16 teachers share the pettiest complaint they ever got from a parent.
Being a teacher is not a job for the weak, but the greatest challenges often don't arise from an unruly classroom filled with kids who don't want to learn about ancient Egypt for the third Fall in a row, it's the parents...
Most parents like to believe that their child is a unique and special little angel carved by the heavens to get straight As and effortlessly float through academia, but sometimes teachers have to tell the truth. So, when a Reddit user asked teachers of the internet, 'what's the pettiest thing a parent has complained about?' people were ready to share their horror story from parent-teacher conference from hell.
1.
...that her child got lice in Elementary school. Apparently it was all my fault that her child got 'infected.' This same parent complained to me that I was calling her child by a shortened version of her name (that the child asked me to use) instead of her full name. - _queen_frostine
2.
I got chewed out for expecting a 12 year old to be able to read an analog clock. - Zporadik
3.
'You sent me the same email twice.' Scheduled a conference over this issue. - ___mags___
4.
I once had a parent accuse me and the admins of a conspiracy against her daughter. I had her in my class last period and she always skipped so I always marked her absent. She couldn't believe that her precious snowflake could be skipping. - amahler03
5.
I had a parent try to excuse her son's lack of homework completion as 'too hard for little boys.' identifying nouns in a year 9 class. - kiwispouse
6.
Not replacing the novel the entire 9th grade was assigned with a novel more aligned with her Mormon values. - eowowen
7.
A parent once went to the school district over the fact that I wouldn't let her come into my class because she wanted to give her daughter a bracelet that would have completed her outfit. This was back when I taught third grade. - vadavkavoria
8.
I had a parent complain that her kid was wearing a tight spaghetti strap tank top because the kid got hot and took off her sweater. She yelled at me for what she dressed her kid in? - inpinktights
9.
My mom was accused of doing witchcraft in the classroom when she told her kids a “chant” to make a snow day. The chant can only be done if snow is in the forecast and the students get all their homework done. The chant is “Salami salami bologna let it snow” She just wanted her kids to do their homework! - tgram24
10.
A parent complained to a teacher when their child fell on the playground and the clothes got muddy and scratched up. They wanted the school to pay for new clothing... - jabaliini
11.
The color of red pen I use. Apparently it's too dark of a red to be considered red, and if i cant do my job properly using the correct red, im unqualified to teach - ZoidbergBOT
12.
The bottom of a 't'. She wanted me to force her daughter to write the letter 't' as it appears in typing. She scheduled a PTA meeting about it. - cletusvanderbilt
13.
My cousin who teaches Kindergarten had a parent complain to the principal that she was 'irresponsible' for being 'selfish enough' to have a baby and take maternity leave before the end of the school year. - ARCoati
14.
Back when I used to teach, I had a parent once complain that my classroom was 'too quiet', and as a consequence her daughter and her peers got too much work done, and they felt it was bad for their daughter's brain to be learning so much so quickly. - Kumquat-May
15.
I witnessed a parent complaining at the end of a primary school concert that it 'wasn't fair' that their child had no discernable musical talent, and that the school should stop giving instrument lessons to the kids who were keen or talented. I've never seen the music teacher genuinely speechless for so long. - bopeepsheep
16.
For silly fun at the end of the term I showed an episode of Mr. Bean. He was washing his clothes and pulled a dress out accidentally and put it on. That is what they were mad at, that I was encouraging cross-dressing. They were seniors in High School... - plains59