At WeAreTeachers, we’re thinking a lot about how the relationship between school and childcare isn’t working. Schools cannot make the necessary changes to provide services to children if they also have to provide child care for working parents. Our entire economy depends on public schools providing 30 to 35 hours of free day care, which is not the same thing as educating children. We were recently reminded of this by a trending Reddit thread where teachers shared stories of parents dropping their children off at school in incredible situations.
In this situation many parents may feel that they have no other choice. But that’s exactly the problem. Schools are not designed to care for sick children, to provide safe havens for students who may be violent, or to educate children without breaks, whatever the circumstances. We either need more free child care options or we need to fund our school properly. Read this Reddit teachers story to see why.
“We had an argument between two girls last week. Apparently they were given summer vacation. However, this morning both parents decided to drop the students off. ”
“They were told they were not allowed to return until the next school year. But these parents did not pay attention. Now one stays in my classroom for the rest of the day and the other stays in my colleague’s classroom while we wait for the parents to pick them up. The administrators don’t want them in the front office of the school so they have forced them on us. After repeatedly calling them, one parent said they would come at the end of the day, the other blocked the school number. Even calling from the child’s phone did not work. ” -Numb1Slacker
“We had a child who was not registered because he was in prison. We did not know when he would return or not. He was granted bail on Friday and his mother released him on Monday.
“We had no idea he was coming. He was not in our system. We haven’t heard from his case manager. He was sitting in the SRO’s office as we sorted things out. Apparently one of the conditions of his bail was that he should stay in school. No one told us except. “- Some quality gardeners
“We once had an overnight snowstorm with strong winds and terrible road conditions. There was no way anyone could look out of their window and it was not known if the school was canceled. One father (a Dr. Kim) drove to elementary school, dropped his children off and drove them away. ”
“There are no cars, and it’s about a quarter of a mile from any house. The poor kids tried to get inside, realized there was no one, and walked away In the storm Nearby. “-Phanofpolcadts
“A parent threw their child with a fever and threw it away.”
“They said ‘they stayed home yesterday and it was good all day!’ This dad didn’t work! She lived at home mother! She only came back to get her baby when my principal said she would report him as a compulsory reporter for negligence. Some parents have a trip. “- Judgmental Ravencla
“We had a course two weeks ago and a mother dumped her baby anyway.”
“When the school called him, he said ‘f *** off, you have a long day off’ and would not answer his phone for the rest of the day.” —Arukaria 2024
“Our last day was Friday. We have a working day today to get the building up for summer cleaning. Our parents were in line, ready and trying to get the kids off. ”
“I can’t. … You don’t pay attention to your child, note home, the phones we send home every week, announcements from the district, social media pages, nothing, just bring them so you don’t have to deal with them. It’s crazy. “- Extraordinary
We want to hear your story too. Have your children been left out in unusual circumstances by your parents? What do you think about the relationship between public school and child care? Share the comment.
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