Parent volunteers who are nuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school teacher of 17 years here.

Most parent volunteers are well-intentioned and rational. However, every year there several lunatics. The lunatics spread gossip about the behavior, etc, of certain children to other parents, and I cannot fathom why they are permitted in classrooms and around children when we all see this happening. Every year I have at least one parent coming to me to complain that a parent volunteer is gossiping about their child or family, using information they learned at school. I can't stop it. Admin won't ban them, no matter what.

They also terrorize certain teachers, and I've seen several promising new teachers' careers and mental health destroyed by the Mean Mom volunteers and their incessant spying and attempts to draw other parents in to their Iago-like schemes.

I hate when a loonie Mean Mom volunteer tries to not-so-subtly milk me for info about other teachers or students.

Again, most parent volunteers are fine, but the bad apples cause so much stress and trouble that I would be thrilled if my school simply banned them all. It's sad, but there seems to be a certain type of Mean Mom who does this.

What age is this that parents are in the classroom? We are never ever allowed in the classroom at our kids' schools. At one school only for class parties but that stopped in 7th grade. Other school never allowed at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My youngest is about to graduate from HS, and this month, about half a dozen parents have reached out to ask for advice/vent about other parent volunteers (Queen Bees) who have screamed at them, made them cry, returned their work for editing, gone rogue (we aren't doing snacks for the kids anymore-there is an obesity problem in this country and our kids are soft so let's not provide them or the opposite...let's have half-time catered....), and things of that nature. I've seen some texts and emails. Blown away by how people will say things to other parents (or within earshot of kids) that they would get fired for at work (or promoted if they work in a toxic environment).

Do your schools have any kind of training or guidelines or hierarchy for volunteering?

Parents have told me they plan to call the school faculty to complain about their negative experiences volunteering and it seems like a complete and utter waste of school resources to have the adults whose programs they want to support to mediate conflicts among 40, 50 and 60-year olds.

I assume a lot of you volunteer with people who are used to being the decision-makers or who delegate down a lot.
What have your experiences been?

Sounds like dinner at my mother in law’s. “Thanks for helping with the salad, but oooh… don’t you think the tomatoes should be cut vertically?” God help me.