This Teacher Tried To Play Robin Hood With A Student's School Supplies, And Parents Are Furious
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Parents — I really want to know how you'd handle this tricky school supplies situation.
Here's the full story:
"So I'm (31, female) an adoptive mom to an 8-year-old girl named Lilly. We decided to go school supply shopping because I enrolled her in a before-school-starts program."
"A month before school starts, they learn some extracurricular stuff. Lilly really wanted to join the program, so we went out and bought all the school supplies."
"I have had problems with people stealing from Lilly, so I made sure to mark everything. We bought all the required supplies, including a clear backpack. To prevent theft, I used E6000 glue to put her name on the clear backpack so no one could take it. It's bound to happen otherwise."
"We got a really cute pencil pouch, and I wrote her name with a Sharpie on the inside of the pouch. I also wrote her name on the box of markers and every individual marker. I did the same with the scissors and the glue stick. I basically wrote her name on everything to prevent theft."
"I sent her to the program, but when Lilly came home, she was upset (though not crying). Apparently, we weren't supposed to write names on the school supplies because everything was going to be mixed up and distributed to everyone."
"I called the teacher, and they explained that they didn't have enough money to get every single kid their own supplies, so they planned on distributing the supplies evenly. The teacher shamed Lilly for it. Now, I don't know what to do."
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A majority of commenters were on the mom's side. "Not the asshole. If schools have trouble getting supplies for all students, then they should make that announcement so parents can volunteer to pitch in extra for kids who go without," user PetrockX wrote.
"I will never understand shaming parents and kids for wanting to use their own supplies."
"You tell her teacher that you have provided supplies for your child and take the shaming to the superintendent," user shammy_dammy agreed.
This mom shared a similar experience with her own child's school supplies:
"This is why I stopped sending school supplies to school on the first day. I sent two boxes of 96-count Ticonderoga pencils to school, and my son would come home with cheap RoseArts pencils. I sent Mead notebooks; he would come home with Pen+Gear. Crayola colored pencils? RoseArt. Expo markers? Office Depot in return. Nope. Not the asshole mama. They want me to share, I will send the cheap crap, but my kid's durable and quality stuff stays in his bag and isn't shared. Period."
—Delicious_Expert_880
ABC
This teacher shared their take on the situation, stating that they often had to spend their money on school supplies.
"I hate the pooling of school supplies. I am saying this as both a teacher and a parent. However, I will also say that it is disappointing how many parents don't send their kids with any school supplies, though, and as a teacher, it means I am stuck buying supplies for those students who don't bring any out of pocket. It is an unfair system because I can barely get my own kids their supplies; I really don't get paid enough to supply half a classroom with supplies as well. So, I understand the idea of having everyone pool their school supplies, but it isn't fair to the parents who actually take the time to buy those supplies specifically for their own children. Why should it be everyone else's responsibility to provide those items? I understand that some people don't have the money to send those school supplies; what I'm saying is that then there should be a system in place for those parents, and the responsibility shouldn't fall to the teacher or other parents."
What do you think about this situation? Let us know in the comments.
