Hell hath no fury like a parent who realized their kid was mistreated by a teacher.
Understandably, no one takes kindly to the mental image of their child feeling afraid to speak up in class, especially about something as important as their health.
He wrote:
AITA for yelling at my son's teacher and making her cry?
Last Thursday I, 36M got a call from my son's school telling me I needed to come and collect him because he had passed out during class. My son has passed out a good few times before, so we've made sure he knows what to do when he starts to feel faint to make sure he doesn't hurt himself.
However, when I arrived at the school my son was holding an ice pack to his head, when I asked about it the nurse told me he had hit his head when he fell, I wondered why he hadn't lay down like we taught him to do, I brushed it off and decided to ask him about it later as he was still kind of out of it. The next day I asked him about it and what he told me made my blood boil.
Apparently, when my son had first started to feel like he was going to pass out he tried to tell his teacher. When he stood up to talk to her he was immediately yelled at to sit back down. The next time he tried to tell her she told him that he didn't look sick so he wasn't allowed to go to the nurses office.
Then, his class was doing an activity that required standing for practically the rest of the lesson, before the activity started my son, yet again told this teacher that he felt like he was going to pass out and asked if he could sit the activity out. The teacher responded by yelling at him, claiming he was just being lazy and was making excuses.
My son's friend was getting worried about him so he told the teacher, who then started yelling at his friend, accusing them both of trying to get out of lesson. Not even a minute later my son passed out, and according to his friend and a couple other classmates, she acted very shocked, as if she hadn't been ignoring him trying to tell her how he felt for the last 5 minutes.
I'm extremely worried about the impact this will have on my son, as when the fainting first started he didn't tell any of his teachers as he was scared that they were going to yell at him, this resulted in quite a few injuries from falling. It has taken a while for him to start telling them when he's feeling faint and I'm afraid this incident will cause him to stop asking and he will hurt himself.
I had wanted to go down to the school that day but my son had stayed off and my wife wasn't home from work yet. The following Monday I arranged an appointment with the Principal. After I explained what had happened, he called in my son's teacher, who then tried to deny the fact that he ever told her anything and he had just randomly collapsed. This is where I may be TA.
By this point I was pissed, I began to scream at her, yelling about how my son could have gotten hurt. I was so pissed I hadn't even noticed that she'd started to cry. By that point I was asked to leave by the principal. My wife and some of my friends think I'm in the right, but my parents and the other half of my friends think I went too far. I don't know about this one. What do you guys think, AITA?
Content-Plenty-268 wrote:
NTA. The teacher repeatedly yelled at your son, berated him, caused him to injure himself physically and quite possibly scared him away from communicating his needs in the future. She is a bully. When confronted, she started lying to cover up her behavior, and eventually crying. Boohoo.
That's what bullies do: bully, lie, then cry when not let off the hook. You losing your cool is completely understandable. Your parents don't need to have an opinion about it, and your wife is in your corner. Consult a lawyer. I bet the principal won't ask a lawyer to leave.
Glinda-The-Witch wrote:
I’m assuming your son has a diagnosed medical condition that is on file with the school and, his teachers have been made aware of his condition and how to prevent injuries? At this point I think I would take my concerns to the Board of Education and let them know that you intend to speak with an attorney.
Yelling at the teacher was probably not your best move, but I certainly understand when it comes to the safety of our children. It’s hard to maintain our cool sometimes. I’m going to say NTA.
C_Majuscula wrote:
NTA, that teacher is a bully who deserved getting called out. Yelling after she straight up lied is warranted. If you're in the US, please get this condition and his accommodations into a 504 or IEP plan if it's not there already.
AilingHen69 wrote:
NTA. Well, you didn't need to lose your temper, but you're only human. She didn't act human when she neglected his needs. He asked to go to the nurse, ffs.
ExRiverFish4557 wrote:
NTA. I think she needed that dose of reality for her negligence and dishonesty. She literally endangered your child's life b/c he didn't 'look sick.' I don't remember those school floors being very soft, if he hits his head the right way it can cause life-long complications. With that in mind, it might not hurt to have your son looked over even if he says he feels fine.
He was just taught not to talk about feeling unwell, so he might try to hide it if he's not feeling 100%.
While screaming at a teacher is usually an AH move, OP is definitely NTA in this situation, the teacher is a big one who put his son in danger.