TEACHERS: Share your most outrageous parent stories

[Anonymous]

To the no longer college professor, many of the posts on this thread have been related to the teaching profession and it's problems. Thank you for resigning from the field of education - the overall health and ethics of the teaching profession has been improved as a result of your of you departure.

You are a classic example of everything that is wrong with education today. Instead of ignoring or arguing against the posts in which you don't agree, you attack the person's children. You have been a paid educator in you life and yet you are unable to make your counter argument without verbally attacking children.

Like so many other mean, vindictive, cliqueish, gossiping, and conspiratorial teachers currently working in the business, you are pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the no longer college professor, many of the posts on this thread have been related to the teaching profession and it's problems. Thank you for resigning from the field of education - the overall health and ethics of the teaching profession has been improved as a result of your of you departure.

You are a classic example of everything that is wrong with education today. Instead of ignoring or arguing against the posts in which you don't agree, you attack the person's children. You have been a paid educator in you life and yet you are unable to make your counter argument without verbally attacking children.

Like so many other mean, vindictive, cliqueish, gossiping, and conspiratorial teachers currently working in the business, you are pathetic.

OH MY GOD JUST GO AWAY!!!! You know nothing about that teacher. You are so weird!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP seems more moderate than the person who posted the blanket statement that parents are CRAZY. Certainly some parents are probably unreasonable, but unless you are a trained professional, throwing around terms like crazy, insane, helicoptering, and pita strike me as unprofessional. Once professionals including teachers lose their ethics it's a long road back to professionalism. The great teachers are individualistic and they are altruistic. They throw everything they have into classroom teaching. They don't save juicy tidbits for the cesspool some people call the teacher's lounge, or for DCUM, and they don't work the barest number of years possible before they depart for some menial job in administration.

I'm truly trying to be moderate in this posting, but it is difficult. There are truly great teachers who give so much more than they receive, but there still remain far too many who just do it as an hourly paying job and not particularly well. They have become teachers for a variety of selfish reasons and then they demonstrate their limited intellect by calling people names. These are the people representing your profession.

Hopefully, you're one of the good ones

Anyone else think the teachers at PP's school have been warning each other about her? The obsession with teacher "cliques" and "teacher's (sic) lounges" is really striking. After reading PP's posts, incuding the sock-puppetted ones like this one, I have to say her teachers have definitely earned my sympathy.

[Anonymous]

Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

Thanks for trying to get the thread on track

We see that a lot as teachers, parents doing the kids homework and projects for them. Those are often the same parents that ream the teachers out if their child gets in trouble or don't get an A. There's little understanding that their child has to do their work, work for their grades, and be held accountable for their actions so they can grow up to be responsible adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

Wow, that's a good one. I can only imagine Dad received serious stink eye from the other parents.

From the college ranks: My husband is a professor and he had a student email him the day before the scheduled final to say he needed to make up the final AFTER winter break because he was going on a "once in a lifetime ski trip" with his family. DH told him a ski trip was not one of the valid excuses for missing the final and that he knew when the final was scheduled when he signed up for the class. So student no shows the final then at the start of the spring semester sends an email saying he needed to make up the final because he was hospitalized with mono during the scheduled time. DH said, no problem, just bring in the discharge papers/bill/Doctor's note verifying that and I'll let you sit a makeup exam. No response from the student. Student's mom shows up at the Dean's office (and no, she wasn't local, she drove/flew several hours) livid about this and claims DH is discriminating against her asthmatic son by not allowing him to make up the final for health reasons. My DH gets called over to the Dean's office to deal with irate mom. He produced the email showing he'd happily allow the student to make up the test if he could document that he missed due to illness. Mother gets all huffy and leaves. She then returns that afternoon with a "doctor's note" scrawled on some plain printer paper saying that her son was hospitalized with an asthma attack. Except the date is wrong. And the student had claimed to be sick with mono. And then the student worker in the Dean's office who overheard Mom's ranting and recognized the student as a classmate walks in and asks if she can show the Dean something. That something was a bunch of pictures of student on the slopes with his mom and dad and brother posted on the evening of the final with captions like "awesome skiing today!" Mom then screamed that she was going to sue all of them and left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

Wow, that's a good one. I can only imagine Dad received serious stink eye from the other parents.

From the college ranks: My husband is a professor and he had a student email him the day before the scheduled final to say he needed to make up the final AFTER winter break because he was going on a "once in a lifetime ski trip" with his family. DH told him a ski trip was not one of the valid excuses for missing the final and that he knew when the final was scheduled when he signed up for the class. So student no shows the final then at the start of the spring semester sends an email saying he needed to make up the final because he was hospitalized with mono during the scheduled time. DH said, no problem, just bring in the discharge papers/bill/Doctor's note verifying that and I'll let you sit a makeup exam. No response from the student. Student's mom shows up at the Dean's office (and no, she wasn't local, she drove/flew several hours) livid about this and claims DH is discriminating against her asthmatic son by not allowing him to make up the final for health reasons. My DH gets called over to the Dean's office to deal with irate mom. He produced the email showing he'd happily allow the student to make up the test if he could document that he missed due to illness. Mother gets all huffy and leaves. She then returns that afternoon with a "doctor's note" scrawled on some plain printer paper saying that her son was hospitalized with an asthma attack. Except the date is wrong. And the student had claimed to be sick with mono. And then the student worker in the Dean's office who overheard Mom's ranting and recognized the student as a classmate walks in and asks if she can show the Dean something. That something was a bunch of pictures of student on the slopes with his mom and dad and brother posted on the evening of the final with captions like "awesome skiing today!" Mom then screamed that she was going to sue all of them and left.

All I can say is WOW. I'm also a college professor, but luckily I mostly work with grad students. At least with grads, there isn't a lot of parent involvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

Wow, that's a good one. I can only imagine Dad received serious stink eye from the other parents.

From the college ranks: My husband is a professor and he had a student email him the day before the scheduled final to say he needed to make up the final AFTER winter break because he was going on a "once in a lifetime ski trip" with his family. DH told him a ski trip was not one of the valid excuses for missing the final and that he knew when the final was scheduled when he signed up for the class. So student no shows the final then at the start of the spring semester sends an email saying he needed to make up the final because he was hospitalized with mono during the scheduled time. DH said, no problem, just bring in the discharge papers/bill/Doctor's note verifying that and I'll let you sit a makeup exam. No response from the student. Student's mom shows up at the Dean's office (and no, she wasn't local, she drove/flew several hours) livid about this and claims DH is discriminating against her asthmatic son by not allowing him to make up the final for health reasons. My DH gets called over to the Dean's office to deal with irate mom. He produced the email showing he'd happily allow the student to make up the test if he could document that he missed due to illness. Mother gets all huffy and leaves. She then returns that afternoon with a "doctor's note" scrawled on some plain printer paper saying that her son was hospitalized with an asthma attack. Except the date is wrong. And the student had claimed to be sick with mono. And then the student worker in the Dean's office who overheard Mom's ranting and recognized the student as a classmate walks in and asks if she can show the Dean something. That something was a bunch of pictures of student on the slopes with his mom and dad and brother posted on the evening of the final with captions like "awesome skiing today!" Mom then screamed that she was going to sue all of them and left.

Thanks for the good laugh. The level of insanity on this one is quite spectacular! Though seldom are they as involved as that, I do get similar "incongruous accounts of events" on a regular basis as a teacher in my highly-regarded MCPS high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a rural area in the middle of the country. One of my students was very bright, had excellent ACT scores, had great leadership skills and extracurriculars, and was very diligent with her schoolwork. We talked college one day (she was a junior) and I suggested she look at top tier schools, maybe one of the Ivies if any appealed to her. I thought she had a good chance on paper especially since she was coming from a school and area that was essentially not represented at all in any of the schools we were talking about.

Her parents were FURIOUS with me.

Not defending the parents in any way. But I also wouldn't have been happy with you. I can't afford Ivies for my kids and, in most circumstances, I don't think it is wise to go into tens or even hundreds of thousand dollars of debt to go to an Ivy League school. Ability to get in really isn't the only criteria for deciding to apply to a school.

It's wonderful that you were encouraging to this girl, but when you are talking to kids about things their parents will likely be paying for, you really need to be sure the parents are on board.

But you realize that many of the Ivy League schools give out more financial aid than schools with smaller endowments, right? I went to an Ivy League school and my parents paid nothing - not a single dollar - for my education. They paid for my plane tickets back and forth. That was about all they could afford. Otherwise I got by with grants, work study, my summer jobs, and very small loans.

I had a counselor who laughed when he heard I wanted to apply to an Ivy League school and shook his head when he saw the other prestigious schools I was applying for--he told me to apply to the local state school which wasn't competitive. I always remember that and wonder how many kids he managed to dissuade from aiming high. Meanwhile, I received generous aid packages from all the schools I applied to and got to pick the one I really wanted to attend. That wouldn't have happened if I had been scared of trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I try to get this thread back on track by sharing a parent story that we saw as parents? DC was in one of the elementary magnets. The kids all had to little dioramas about communities and social structures. So the kids all did Indian longhouses and the like; I think our DC did a clay diorama of cave men. But one little girl brought a sort of dollhouse room that was electrified and had black lights. During the part where the kids were supposed to present their dioramas, her dad stood up and explained about how he did the electrification and the black lights.

Wow, that's a good one. I can only imagine Dad received serious stink eye from the other parents.

From the college ranks: My husband is a professor and he had a student email him the day before the scheduled final to say he needed to make up the final AFTER winter break because he was going on a "once in a lifetime ski trip" with his family. DH told him a ski trip was not one of the valid excuses for missing the final and that he knew when the final was scheduled when he signed up for the class. So student no shows the final then at the start of the spring semester sends an email saying he needed to make up the final because he was hospitalized with mono during the scheduled time. DH said, no problem, just bring in the discharge papers/bill/Doctor's note verifying that and I'll let you sit a makeup exam. No response from the student. Student's mom shows up at the Dean's office (and no, she wasn't local, she drove/flew several hours) livid about this and claims DH is discriminating against her asthmatic son by not allowing him to make up the final for health reasons. My DH gets called over to the Dean's office to deal with irate mom. He produced the email showing he'd happily allow the student to make up the test if he could document that he missed due to illness. Mother gets all huffy and leaves. She then returns that afternoon with a "doctor's note" scrawled on some plain printer paper saying that her son was hospitalized with an asthma attack. Except the date is wrong. And the student had claimed to be sick with mono. And then the student worker in the Dean's office who overheard Mom's ranting and recognized the student as a classmate walks in and asks if she can show the Dean something. That something was a bunch of pictures of student on the slopes with his mom and dad and brother posted on the evening of the final with captions like "awesome skiing today!" Mom then screamed that she was going to sue all of them and left.

All I can say is WOW. I'm also a college professor, but luckily I mostly work with grad students. At least with grads, there isn't a lot of parent involvement.

Yeah, this kid was a sophomore I think. It was an intro-level class in the major, so I don't think he could have been more than 19 or so. Still, epic helicopter parent crash and burn there. I'm guessing facebook and twitter posts may be the undoing of many a fishy sounding excuse these days. I don't suppose the fishy excuse for college students is typically coming from the parent though. The whole story was just bizarre. After everything happened the mom went on a letter writing war of attrition. She fired off letters to the president of the university, some state politician (state school), etc. with strange versions of events, all claiming discrimination based on disability (son's asthma). Nothing came of it, but it created a huge time suck that spring for everyone involved.

[Anonymous]

And exactly where is the knee slapping belly busting humor in these past couple of gossipy posts??? Given the opportunity to recount funny or outrageous stories the best you can muster is that a kid went skiing and he wanted an opportunity to make up his final exam. Whoa ... what an atrocity, practically criminal!!!

Ho , Ho, Ho. this is all too funny. I almost can't contain myself. Congratulations on your Facebook police work on this one!!! I can only imagine the harm that your institution of higher learning and our nation may have suffered had this 19 year old been allowed to make up this Final Exam.

I'm just thankful that we have brave men and women like you walking the line and defending our nation from 19 year olds want who want to go skiing and then take make up exams.

Thank for sharing this story with us. The behavior of these low-life disgusting people who wanted an opportunity to make up this lower division survey class final exam is without question one of the most sickening and atrocious stories of abuse I have ever heard.

This mother and son exemplifies everything that is wrong with the world today.

Professor please do not let yourself become discouraged and please do not fall into despair over this unfortunate case of paternal abuse. America needs great professors such as yourself to teach lower division college classes. If you were to quit teaching these entry level classes irreparable damage would be done to our nation.

Please reconsider. Please don't desert us in our our time of need.

[Anonymous]

OK- here's mine:

So one time I wrote on DCUM in response to a post about crazy parent stories, "I can't write any here- surely the crazy parents of my students read this!" and then this CRAZY parent went totally ape-shit on me and called me a selflish lazy a-hole!

Oh, I should correct him/her and tell him/her that instead of an Ed.D (which he or she clearly considers lame), I actually have a PhD in my *field,* and by in my field, I mean not in education, but in the subject matter. So she can call me Dr. Selfish Lazy A-Hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK- here's mine:

So one time I wrote on DCUM in response to a post about crazy parent stories, "I can't write any here- surely the crazy parents of my students read this!" and then this CRAZY parent went totally ape-shit on me and called me a selflish lazy a-hole!

Oh, I should correct him/her and tell him/her that instead of an Ed.D (which he or she clearly considers lame), I actually have a PhD in my *field,* and by in my field, I mean not in education, but in the subject matter. So she can call me Dr. Selfish Lazy A-Hole.

Well, I have to say this. It's a sad commentary on the literacy attainments of parents in our schools today (like the parent who called you an A-Hole) when they miss the obvious irony in their own posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And exactly where is the knee slapping belly busting humor in these past couple of gossipy posts??? Given the opportunity to recount funny or outrageous stories the best you can muster is that a kid went skiing and he wanted an opportunity to make up his final exam. Whoa ... what an atrocity, practically criminal!!!

Ho , Ho, Ho. this is all too funny. I almost can't contain myself. Congratulations on your Facebook police work on this one!!! I can only imagine the harm that your institution of higher learning and our nation may have suffered had this 19 year old been allowed to make up this Final Exam.

I'm just thankful that we have brave men and women like you walking the line and defending our nation from 19 year olds want who want to go skiing and then take make up exams.

Thank for sharing this story with us. The behavior of these low-life disgusting people who wanted an opportunity to make up this lower division survey class final exam is without question one of the most sickening and atrocious stories of abuse I have ever heard.

This mother and son exemplifies everything that is wrong with the world today.

Professor please do not let yourself become discouraged and please do not fall into despair over this unfortunate case of paternal abuse. America needs great professors such as yourself to teach lower division college classes. If you were to quit teaching these entry level classes irreparable damage would be done to our nation.

Please reconsider. Please don't desert us in our our time of need.

Not many parents have your courage and would take a strong moral position against the outrages perpetrated on that poor, defenseless mom. You totally deserve props for lining up on the side of Crazy Forged Doctor's Note for the Wrong Day and Wrong Illness Mom!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And exactly where is the knee slapping belly busting humor in these past couple of gossipy posts??? Given the opportunity to recount funny or outrageous stories the best you can muster is that a kid went skiing and he wanted an opportunity to make up his final exam. Whoa ... what an atrocity, practically criminal!!!

Ho , Ho, Ho. this is all too funny. I almost can't contain myself. Congratulations on your Facebook police work on this one!!! I can only imagine the harm that your institution of higher learning and our nation may have suffered had this 19 year old been allowed to make up this Final Exam.

I'm just thankful that we have brave men and women like you walking the line and defending our nation from 19 year olds want who want to go skiing and then take make up exams.

Thank for sharing this story with us. The behavior of these low-life disgusting people who wanted an opportunity to make up this lower division survey class final exam is without question one of the most sickening and atrocious stories of abuse I have ever heard.

This mother and son exemplifies everything that is wrong with the world today.

Professor please do not let yourself become discouraged and please do not fall into despair over this unfortunate case of paternal abuse. America needs great professors such as yourself to teach lower division college classes. If you were to quit teaching these entry level classes irreparable damage would be done to our nation.

Please reconsider. Please don't desert us in our our time of need.

In your attempt to shame people into not contributing to the thread via multiple diatribes, you have beautifully typified "crazy" and "outrageous." I'm not sure that was your intent when you posted, if so, kudos on the amazingly meta posts.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you do for a living? You seem to find quite a lot of time to patrol this thread and fire off screed after screed and my understanding is that a truly "altruistic" person really should not have time to do this as every second of their life would be devoted to the well-being of others and they would have no personal judgments about anything. Or maybe only teachers are supposed to be altruistic? I'm trying to figure out your life philosophy here. Your confusing thesis has captured my attention. Tell me more!