Mom Says Her Kid’s School Supplies Were Taken By His Teacher And Now He Can’t Do His Homework
Items were pulled right out of his backpack.
CDC | Pexels School supplies are an expected expense for all families, but as many moms and dads have noted in recent years, there are school supplies and classroom supplies, and the list seems to be growing, making back-to-school shopping more difficult to afford. While parents are required to purchase communal supplies for the classroom, more often than not, the individual supplies required for each student should remain untouched by anyone other than the child they belong to.
Mom and TikTok creator Jessy said she bought all the supplies that she was asked to before sending her son off to school this year, but now they aren't in his bag anymore.
A mom said her child's teacher took his school supplies right out of his backpack.
Jessy said she bought all manner of supplies requested — notebooks, pencils, crayons — but now they are all gone. What makes matters worse: Without them, he cannot complete his homework.
Apparently, school supplies are kept in a bin in the center of each table, which consists of four desks, and shared among the children.
Jessy claimed she didn't have a problem with the shared bins but expressed frustration that the supplies she bought for her child weren't coming back home with him at the end of the day.
Many commenters said school supplies remaining in the classroom is standard procedure.
"The supply list is for school. You ALSO need to provide supplies for home," the top comment read. "I don't know why this is a hard concept."
But it would appear signals were mixed as Jessy wasn't referring to class supplies being left at school but his own personal supplies.
In a follow-up video, she stated that on Meet the Teacher Night, she already provided the bag of supplies that was requested.
The supplies she was referring to were taken out of her child's backpack and were labeled with his name and "do not remove" written across each of them. They were also Spider-Man-themed, which should've been a clear indicator that they were for personal use.
When confronted, the teacher told Jessy she didn't think much of the personally labeled items and decided adding them to the community bin would be fine.
This didn't sit well with Jessy, so she sent an invoice to the teacher, noting that she already had provided class supplies and was upset that her son's personal items had gone missing.
The comment section was split after the clarification.
Some felt Jessy was completely in the right. If class supplies for sharing were provided, then why did this teacher take out personalized items from this child's bag?
"As an educator, I feel you on this. If you already brought extra stuff, she shouldn't have done that to his personal school supplies," one commenter sympathized.
Others were less understanding of Jessy's dilemma. The top comment on her follow-up video read, "As a teacher, I would not pay that."
But this mother states it's about the principle of the situation.
"You are going to run me money; I don't care if it's five dollars," she said. "You don't take anything out of my child's backpack."
Research shows that the price of school supplies is rising and likely not declining anytime soon. It's no wonder parents are outraged over school supplies going missing.
While this teacher may have simply made a mistake, it seems her decision more than likely put a financial strain on Jessy's family. If she already supplied the required communal items, her son's Spider-Man gear should have remained his alone.
She may have taken it a bit too far by sending an invoice to the teacher; it was understandable that she was upset. It also might be wise for her to keep some supplies at home after this incident, especially anything that was purchased because her son really liked it.
Sahlah Syeda is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.