Growing up in poverty is hard enough, but to be punished for it is sadly what a girl in Kentucky experienced during middle school. Reddit user RaeFullyPoweredBeam posted a story on r/mildlyinfuriating that was a recollection of how she had received a poor grade on a big school project: all because she failed to “dress professionally.”
RaeFullyPoweredBeam explained that the project they were working on was centered on “career preparedness,” which involved conducting a mock job interview that accounted for a significant percentage of the grade. “I grew up really poor, I didn’t have clothes for the mock interview, and my parents couldn’t afford to get me anything for it either,” OP recalls.
Still, her parents did their best to make do with what they had, from thoroughly cleaning their daughter’s tattered clothes to lending her their clothes for the interview. Once the big moment was over, the teacher’s grade came in; she had failed the student. “The teacher doing the interview said I answered questions fine and had a good demeanor, but I didn’t dress professionally,” RaeFullyPoweredBeam wrote sadly.
She said she never told her parents why she failed the mock interview for the school project, but wonders whether they could have explained their poverty to the school, which might have resulted in a better grade. That said, thousands of Redditors were touched by her story, with many even sharing their own tragic experiences from low-income households.
Thousands Were Touched by the Kentucky Student’s Story and Overwhelmingly Opposed the Teacher’s Decision
“This is horrible for a school to do this, especially when they know that some of their students are poor. What kind of school grades anything on clothes without providing the clothes?” an individual commented in disgust.
“The fact that you never told your parents is the part that gets me. they did everything they could and you took the hit quietly to protect them from feeling like it wasn’t enough. that’s more maturity than that teacher showed,” added another, to which RaeFullyPoweredBeam heartfully replied, saying how her parents are the “greatest in the world.”
“This breaks my heart. And I feel so bad that you felt like you had to hide this from your parents and hold on to this for so long,” remarked a third. Countless others shared their sadness for OP, expressing how her and her parents deserved better.
Though unfair, fortunately, the Kentucky parents have a daughter who still believes she has a wonderful mom and dad, to whom she claims she’s “forever grateful for.” In a heartfelt comment, she wrote, “Our parents loved us and did everything they could for us, and I hold that with me every day.”
