Every parent wants their child to achieve in life, and that typically includes academic success. But with distanced learning being the current norm, many children are struggling not to be left behind.
This is especially true for students with special needs and for those parents that can’t be there to monitor their students every step of the way.
Students with special needs require accommodations that expand far beyond a computer screen, and for them, remote learning is not an effective learning method. With both parents and teachers concerned, there are still many problems arising for these students without solutions.
Parenting isn’t easy, especially during a pandemic.
Truth be told, parenting has never been a walk in the park.
With school incorporating various experiences for children, there are many things for all parents to worry about. From poor grades to bullying, it can be a trying time.
With class time being confined to a computer screen now, many parents have even more worries to add to their already packed lists.
Many teachers are trying to bridge the gaps.
Schools are trying to adjust their curriculums and procedures to support students during the ongoing transition to remote learning. While many educators are making progress, there are still many students falling behind without current solutions to help them.
When parents and teachers maintain a healthy dialogue and work together, there are more options for students to do well in school.
With remote learning, this communication becomes even more important. So, when parents and teachers don’t see eye to eye, there are consequences.
One mom did not like how her son’s teacher was handling remote learning.
She took to the popular subreddit page r/AmITheAsshole to spill the tea on how she didn’t approve of how her son’s teacher was talking to her.
And how she took action once she decided she was being disrespected.
Her son was struggling.
This mom’s son is in fifth grade and has been doing remote learning during this school year.
So far, she hasn’t been impressed by his teacher. As she wrote online , “My son has ADHD and anxiety so he needs constant stimuli in order to stay focused, and this teacher is clearly not engaging enough.”
She believes this teacher is under-qualified.
This mom explained, “The teacher, in my opinion, is not old enough to be trusted with the responsibility of teaching. She looks like she’s in her 20s. I have reached out to her multiple times and she’s only told me to check in on him, keep him on track, etc. but I do all of that and he still seems to be failing.”
The mom continued, “She asked if I would like to take time out of my schedule to come up with a plan, to which I responded she should be doing her job and coming up with a plan on her own. I am quite out of patience with this teacher.”
Things got worse.
After sending one final, demanding email to the teacher about her son, email she received in reply definitely wasn’t what this mom was hoping for. On Reddit , the mom quoted the teacher as writing:
“I am tired of receiving emails from you regarding this. I have tried telling you this politely but the message hasn’t seemed to get to you: this is your issue. I cannot do anything when he mutes his microphone, and he is failing because he does not pay attention in class and turns in less than half of his work, most of which is incomplete anyway. I have reached out to you with solutions, and you have refused to cooperate. You need to take control in your own home and put a stop to this behavior, because I can only do so much.”
The mom said she felt bullied and disrespected by that response.
She told Reddit , “[The teacher] was judging my ability as a parent when she is clearly not a parent herself.”
In fact, she was so upset by that response that she decided action needed to be taken against the teacher. So she reported her.
“I was at the absolute end of my rope with her, and I wrote an email to the principal explaining what had happened. He responded and said he’d look into the matter.”
While the mom may have felt disrespected, her husband insisted she made an issue out of nothing, so she turned to Reddit for a final verdict.
Suffice it to say, Reddit users were not on this mom’s side at all.
One commenter wrote, “Parents need to parent their kids?! Whatever next!? The teacher is not present – you are. Parent. Your. Child.”
Most Reddit users pointed out that there is only so much a teacher can do to keep children on track during these remote learning times.
As one person rightfully pointed out, “It is your responsibility to make sure your son isn’t playing games during school, is participating in class, and is doing his work. How in the world do you expect his teacher to make sure he’s doing all of this when she’s not in your home?”
Let us know in the comments what you think of this messy situation and if you feel the plight of this mother or not!
