) is apparently one of the worst they’ve seen this year. But there seems to be no real consequences for any of it. There is a residential coming up. I don’t understand why they can’t make that conditional on good behaviour (and properly enforce it). Are they just too frightened of the inevitable complaints? Why? What powers do whinging parents actually have?

I don’t think anyone is saying that schools never get things wrong or all teachers are perfect. The issues staff have is

1. The way parents conduct themselves when there is an issue
2. Parents making a huge issue out of normal everyday occurrences and being unable to accept that everything is not perfect all the time for their child

I am more than happy to give my time to parents who have legitimate concerns or questions and are willing to speak to me like a human being and be reasonable. What is not ok (and what the thread is largely about) is parents with far too much time on their hands wasting staffs time over the most trivial inconveniences, rude parents, aggressive parents, threatening parents and parents who expect their child to be treated as the centre of the universe.

So you've just regurgitated exactly what the PP said whilst telling them they're wrong. Well done, I guess.

Unsurprised to see mobile phones being a flashpoint. I don't understand the absolute bullheaded stupidity of parents on this.

In general, I've had to contact my daughter's school a few times and wouldn't dream of being abusive. They're generally open and responsive so what would be the point of going in all guns blazing? The only situation I can imagine maybe struggling to keep a lid on it would be if my kid was being bullied in school and I felt they weren't taking it seriously. Parents and schools need to be able to work together and while schools can be frustrating to the point parents worry about being 'that parent' when they're only trying to advocate for their own child, teachers generally aren't the ones threatening anyone.

I've been teaching for 25 years. There have always been rude and unpleasant parents who were the minority. There have always been those who openly don't support their child's education etc. What I feel has shifted is a rise in defensiveness and a desire to excuse their child's conduct. Along with an increased of parents who feel it is totally acceptable to refuse to support school rules and procedures

For example, letting their teenager get a nose piercing or false nails even though this is not part of the policy. Or inging their child during lesson time. Then arguing that the child shouldn't be sanctioned for breaking the rules because they gave them permission. Or constantly making excuses.

I'm all for advocating for your child but my kids know they if they have maths homework due next week and we are away for the weekend then they do it before the weekend rather than expecting me to email the teacher and excuse them.

I also get a lot of pushy parents wanting me to boost predicted grades, often 2 grades with no actual evidence the child is capable of such a grade. People are used to getting arsey and getting their own way.

Senior leadership teams often back down because they don't want bad press. Bad press equally lower numbers and even less funding than the measly amounts we have.

I've been wondering similar. My daughter's had the same issues in her class, with boys' behaviour, and she was used as a buffer. I have wondered how much of the residential is going to be affected by the same kids being unable to behave.

And it doesn't help that the school, despite having a clear no-phones policy, has had to say that parents aren't adhering to this and it's resulted in children being filmed overnight and put on tiktok. Parents are the ones failing all those children but what recourse does the school actually have? It looks to me like it compromises the whole residential trip and they will end up not having them. All because some parents just won't tell their children no.

I don’t know how teachers manage on a daily basis, with poor behaviour from children and parents. It seems to have got worse quite quickly. I don’t think this trend is limited to education though. Over recent years especially, behaviour across society as a whole has deteriorated. The way I hear staff in restaurants, shops, transport stations, hospitals etc spoken to is shocking. Too many people have little thought for others. Too many people are quick to list their rights, and yet seem to think they have no responsibilities.

As an example, in restaurants, lots of parents let their children make as much mess and noise as they want, and expect staff to clear up after them. Food is split all over the table and floor and the parents make zero effort to help clear it up, assuming that “it’s someone else’s job”. There is too much of a “me me me” attitude with no consideration for others. Too many people don’t care about anyone other than themselves.

These attitudes are passed on to children, and this is reflected in schools. Too many parents think that their child can do no wrong. If there’s an issue, it’s often seen as someone else’s fault.

This may be controversial, but a lot of parents don’t seem to actually want to parent. They want to be friends with their children and for them never to be upset. If their child has done something wrong, there’s often an excuse given. If a child has never been disciplined or set boundaries, it must come as shock to discover they have to abide by rules at school.

As an example, rather than declaring to their child “the school uniform rules are ridiculous, don’t abide by them, I’m going to the school to complain”, an alternative would be to explain to the child that, yes, some of the rules do seem a little strict, but the rules are normally there for a reason, life can seem unfair at times, and just abide by them as it doesn’t really matter in the overall scheme of things.

Oh it’s infuriating isn’t it. The “whole class” lectures/tellings off that are absolutely nothing to do with most of the girls. Good kids being sat next to the awful ones. I don’t understand why the school is so weak in dealing with it. Nothing ever seems to actually happen.