Stupid-Idiot Parents!! Venting!!

[snappy]

Parent is putting the blame on me for their child not turning in daily homework. (30% turn in rate-FAILING) Parent is saying it's my fault for not collecting the unfinished homework (M-F) and having her do it over the weekend. This way she can do it and receive 100% turn in rate. I think NOT! So frustrating how people think. I guess the world will always need non-educated people to do the unwanted jobs of America. Here's another. Thanks for listening! Now back to the kids who really want to learn and earn a decent living!

[SummerInFL]

Wow. So they are expecting you, at the end of the week, go over EVERY student and say, "Here Bobby, you haven't done this homework this week, just take it home and bring it in Monday" ???

Talk about removed responsibility. That poor child.

[MollyTrolly]

I am so sorry this is happening to you. I am not a teacher but I have had several run ins with parents wanting to change the rules that I have works hard to make sure my kid follows just because they don;t want to take the time with their kids to make sure they follow them.

Be strong and stand your ground, the parents of kids that are turning in their homework will thank you for it.

[SCUBAbe]

My child's middle school teacher called me at work for an urgent matter that I needed to see her about asap. I had to leave work early and all she wanted to talk about is my child not doing her homework. I was PISSED. That could have been discussed over the phone or when i was off work. I explained if I had known my child had homework I would make sure she did it, but when I ask her she always tells me she did it at school or she didn't have any. I asked the teacher to let me know what homework she had for the day and I would ensure my child completed it. she could just send it home with my child. She said she would not do that and I needed to make sure the homework was done. ok, she was not willing to work with me so I was done working with her. I got up and told her to never call me at work again about my child.

I have found most of my daughters teachers were unwilling to make any extra effort on their part. This was the same teacher who spent an entire class period talking about her liposuction. I know their are good teachers out there, but I think all the crappy ones teach where I live.

by the way, my daughter went on to high school gets all a's and b's and takes ap classes. She is very smart, but if she gets a lazy teacher she doesn't try as hard.

She did have a few teachers in high school that were pretty bad though. I wanted to know the status of her grades. I Know crazy request right....anyway all her teachers wrote clearly what grade she was getting, but her algebra teacher refused. He made her go to the counselor get a form and then he would fill it out. She did this, brought me the form the teacher filled out and it was totally unreadable. chicken scratch at best.

Thankfully her school started using edonline. I love that. I get the info I need and don't have to deal with egotistical lazy teachers. (my remarks are only about the teachers my daughter has had not all teachers, because she has had some good ones and I know they are not all bad.)

[ladyalmalthea]

I don't know what grade you teach, but all of the junior high and some 5th grade classes have agendas that they have to fill out (teacher puts homework assignments on board.
If there is a major problem homework wise, maybe the kid needs to write down her assignments at the end of class, have it signed/stamped by you, then it's the parents job to see the agenda and make sure the homework is done.
(PS, the sign/stamping is so the parent doesn't have a chance to complain that the kid didn't understand that was homework
That really sucks, btw, they blame you for the homework not getting done. I was horrid at avoiding homework, and mom never blamed the teacher.

[krystledm]

I'm kindof in your boat

I'm an afterschool program tutor. We have 4 hours every day with the kids. I have 20 in my group. We get 1 hour for homework everyday, M-Th. If their homework isn't done, i get blamed...Keep in mind, i have 5 students with add/adhd that need constant reminding to get back on task, 3 kids who can't add or subtract (these are 2nd and 3rd graders) and many more who still have a hard time reading.

I am not college educated. When I started, I was not taught how to control a large group of kids that don't want me there.

[PrincessY]

Part of my "Back to School" speech every year always contained a bit about me, the teacher, not being a hand-holder. (I've taught 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade). I would not be retelling, giving again, nagging, or other enabling the student to be NOT responsible for his/her homework. I made certain that the student knew exactly what his/her responsibility was (we had agendas from as young as 3rd), I sent home via email and hard copy, a newsletter that listed all homework/classwork that needed to be turned in. I sent home notes if something was missing. You'd think that was more than enough to get the point across! There are always a few (and sometimes many) who think little Johnny or Susie are just too special/young/sensitive/busy/(fill in the blank) to actually work at school. We are raising a generation of kids who will become very irresponsible adults in the future.

[penguinsoda]

Originally Posted by PrincessY

We are raising a generation of kids who will become very irresponsible adults in the future.

Unfortunately thats a very true statement. I've worked in education for almost 30 years as an instructional assistant ( Do have my AA), and I've worked with all levels, all grades (K-12, regular and special ed), and am currently working with developmentally handicapped high school students. Even in our class, we tell our kids that we expect them to learn to take responsibility for themselves. Most of the students, while they may never be able to live alone, will be able to hold down a job and we expect them to learn how to be responsible employees, and thankfully we have a good group of parents who also want to see their kids succeed as much as possible.

But over the years, more so lately, we've seen parents who try to pass the blame anywhere except themselves or their own children. They expect the schools to raise the kids for them in the 6 or 7 hours a day that they are at school, and can't be bothered to actually teach the kids any personal responsibility. Again, this is a generalization... there ARE a lot of good parents out there and even at the high school where I work, we have some fantastic and wonderful kids that will really contribute to society when they get out of school. Unfortunately, its the bad apples that get most of the press.

And we all know, that in the end the parents are doing a great disservice to their kids buy making excuses for them and passing the blame to someone else. The real world is not going to hold their hand or give them second, third and fourth chances if they mess up and can't do their job.

[sir clinksalot]

snappy, I'm not a teacher, but I have kids. And we've had this problem recently with our Son.

We've had a lot of stuff going on in our lives and to be honest, we weren't keeping up with it.

It's NOT your fault. You probably have what, 25-30 kids in your class and your own life on top of it? You can't keep track of everybody.

Parents need to realize it's NOT the teachers who should be raising your kids. YOU need to be raising your kids. Don't take your kids word for it when they say "I don't have any" or "I did it at school". Take 10 minutes out of your day, go through your kids backpack and see what's there. See what needs to be done.

I hate lazy parents who are too busy to be involved with their kids schooling and choose to blame everything on the teacher.

[SusieP.]

I even give my kids time to start their homework IN CLASS before they leave me, and I have a few that still don't bother to turn it in. I do keep a file for Unfinished Work and the kids are responsible for checking it and taking care of their business, but they still don't get full credit for it when/if they turn it back in.

My son's school uses agendas, which I think are fantastic. His teacher last year was really good about using them in 3rd grade, but they get a weekly homework packet this year and so they're aren't needing the planners as much this time.

[sir clinksalot]

Yeah, the daily agendas are a god-send. We have to sign them everyday.

Of course we generally walk the kids/pick them up, so if we have a question about homework, etc, we'll just ask.

I also LOVE the excuse that I hear parents giving "My kid had Soccer/Baseball/Cheerleading/Girl/Boy Scouts, etc".

No excuse.

Our kids have known from day-one that school comes first and everything else that we do is a benefit of their doing well in school.

[mamabot]

My kids get daily homework. My daughter has very little homework each night, but my son has a ton of homework every night. His GATE teacher gives him 2-3 hours of homework at least once a week. If the homework isn't complete the next day, he has to stay in at recess to finish the assignment. Once the assignment is complete, he gets marked down one letter grade for each day the assignment is late. He has to bring home a sheet that informs us that he didn't turn in an assignment.

He has gotten a couple of those stupid sheets even though I signed off on the homework after a couple hours.

At the kids' other school, they sometimes had daily homework or weekly homework depending on the teacher. I think I prefer the daily stuff.

[snappy]

Thanks for the great responses! Now I can see how Teacher's get burnt out on this profession. What's really sad is unless the child wants more for him/her self they are going to just follow the footsteps of their parents.
In regards to the crappy teacher's out there, I know they exist. In any profession you have your slackers, but it's sad when it affects the future of tomorrow.
Don't get me wrong I love my profession, but with any job you have your downers. This ship is sailing and if you're not on board you're going to the bottom of the ocean..... (Sink or Swim)
Easier to Blame society on your messed up kids instead of taking the blame on yourself.

[mamabot]

I have been blaming all the issues we are having with my son's teacher on the fact that this is his last class ever. He is retiring in June. So glad my daughter doesn't have the potential to get him next year.

[SusieP.]

Originally Posted by SCUBAbe

My child's middle school teacher called me at work for an urgent matter that I needed to see her about asap. I had to leave work early and all she wanted to talk about is my child not doing her homework. I was PISSED. That could have been discussed over the phone or when i was off work. I explained if I had known my child had homework I would make sure she did it, but when I ask her she always tells me she did it at school or she didn't have any. I asked the teacher to let me know what homework she had for the day and I would ensure my child completed it. she could just send it home with my child. She said she would not do that and I needed to make sure the homework was done. ok, she was not willing to work with me so I was done working with her.

In defense of middle school teachers, she probably saw 300+ students per day. She already was sending homework home in your daughter's hands. The teacher can't control what your daughter tells you when she gets home from school. What did you want the teacher to do? Call you each day?

I feel like I'm missing something here.