High-School Teacher Gets Into War Of Words With Parent Who Feels It's Unprofessional To Allow Students Call Them By Their First Name

What are the odds that calling your teacher by their first name can affect your grades negatively?

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• July 29, 2023

In the journey of a child's education, school teachers play a pivotal role in shaping their development and nurturing their potential. Each teacher brings their unique approach to the classroom, some being strict while others are opting for a more relaxed atmosphere.

Our narrator (OP), Fae, a young high school philosophy and epistemology teacher, prefers to be addressed by their first name. However, this choice triggers a clash with a concerned parent, Karen, who deems it unprofessional and believes it affects her child's grades.

The story unfolds as Fae skillfully defends their teaching methods, employing philosophical concepts to address Karen's concerns.

Despite the disagreement, Fae remains steadfast in her teaching philosophy, emphasizing that test scores do not define a student's true potential. She provides personalized feedback and offers to engage in a constructive dialogue with the concerned parent.

Karen, on the other hand, is in no mood to accept OP's olive branch. She sends email after email, challenging OP's grading practices and urging them to use a professional name in the classroom.

In response, Fae utilizes the situation to educate her students on logical fallacies and showcases how Karen's arguments exemplify Hume's Law.

The Reddit community has now stepped in to deliberate on the matter. Scroll down to find out the final verdict.

Let's dig into the details

OP got into an exchange with a mom after she found out they use their first name in class

Here's the mom's first email

OP offered to meet the mom to discuss in person

This mom wasn't prepared to listen to what OP had to say

OP decided to be petty

Here's what the Reddit community had to say about the story:

A classic Karen behavior

Seems the use of first names for teachers is not popular in Norwegian schools

We're curious to see how the mom will react if OP gives in to her request, only for her son's grades to remain the same

A very strange take indeed

This mom will end up being famous among the kids for the wrong reason

This Redditor has had a similar experience in the past

In Danish schools, using first names for teachers is common practice

The Reddit community is solidly behind OP on this matter. They find it absurd that a parent would blame the use of a teacher's first name as a reason for their child's poor grades.

We don't doubt that her child is brilliant, but there is definitely a better explanation as to why her son has issues with OP's class. Probably she should accept OP's offer to meet up and thrash things out for the boy's sake.

We'd love to get your thoughts on this story. Join the conversation in the comments below.

Jesse