Math Teacher Argues That It's the Parents' Fault Their Kids Are Failing

Everyone seems to be in agreement that the state of childhood education in the U.S. is ... depressing. That said, what people can't seem to agree on is who is at fault. Teachers blame the parents, parents blame the teachers, and the students blame both, while the education system itself gets blamed by everyone.

Once again, this issue has been brought to the forefront, thanks to a math teacher who made a TikTok video telling parents that it's their fault their kids are failing her class. Naturally, chaos ensued, as the entire internet weighed in on who is responsible for the lack of learning.

A math teacher took to TikTok with a video captioned, "I held my students accountable and expected excellence from each one of them. The parents made it difficult to do so when they themselves did not want to hold their child accountable."

She went on to describe some of the messages she received from parents regarding the kids' math homework. One claimed the child was "traumatized" for being asked to skip lunch to complete the assignment (the teacher clarified in the comments that the child was still given an opportunity to eat). Another parent said their child was too tired to do the homework altogether. A third insisted that their kid had an "emotional breakdown" from the assignments.

Sorry, but if your child is "traumatized" and/or having breakdowns over math homework, you should be teaching them a little more resilience. Life has obstacles that you won't be able to protect your children from in adulthood, and shielding them when the consequences are low will just result in adults who don't know how to overcome difficulties when the consequences are high.

The video's comment section seemed to agree with this sentiment, as comments included gems such as, "The word 'trauma' is overly used and it’s so exhausting." Another shared their own childhood math homework experiences with, "My dad sat for hours with me doing math homework while I cried, still did it. Not traumatized." A third person chimed in, "All your frustrations are valid. Parents need to do better."

In the name of fairness, let's explore this Reddit post in which a parent insists it's the teacher's fault the students are failing. The parent wrote, "An English teacher complains about some kids not understanding a grammar rule. Isn't it your job to teach them that in the first place? Why is it the student's fault for not understanding something he wasn't taught correctly?"

Once again, the internet swooped in to the teacher's defense. One person pointed out, "A teacher can only do so much. If the kid won't pay attention, won't do homework, and basically refuses to learn, I don't blame the teacher." A second echoed, "Some people will do anything to avoid responsibility for their own actions. It's remarkable."

Meanwhile, a third person raised an extremely valid point with, "Before teachers are willing to accept that level of accountability, I think they should get a pay raise, no?" We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that, upon reading the comments, this parent edited their post to say they realized they're in the wrong and the teacher is right. Now, we just need the parents of the TikToker's students to admit the same!