A teacher in Atlanta, Georgia, just like any other teacher, gives her students homework. However, as a response to this, she has received numerous emails from concerned parents who argue that their children shouldn’t do homework at all. One of those parents even said that she had “traumatized” their child.
TikToker kai.mer, whose real name is Kainath, shared her story online. She is no stranger to sharing the ins and outs of teaching, oftentimes going viral. This time around, her clip was seen 540,000 times, liked by 95,000 users, and viewers left 1,428 comments.
The Georgia teacher shared multiple emails that stemmed from her giving her students math homework. The first one, according to her, involved a parent who complained to an external mental health counsellor.
“I was notified by my child that you made them miss lunch in order to do their math homework. This is problematic,” the parent allegedly wrote. “You have traumatized my child. I will be reporting you to admin, and I want him removed from your class.”
As seen in the clip, another parent, according to Kainath, said that their child had an “emotional breakdown because they got frustrated with the homework.” Then, the parent argued that the teacher had left “too much homework.”
Kainath explained in the clip that the homework in question was aimed at 7th-graders who, because of COVID, had not learned 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade math.
“I cannot teach you 7th grade if you do not know how to add 3-digit numbers and how to add fractions,” the Georgia teacher said. She then told the parent that their child is on a “3rd-grade level.”
The Parents’ Fault, Reactions
Other emails, as revealed by Kainath, included one parent saying that their child would not be doing their homework because it “does not align with the state standards for 7th grade.” Another parent said that their child was not completing their homework because they had soccer practice and was “too tired.”
“Teachers literally cannot hold students accountable when the parents will find every excuse in the book because their child is too emotional and too tired,” the Georgia teacher said. “[…] It is the parents’ fault that their child is failing.”
The teacher’s clip sparked many reactions. Some users criticized the school system for how they handle students who are behind, with one user asking, “Why aren’t kids held back anymore if not retaining/learning the information from prior years?” Others blasted the parents, with one viewer commenting, “I’m sorry but… are parents not wanting to parent anymore???“
A couple of users had issues with one of the parents’ claims that Kainath had made their child miss lunch. One of them said, “It’s actually illegal in public schools to make a child miss lunch.” The Georgia teacher then clarified that they hadn’t missed lunch, as her students had lunched while doing the pending homework.
Kainath’s clip follows a trend of teachers sharing their frustrations in education. Other teachers have shared their concerns over how students are struggling in school, which has led to online virality, just like Kainath with her clips.
Kainath followed her clip with another similar one, also viral, involving a college student. It appears that her teaching stories and anecdotes will continue to be popular.
