His Son’s Teacher Gave Him Grief About His Son Missing A Presentation Due To Anxiety, But He Didn’t Want To Tell Her The Real Reason Since She’s A Gossiper
If you’re a parent with kids old enough to be in school, have you ever had to confront one of their teachers?
It happens to many people, as not every classroom experience goes perfectly, and not every teacher is a great fit for your kid.
One man recently got into some drama with his son’s teacher and vice principal after the teacher gave him grief about his son having to miss a presentation due to anxiety.
He has a son named Dawson, who is in the sixth grade. They recently found out that Dawson had to give a victim impact statement in court after an incident, and he’s been anxious about it ever since. For around a month, Dawson was so worried about giving the statement that he slept in his bed every night.
Dawson was due to read the statement on a Friday and had to give an oral report in his social studies class that same day. Because of his court date, Dawson couldn’t give the report, and he knew he’d have to contact his teacher to let her know.
However, he wanted to avoid telling Dawson’s teacher about why he wouldn’t be in class on Friday, as she and her son, who’s in Dawson’s grade, are gossipers. Because of the severity of the situation and how much anxiety it’s causing his son, he doesn’t want them to know anything about it.
When he spoke to Dawson’s teacher, Mrs. T, he told her he had an appointment on Friday and asked if he could give the report on Monday. Then, she asked him if Dawson could do it on Thursday, the day before the report was due.
“I said that was a totally fair question, but there’s something going on with him, and he’s emotionally distraught,” he recalled.
“I don’t want him breaking down in class and being made fun of. She said there was no good excuse to punt an oral exam because Dawson has the ‘jitters.’ I said it’s way more than that.”
Photo 49207435 © Wavebreakmedia Ltd – Dreamstime.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Then, Mrs. T told him that Dawson could only do the report on Thursday or Friday, and if he didn’t do it on either day, he’d get a zero. He told Mrs. T he’d rather Dawson take the zero than do that because his mental health was more important than her class, which surprised her.
“She told me to be upfront with her about what was going on, and I said I’m not telling [her] anymore,” he said.
“Later, I got a call from the vice principal who said that I had a ‘hostile’ conversation with Mrs. T and requested that she give my son a zero. I said that’s not really accurate [and] I told him off the record that my son has to give a victim impact statement on Friday. He’s a mess.”
The vice principal completely understood the situation and told him to keep Dawson home for a few days until the court situation was over and said he’d work something out with Dawson’s teachers.
Before hanging up, he stressed to the vice principal how important it was that no one knew exactly what was happening with Dawson and the victim statement. The vice principal assured him he wouldn’t say anything about it.
Although the vice principal never explicitly told Mrs. T what was going on with Dawson, he later got an email from Mrs. T, who said she wished he had been more honest and open with her about what was going on with Dawson, suddenly expressing worry for him.
He told Mrs. T that he didn’t tell her because she and her son were “gossip queens,” and he didn’t trust them.
“She told me that what I said was very hurtful [and] I said, ‘Then don’t ask and don’t fish for information.'”
Was he rude to have called Mrs. T a gossip queen, or was he only trying to protect his son?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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