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

The fact that kids have been protesting against mandatory blazers for well over 30 years and nobody has though to listen to children on their own discomfort isn't a good thing.

Many parents are lazy and emotionally deprive their children. They don’t do any parenting. Walk into many restaurants and you’ll see toddlers and kids glued to an iPad. Where is the education? The other day in a play cafe this women just let her kids roam while she sat in her phone for 3hrs. Did not interact with them at all. Then these same parents want schools to sort out the repercussions of their lazy parenting. They avoid all personal responsibility. I see posts on here all the time.

Schools give a basic education and I agree with the poster above - the can’t meet the needs of every child every day. That’s the parents job.

Agreed. There should just be a general address and the subject line can include the line, "For the attention of Miss Jones."

An automatic reply can be pinged back that every attempt will be made to reply to it within three days at any time between 9 and 4.

If it is urgent, they may phone the school office in school hours.

If the email is rude, it should just be returned to the writer with no comment.

My DP is a primary school teacher and the one thing that's making him contemplate giving up is the parents. He thinks the social contract between families and schools was destroyed by the pandemic and the way the mainstream media (i.e. the right-wing newspapers that make up the majority of it) denigrated teachers for being worried about not locking down sooner. Now parents think teachers are their personal employees and answerable to them at all times. My DP regularly receives the most irate emails from parents demanding he explains why their child hasn't received the main part in the play, why they were told off for talking in class etc. The rudeness in how they address him is appalling. I can't think of anyone else in a profession of responsibility they would dare talk to in the same way.

But why doesn't he just say that he will not be responding to any complaints that he deems to be rude or disrespectful.

Of course, the whole staff has to be on board with this for it to work and there's the problem I suppose.

Fortunately most schools have a policy of allowing three days before an email is replied to. So any pissy emails sent at wine o'clock on a Friday night – my DP's had a fair few of those – won't get responded to until the following Weds. Let them stew in their Sauv Blanc in the meantime.

Same. I've never seen anything like what's been described here at DS's state primary (London). I think people would be horrified if anyone tried it. Our class WhatsApp is 100% useful reminders, birthday invites and lost jumpers

Schools can't refuse. It's a Dept for Education directive that all emails have to be responded to in a timely manner. He can try to point out that aggressive language isn't helpful, but he has to tread very carefully. Ideally there should be a code of conduct that parents must adhere to alongside the teachers' one – but can you imagine the uproar if it was introduced?

one of my children have started with a chill, aches and cold after getting soaked to the skin. We’ll have to see if she loses her perfect attendance for illness after the weekend.

Tell the schools to get a grip, why are blazers more important than the education? Who are teachers to decide to force this outdated item of clothing upon us? This is the kind of conflict you want is it? Evidently so with your contentious dismissive attitude.

Do you work in a school? Does it really surprise you that even parents who value education lose respect for so-called professions that assume power to mandate outside of their professional area and then behave so contemptuously of others?

I have PS aged children and work in a SS office.

PS parents have been really negative about school, and it’s a great school. Not happy because they can bring squash in, complaining because the teachers dont remind their children to drink enough after PE, getting involved in friendship issues, etc.

I’m pretty defensive of the school because I know how good it is, I just asked why they didn’t go private if they didn’t like the rules but they probably won’t be any different there. It’s not nursery, schools are not childcare, they’re for education.

SS parents are awful, it’s getting worse too. We’ve had parents attack students and screaming in my face, swearing. They defend their kids behaviour to the hilt, and schools hands are really tied when it comes to permanent exclusions so everyone, including other students, has to put up with it.

My comment was to a poster who said not all teachers deal with parents directly. In EYFS parents are actually in the classroom twice a day. I'm sure most secondary teachers do deal with parents.

I do think blazers and smart uniform help with behaviour. A local school introduced them and it genuinely did improve things….dress for the job you want, etc

I think it's just a perfect example of a very minor issue which exemplifies what the teachers on this thread are saying. Buy a pac a mac if the school doesn't provide lockers for a coat. Mine takes an umbrella.

You are clearly part off the problem with your attitude.
Who are teachers to decide to force this outdated item of clothing upon us?
Teachers don't make the rules they are usually set by Governors. I expect your child's teacher couldn't care less about their blazer but they are in the unfortunate position of having to enforce the rules.

And to think these kids will be entering the workforce in about 15 years or less.

Which they then have to lug around all day! Use a pac a Mac in the morning and pack it wet among school books? And allow for either a much larger Pacamac or space in the bag to carry a blazer? Yes, it was intended as a perfect small example of conflicts being created, even among supportive parents, by a profession with power to mandate outside their sphere and then to treat parents with contempt.

Nk they don’t supply lockers or the time to get round to them any more. Teachers themselves have cloakrooms and staff rooms.

Former teacher here. Totally agree, parents are the biggest problem in the education system. They need to be far more accountable and respectful of teachers time.

I wore a wool blazer and hat from age 5. We survived and I’m not traumatised…blazers smelt when wet, that’s as bad as it got.

The thinking behind uniform is that it puts every kid on a level footing. So those whose families can't afford the latest trainers and designer jeans aren't singled out as being low income. Blazers are part of that.

There really are far more important things to be losing your shit about when it comes to education in this country. The ridiculously overblown curriculum and Government-ordered hothouse assessments being two of them. Dismal funding which means schools can't afford to equip classrooms properly being another. And the main one – the recruitment and retainment crisis which means more and more teachers are leaving the profession and not enough are joining it to replace them.

I’m not a teacher and it’s a long time since my children were in school, but this article comes as no surprise to me. You only have to read the threads on here of people slagging off their DC’s teacher for basically doing their job, or refusing to accept that their perfect child has done anything wrong and that the teacher is picking on tbem etc etc Of course, like in any profession there are both good and bad, but the threads I’m referring to are where it’s clear the teacher is not in the wrong, no matter how the OP slants their version of events.

I depends on whether you shouted in his face or followed the proper procedure.

Then teachers can carry on looking forward to parents getting very annoyed with their arrogance.

I actually retrained as a teacher myself. There’s no way I was going to join a profession where I was told in training that what I could do did not matter, and I instead needed to spend more time socialising with other teachers in a staff room, where most of the conversation was about how shit parents are. Parents have to work nowadays, often in low paid jobs in shitty conditions to work around kids, only to have teachers treat g them like dirt.

Can they wear a coat over their blazer?

Surely coats aren’t banned, they’re just not allowed to be worn inside/in lessons.

I've been a primary school teacher for almost 20 years now. I personally wouldn't say that parents have got "worse" as such... More "needy", perhaps. A lot seem to require a lot more "handholding" than they used to. Some parents seem to assume that teachers are also pediatricians, sleep and toileting consultants and social workers.

Problem parents, eh. No wonder some children are feral. Parents need to get a grip.