Yahoo Lifestyle Teachers Reveal Jaw-Dropping Moments From Parent-Teacher Night They Still Think About
Recently, I asked the current and former teachers of the BuzzFeed Community to share their most shocking parent-teacher night stories. The results had me not missing the school life at all:
1."It was my first year teaching at 23, and the father of a seventh-grade student got to my table and looked me up and down. He said, 'Oh, now I know why you’re [student name]’s favorite teacher.' I didn’t call him out like I would now and continued with the conference like normal. At the end, he gave me his number and told me to 'call him anytime' and winked at me. I reported it to my admin. So inappropriate. His kid was such a sweetheart, though!"
—Anonymous
2."The parent was a one-night stand from ten years earlier."
3."About 20 years ago, the student’s counselor and I did a home visit. During the visit, their pet rat crawled up the mom’s arm, crawled down the front of her shirt, and settled down there. This happened while dad cleaned his gun. I was so happy to get out of there!"
4."Well, my ex showed up for a child around the age of the time we dated... I dumped him because he did not have time for me and seemed like he was not interested in the relationship even if he said he tried. I was the side chick! He had a baby mama the whole time (she dumped him too, long term, but still had 50% custody of the baby). Thankfully, I do not have to see him as I am the general teacher aide."
—Anonymous, 27
5."I'm a science teacher and a parent asked me if she could borrow my replica human skeleton. I said no, it's school property. She then tried to barter with me for it? I told her no and that I needed to prepare for the next group of parents. She got upset and then finally left. As I was headed to my car, I overheard her talking shit about me to other parents, saying that I was super rude to her for not letting her borrow my life-sized human skeleton replica.
"She even ended up asking the principal, who also said no. I never found out what she wanted it for though. Weird."
—Anonymous, 32
6."I was a high school teacher to a pair of siblings and their father came in for family conferences. The kids were great students and very respectful and kind. I mentioned something about how the father and his wife had been doing a very good job at raising their children. The father said 'Well, it's just me now. My wife left us.' I got the sense that it was rather recent. The kids were also pretty forthcoming in general, and had not said anything about a divorce or other change in the family. Later in the conversation, the dad said he would like to take me out to dinner to thank me for all I'd done for his kids. Just him and me.
"I dodged the invitation because it seemed awkward & borderline inappropriate...I texted my teacher friend group immediately after he left my room:
Me: OMG, I think Mr. [Parent] just asked me out?!
Art teacher: OMG he definitely did, because he asked me out earlier this evening!"
7."I had a parent ask me out. I told her it was not a good idea considering I was teaching her daughter. She ended the interview by telling me that I wouldn’t be her daughter's teacher forever."
—Anonymous, 43
8."I was teaching at a private Christian school when I had a dad come in to speak to me about his daughter who had made a B in my English class. He was quite upset because as he said, it was my job, he paid my salary, to ensure that she made an A."
—Anonymous, 60
9."I remember talking to a student’s dad and he looked as high as a kite. I still remember watching in the parking lot to make sure his wife drove (she did lol)."
—Anonymous, 29
10."A dad of one of my students waited until I was done with my class information presentation and then promptly asked me on a date for coffee! It was so awkward. I mumbled something about how I was flattered, but that was against the rules. And it was the beginning of the year, so every time that kid walked into my class, I couldn't help but think of how his dad asked me out at Open House!"
11."I was teaching fourth grade. A new student, who was previously homeschooled, arrived at the school. I was meeting with the family for the first time. During the meeting, the nine-year-old child asked his mom for some milk. I assumed she would pass him a bottle of milk. Instead, she lifted her shirt and breastfed the nine-year-old! I quickly finished the meeting, in complete disbelief!"
—Anonymous
12."A few years ago, I was working the enrollment forms table. A mom and grandpa come with the paperwork to enroll a cute, sweet 12-year-old. It wasn't until I looked at the birth certificate that I realized that grandpa was actually the 71-year-old dad, and the mom was his 30-year-old trophy wife. If you do the math like we did, you have figured out that mom was only 18 when she gave birth and dad was 59. Dad is also mega rich and they have two younger children that I have had the pleasure of teaching. The mom and dad still creep us all out though."
—Anonymous, 38
13."I had been teaching siblings in middle school for several years, since the oldest was in 6th grade, and he was now in 8th. During that time, the parents got divorced and the father got remarried to a much younger woman (who also had a child at our school). I adored the kids, and had a good relationship with both sets of parents. One parent-teacher conference, just the dad had arrived. I was wearing a white button-down Oxford shirt with a nice chevron-striped jacket-sweater over it. While we were making small talk, the dad kept stroking my arm in the creepiest way. He said, 'I really like this shirt. Do you know where I can get it for my wife?'
"Then, the moms arrived and he pretended like nothing happened. I avoided him for the rest of his kids’ time at my school, and when the youngest graduated he wrote a VERY long email about how much I’d meant to his kids. I still don’t know whether to be flattered or oogied."
—Anonymous, 39
14."At open house this year, I had a grandparent who is raising his granddaughter ask about homework. I told him I do not assign specific homework as studies show it is not actually beneficial but whatever is not finished in class will need to be done for homework unless otherwise told. He never looked up from the syllabus he was reviewing but did respond with, 'oh so you believe that nonsense huh?' I didn't know how to respond."
—Anonymous, 29
15."I was a new teacher at my first parent-teacher night. A father of one of my students started talking to me about their son, while his wife stood next to him. He began the conversation by saying, 'If I had a Kindergarten teacher that looked like you I would have learned a lot more in school.' His wife just looked down embarrassed and I could tell how uncomfortable she was with the way he was speaking to me. I looked around the classroom to find another parent to talk to and then quickly excused myself."
—Anonymous, 58
16."One of the first-grade teachers I was talking to told me about a meeting at parent-teacher conferences in which the grandmother of one of the students was so upset with the child that she slapped her across the face and forced the child to apologize to the teacher. I don't remember what the child did but I know it didn't warrant that reaction from the grandmother.
"The teacher mentioned this to the principal, and it was basically shrugged off... I was very baffled."
—Anonymous, 27
17."I once had a parent tell me that the reason her child was acting up at school was because my classroom environment was toxic. I was a third-year teacher at the time, and was trying my best to keep a positive attitude and calm composure. She proceeded to talk about all the other kids in the class, and how 'bad' they all were, and I just stared blankly at her while silently thinking, 'The only toxic thing in my classroom right now is you.' I couldn’t even process what happened after talking to her because I was meeting with another parent. I went home that night and cried."
—Anonymous
18."It's amazing how many parents profess love for their children, then immediately pull it back to tell anyone who's listening, that their child isn't smart and that they feel sorry for me having to teach their son for the next two years. Very often the boys. My heart breaks when I look at their faces and I try extra hard to report home positive news."
—Anonymous
19."I was meeting with a parent and they said, 'you are so fine I wasn’t paying any attention to what you were saying about what my daughter did.'
"...I felt bad for the mom and her daughter. The daughter was 14 in 6th grade with a child, and they didn’t realize the seriousness of that circumstance."
—Anonymous, 48
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Do you remember a parent-teacher night that you still think about to this day? Share your story in the comments below!
