This 26-year-old woman has been a kindergarten teacher for the past three years. Before this, she began working with children, aside from younger family members, when she was 16. Over the years, she’s encountered a lot of impolite and unsavory students and parents. However, she recently had the worst experience with a parent that she’s ever had so far to date.
The holiday break ended two days ago, and everyone returned to school. She missed her students a ton during her time away from them, and she decided to have a relaxed first day back. For the morning portion of the day, she planned a few activities, but after lunchtime, she thought that allowing the students to watch a movie would be fun.
Twenty minutes into the school day, a student in her class, A, approached her and said she wasn’t feeling well. Because it was early in the day, she suggested that A take several minutes to rest her head down on her desk to see if that would help. If she didn’t feel any better as the day went on, she told A that she could make a phone call to her father.
A’s parents are divorced, and they have split custody. One week, A stays with her mother, and the following week, she stays with her father. This week, A was staying at her dad’s house. While A had her head down, she went to direct the rest of the class to start an activity, which took her about 15 minutes. After that, she went back to see how A was doing, and she said she still felt horrible.
“I felt her head, and she was completely burning up like she shouldn’t have come to school at all burning up. Luckily, she was sitting at my desk, so I am the only person at risk of getting sick,” she said.
Later, she called A’s father. A was nearby at the time, and as the phone was still ringing, A divulged that, two days prior, her father had taken her to the doctor, who had informed them that she had the flu. When she heard this, she was enraged that a parent would consider it appropriate to allow their ill child to go to school.
She asked A if her father had a particular reason for making her come to school when she was sick with the flu. In response, A said that her stepmother made her because her stepmother didn’t want her to pass the flu on to her younger sister.
A is one of her star pupils, and she wished she could have comforted A with a hug, but she knew she couldn’t since she wanted to be as careful as possible not to pass the germs on to other students in the class.
A’s father didn’t answer her first call, but he picked up the phone the second time she called, and she let him know just how sick A was.
“He just said that he knew and that A should stay at school because he didn’t want his other kids getting sick. At this point, I was beyond furious, and I asked, ‘Instead of taking care of your sick daughter like any other parent would do, you send them to school so they can get other children sick, just to protect your other children?'” she explained.
As A’s father was about to respond, she told him he was “selfish” and that she would be calling A’s mother instead before ending the call. When A’s mother found out that A’s father had sent her to school despite the flu, she was infuriated.
“She demanded that A stay home once she was told she was sick, but I guess Dad and stepmom didn’t care. After that situation was over and A was safe with her mother, I ended up reporting it,” she shared.
At the end of the day, she went home and relayed the story to her mother, who didn’t side with her. Instead, her mother scolded her, saying that she would have sent her stepchild to school ill, so she understood where A’s father and stepmother were coming from.
What would you have done if you were in her shoes?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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