I (34F) have one son (10). He is enrolled in pur local public school. My husband (35M) got a new job a year ago and we had to move from our city to a much smaller area.
Since we moved we’ve had several problems with our sons teacher. I was very excited at first because she seemed young and I thought she’d have and give our son a modern education. I was quickly proven wrong.
His teacher refuses to allow the students to use the school provided Chromebooks in her classroom. She makes the kids write their assignments on paper and worksheets which is really inconvenient to make up absent work.
Next at the end of the day she has the class do a 10 minute clean up which I understand but it seems like she unfairly favors the girls in the class. The boys have to push in all the chairs at the end of the day and then the boys line up at the end of the line for dismissal because "ladies first".
She seems to have archaic ideas about gender norms that I dont agree with. I dont want my son to feel like he is less than a girl because he never gets to be first in line.
There was also an incident where my son and another boy were talking during the lesson. I understand that this is not ok but when he was pulled aside and talked to about this she forced him to say "yes, ma’am" instead of just "ok".
I took all of these complaints to the principal who said he would look into it. My husband and some of my friends think I am overreacting because "she’s teaching them manners".
AITA for taking my complains to the principal?
YTA – she’s teaching them good manners, you should be happy they aren’t using a computer all day. They are the professionals, trust them.
YTA. Chromebooks: they’re 10 and need practice actually writing.
Picking up: it’s respectful to clean up after yourself.
Pushing in your chairs is polite and doesn’t make it a mess. It shows you’re done with it. We use to put them on top of our desk to make it easier to vacuum under.
Saying yes instead of okay: saying ok in that instance is a dismissal, where as saying yes is an acknowledgement that he understands. The ma’am is a standard form of respect.
The lining up: this I would have an issue with. Ladies shouldn’t always go first and the girls in the class should also have to clean up. It should be alternated by each person gets a chance to line up first.
Memory unlocked of putting our chairs upside down in our desks at the end of the day so that the cleaners could easily do the floor. Hadn’t thought about that in decades.
YTA, I guess the chromebook thing could be annoying but the art of writing an essay and not just using chatGBT is ruining the kids and young people of today so I think it’s good that she is going a bit old school.
Also the rest of the stuff is grand, it teaches good respect
YTA- how dare the teacher teach my son good manners! You sound horrible
YTA. Aren’t there a lot of problems related to giving students laptops/tablets for all of their work?? This woman sounds like a great teacher seeing as she’s teaching them to not rely on technology from such a young age.
This is your list of “issues” that you actually filed a complaint over?
YTA. All in caps.
YTA. She’s teaching your son respect, how to write and to clean up after himself.
YTA
Using pencil and paper to write assignments is FANTASTIC. Kids are so used to technology that they get very little practice writing, which they need. Also writing assignments has been shown to connect more neurons than typing or using a computer.
What’s more, most kids already get too much screen time, so she is cutting down on that.
In most classes, kids are so used to be turning in work late that they don’t engage with the lesson, or leave all their work for the end of the term. Teach your son not to turn in late work.
“Yes ma’am” is actually polite in many places. It’s okay for him to learn to say it. It’s not about gender norms, if he had a male teacher he would be expected to say “yes sir.”
YTA. The Chromebook thing is to prevent cheating on work with chatbots. It’s also much harder for her to grade, but it’s worth it so they actually learn. Lots of schools are going back to this even though it’s very old school. I *wish* mine would.
YTA- shes establishing good behavior standards and ensuring the whole class has legitimate writing skills. Educators everywhere are seeing post pandemic students unable to complete assignments on paper which is *NOT OKAY*
I get it feels like an attack, but her job is to challenge your son into becoming a better more educated person.
Please keep in mind you aren’t raising a child, you’re raising someone who is going to be an adult.
Yes YTA lol. You’re the parent *everyone* at the school hates.
Parents like you are the reason teachers are having breakdowns by the hundreds. Kids need to respect their teachers. They need to learn how to read and write. You are making her job impossible. YTA
YTA. The audacity of a young teacher who: encourages them to be less dependent on technology, demonstrate manners, and attempt to take responsibility.
She should be cloned and placed in more schools, not reported to the principal.
Who can we report a whiny, entitled parent to?