You HAVE to be kidding me.

So I have a student.  He's a pill.  He has been since day one.  In fact, I held him after class on the first day and he's been giving me grief ever since.  Anyway, last week he came in with his mother who called me out of class and asked me how he was doing.  He was failing.  He's been failing since the beginning because he rarely comes with paper, let alone a learning attitude.  He hasn't turned in work for months.  He told his mom that he thought he was passing.  What?!?!?!  He was seriously surprised when I told him.

He got suspended for a month and then another few days and came back halfway through my class.  he was distracting, he came without paper or writing utinsils.  He talked the entire time.  At the end of class I got my phone, called him out and called his mother.  This is by no means the first time his mother has been involved.  She looked really upset when she visited my classroom the previous week so I thought she may still be concerned.  She wasn't.  I asked her to come for a meeting.  She came about a half hour ago during my lunch period.  

Here is her solution to her son's problem:  I should keep writing him up.  I should try to get him suspended.  She took responsibility for NONE of her son's issues.  She wouldn't promise to work with me or talk to him, or punish him.  She only expressed her frustration that the school wasn't doing more to discipline her child.  She couldn't even tell me if he was in school yesterday.  This is what I have to work with.  If the parents are that worthless (I hate using that word, but it discribes their helpfulness perfectly).  She wants him to go to a private school (public schools aren't good for her kid).  She can't afford that so she just went on about how useless the schools are.

Granted, I say that all the time.  They are useless, especially if you are expecting them to do all the parenting.  Schools are a supplementary education.  Parents still have responsibilities.  Why doesn't anyone understand that?  Nothing is going to get better until parents really start caring about their kids.