A Student's Parent Wants A Teacher To Document Everything, Including Photos Of Arrival And Dismissal — 'We've Lost All Backbone With Parents'
Teachers aren't even sure this is allowed.
SpeedKingz / Shutterstock Teachers are busy with difficult jobs. Despite how busy they are, sometimes parents have to make requests of them. It’s just part of taking care of kids.
Some of these requests can get out of hand pretty quickly, though. One student’s parent took their need to helicopter a bit too far, however, and it was definitely unfair to the teacher.
Parents wanted everything their child did to be documented at school.
A teacher turned to the teaching community on Reddit to ask for advice after a student got some unusual accommodations at her school.
“There’s a parent of a student in our school who has demanded that literally everything their child does or experiences be documented,” she explained. “They are even demanding that pictures be taken of the child upon arrival and dismissal."
She added, "This is for our summer school program, but the parents have been just as demanding during the normal school year.”
The teacher quickly got to the heart of the matter. “I’m wondering if they can actually ask this?” she questioned.
Part of the teacher’s concern came from her administration’s reaction to the situation. “The principal just agreed to it because we have lost any and all backbone with parents,” she said.
Unfortunately, this teacher has a personal stake in what happens here. “My friend has been assigned as the student’s one-on-one and has told the principal that she does not want to do this and does not feel comfortable, so she’s being forced against her will,” she shared. “Important note, my friend is an instructional assistant for the science department. Her job is to set up labs during the normal school year. She has no certification.”
“Can they really require this?” she asked.
Other teachers pointed out that this is likely unacceptable unless it is part of the student’s IEP.
An IEP, or Individualized Education Plan, is a special plan for students in need. According to the University of Washington’s Access Computing, “This is a plan or program developed to ensure that a child with an identified disability who is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives specialized instruction and related services.”
Having an assigned one-on-one aide can be part of an IEP for students who need it. Spectrum Life Magazine noted, “A one-to-one aide can provide support to a student in many ways. Schools typically assign a one-to-one aide for behavior, instruction, activities of daily living, or social skills.”
Teachers pointed out that this was likely necessary for the student to have such accommodations.
“Unless this is part of an IEP, then no,” one person said. “Feels like permission for stalking.”
“This is excessive. Unless documentation of everything the child does in a day is in their IEP, which is unlikely, it can’t be enforced,” someone else pointed out.
One teacher felt like even if it was part of the student’s IEP, it shouldn’t be. “Even if it is part of the IEP, I would feel this is not a reasonable accommodation,” they said. “I would fight to get that removed from the IEP.”
Commenters also brought up concerns about the aide taking the requested photos of the student on a personal device and said that could lead to legal issues.
Whether this can actually be requested as part of an IEP is not clear. What is clear is that these teachers are not comfortable carrying out these requests. As they are the ones who have to deal with them day-to-day, not the administration, their opinions should be taken into account.
In many cases, teachers are asked to perform tasks well outside their job description, which should not be forced upon them. Teachers are going through enough already and don’t need more unnecessary pressure added to their jobs.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.