3. Teachers, who is the worst parent you have encountered?

Teachers, who is the worst parent you have encountered?

From /u/Idleweiss

Keith's mom. Keith was a 10th grader and I was new to teaching. He was such a pain in the neck. Didn't do any work. Mouthed off. Got other students distracted. I ended up calling his mom about half a dozen times, asking her to come in and meet with me to talk about the situation. She never returned my calls.

And then one day, out of the blue, she showed up to talk to me. She didn't look happy to be there but hey, at least she came, right? I thanked her for being there and began to talk about how Keith was doing. She looked around the room while I spoke, and her body language made it very clear she didn't want to be there. After a few minutes, she interrupted me, looking straight at me for the first time. "Look," she said. "I gave up on that kid a long time ago. You want to try to do something with him, you go ahead. I wish you luck." And then she got up and left.

I felt sick. This was her son. He was maybe 15, still a KID, for crying out loud.

In the days that followed, I thought about Keith a lot. In class, I did my best to see him through fresh eyes. I made a point of talking to him more. And at some point, I realized that for all the headaches he caused, I actually liked having him in class. Turns out he was a funny guy. He had a big heart. After a while he even started doing some work. Not a lot, but some.

One day, another kid in class was being really smug and obnoxious. Without warning, Keith punched the kid in the face. He sighed and looked at me. "I'm really sorry. Had to be done. I'll escort myself down to the office." I guess that was the last straw for the school, because Keith was sent to an alternative school in the district. A good one, thankfully.

I saw Keith one more time, about a year later. He came to my class, grinning, a report card in hand. All A's. "I decided it was time to get my $#*! together," he said, simply.

I never saw him again, but I heard he continued to do well. And I'm glad that though others gave up on him, he decided not to give up on himself.

Edit: thanks for the gold. Like I said in the comments, I've been reading Reddit for a long time. Kind of a crazy experience to actually join in! Edit 2: Am trying to read all comments! For those who asked, this was in a Great Lakes state (not Wisconsin). To those who have been "Keith"...I hope all turned out well for you. You made it happen. :-)

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