Teachers Recall The Worst Thing They've Ever Seen A Parent Do During A Meeting, And I'm Speechless

When you become a teacher, you have to not only teach students new lessons but also meet with their parents during parent-teacher conferences. Unfortunately, not all conferences go smoothly. So we asked the BuzzFeed Community: "Teachers, what is the most bizarre thing you witnessed at a parent-teacher conference," and the answers will shock you. Here's what they had to say below:

1."I had a high school student who had been doing poorly in some of his classes. The mom was super upset because her son decided to play baseball, but his poor grades were making him ineligible. There were multiple texts/emails to me, emails, and phone calls to the athletic director and principal about how we weren’t doing enough to help her son get his grades up. The day before parent-teacher conferences, she sent an email to me threatening to take us to the state board of education. The next day, she showed up at the parent-teacher conference with her mother. She is the last one in my line for the night.

2."I was a 2nd-grade teacher, and the single dad of a 1st-grade student came to see me during conferences, as I would be his son’s teacher the following year. His real motive was to get to know me so that he could ask me out and see if it would be weird to be dating his son’s teacher. I politely turned him down, but it made the rest of the school year super awkward!

—Anonymous, 29, Ohio

3."I teach high school. A few years back, I had a parent conference requested by a mom. Her student had gotten a grade she thought was too low on her recent essay. It wasn’t an awful grade, but it did show that the student had a lot of room for improvement. The mom was unusually upset about it. But then, she slipped up in the middle of the conference and basically admitted that she had written the essay. She covered up super fast, and her kid looked super embarrassed. I had a conversation with the kid after the fact and basically told them that they needed to step to the plate and write their own stuff. I said if they needed help, I would be happy to help them. The funny thing is, the student started doing their own work, and their grade was actually much better. Even timed essays in class, it was clear the student could write better than the mom."

4."I had a parent show me the 'before' of her mommy makeover. She pulled her shirt straight up and showed me her stomach area, breasts, etc., and went on about the boob job component. I wasn’t sure how she wanted me to respond as I thought she totally looked fine, so I just asked her to put her shirt down. It was the first time meeting her as well."

—Anonymous, 43, California

5."I got told I was selfish and that I’d be 'receiving a lot of angry phone calls from other parents' because I was HAVING A BABY and going in on maternity leave!"

6."I was directing parents which classroom to go to when I heard a loud argument behind me. I then saw the principal book, and it was in my direction. I turn around to see two parents going at each other and another male parent grabbing the dad and throwing him to the ground. I came to find out that the mom was sleeping with the other dad, and her husband confronted her at the conference. Police came, no one pressed charges, and the conference ended abruptly."

—Jo, 53, Cleveland

7."The most memorable parent-teacher conference I had was when I was student teaching 5th grade. The parent had an African Grey Parrot. It was just out with him, on his shoulder or occasionally on his arm hanging out, commenting here and there on things. We had pictures of students on the desk, for example, and the parrot would say, 'That's Zane. Where is he?' He was otherwise a very attentive parent."

8."Family was a firm believer in nudist philosophy. They showed up at the virtual parent meeting without clothes and in full view. No warning ahead of time. The family demanded to know what options for the school uniform were and if it could be lessened for their child. The child was a 6th grader in the background, shaking their head no the whole time. I stated that no, sorry, you will have to address this at the next school meeting. They showed up there nude and were asked to leave. Sweet child, though."

—Aj, 35, Arizona

9."I was meeting with a mom and dad once. In the middle of my talking about their child’s progress, the dad interrupted me and asked if I had a neurological disorder because one of my pupils was bigger than the other. He then told me if I weren’t married already, he would marry me because he had 'had a kid in every decade since the 70s, and this one (his wife) is too old now.' She was such a sweet woman; I don’t know if I felt worse for her or me."

10."It was okay that the 9-year-old couldn’t read, as he only needed to read enough to sign an NHL contract because his uncle was a professional hockey player, so therefore, he inevitably would be, too."

—Anonymous, 40, Canada

11."I once had a mom furiously walk out of our conference because I told her that I would not pack her child’s book bag for him at the end of the day. I teach 8th graders, and he had no special needs."

12."I was in a conference with several other teachers, an administrator, and the parents to discuss the student’s failing grades and his behavior. It was pretty much the same story from all of the teachers. The student was very smart and capable of doing the work, but his behavior was keeping him from being successful. I will never forget the father’s 'solution.' He looked at all of us and said, 'If he acts up again, give him a good throat punch!' We all laughed, thinking it was just a reaction from a frustrated parent, but he was completely serious. Our administrator, who had been completely silent until then, suggested a better course of action that everyone agreed to, and the meeting ended. Despite all the calls to his parents after that, the kid still played around more than he worked and failed most of his classes that year."

—Anonymous, 55, Texas

13."We were having Zoom conferences, and when the parents turned on the camera, they were fully under the covers in bed. I truly did not know what to do with myself, and I tried to keep the conversation as normal as possible, all the while praying they also were keeping things... normal."

Teachers, do you have a memorable parent-teacher conference you want to share? Tell us what happened in the comments below.