Teacher Sends An Email To A Mom Because He Was 'Offended' Her Little Boy Said She She Was Prettier Than His Wife
She's questioning if this really called for an email.
Photoroyalty / Shutterstock When a mother received an email from one of her son’s teachers, she assumed he had done something to land him in trouble. However, after reading the email, she was perplexed as to why the teacher felt the need to reach out.
The mother received an email from the 'offended' teacher after her son said that she was ‘prettier’ than the teacher’s new wife.
The mom, Melissa Jane, explained that in her son's previous school district, she frequently received "ridiculous" emails, but this one took the cake.
According to Jane, her son, who was in sixth grade at the time of the incident, did not cause a scene or curse anyone out. “He was literally just being stupid. He doesn’t think before he speaks; he's a middle school boy,” she said.
However, her son's teacher disagreed and found his behavior to be entirely inappropriate — so much so it warranted an email.
In the email, the teacher claimed that while the students were doing classwork, some of them were gathered around his desk, where he had a framed photo of himself and his new wife. One student commented, "She’s really pretty!" but Jane's son had a different reaction.
"Your son, who didn’t even see the picture … was sitting across the room ... proceeded to mutter under his breath, ‘I bet you my mom’s prettier,’” the email read.
The teacher said that he was “highly offended” by the boy’s comment.
The mother had no idea how to respond and did not believe the incident warranted an email home.
“He's a 10-year-old kid. Who cares? Would you be mad if someone was like, ‘I bet you my dad’s stronger than yours’ or ‘I bet you my dad can run faster than yours?’” she asked. “I just thought it was the weirdest email to receive."
Jane ultimately responded by apologizing to the teacher and promising to speak to her son about how his comment could have been taken as offensive. Still, she believes that the teacher’s email was uncalled for. “Don’t email me that! I’m working; I’m busy,” the mother said.
fizkes / Shutterstock
Jane added that she gives her permission to all of her children's teachers to speak to them directly and set them straight if they are ever being disrespectful. “Manage your classroom. Tell him to shut up, I don’t care. I’m the kind of parent where I’m like, ‘If you got in trouble at school, you probably deserved it," she said.
Jane and her children have since moved and now attend a different school, but to this day, she expects to get ridiculous and unnecessary emails from teachers.
Although it has been years since the mother received the strange email, she still wonders whether or not the email was even appropriate to send in the first place.
Like the mother, most people agreed that it was absurd of the teacher to send the email.
“I’m a teacher and these emails sound absolutely wild! Not at all appropriate,” one TikTok user commented.
“I have a hard time believing that any teacher has time to write that email. I don’t even have time to write relevant emails,” another user added.
Tijana Simic / Shutterstock
“You should have asked to see the photo at least,” another commented.
When a student is continuously acting up and disrupting class, a phone call home to arrange a discussion is more than fair. But when a young student believes that his mother is prettier than your wife, it is probably best to laugh it off and move on.
Children often say the first thing that pops into their heads, with no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings. Instead of whining to parents about all of the insignificant remarks their children make throughout the day, teachers should educate them and gently nudge them in the right moral direction.
Frankly, if they believe that their mother is prettier than another woman — even your wife — then that's their opinion, and they should not be ridiculed for it.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.