Online classes during the pandemic have been anything but easy for most students and teachers, but when it comes to kids and teens, things may be even more complicated.
For those high schoolers, teachers set the rules and, within reason, students must follow them, whether they're online or in person.
However, one student headed to Reddit's popular r/AmITheAsshole page after she felt one teacher had crossed the line with his unfair rule-making.
Before the pandemic, being in high school was already hard enough for many teens. Now they're required to be on camera surrounded by their peers, sometimes even recorded, for class every day.
This can leave teens feeling especially vulnerable during puberty, and those who are dealing with various living situations. Many students need a great amount of trust from teachers. When they don't feel safe and supported, issues may arise.
Being a teacher isn't easy, but this hardly means it's okay for any educator to treat a student poorly.
Children and teens are often mistreated because they lack the adult authority their teachers have. It's key for teachers to listen to student concerns and create a positive learning environment.
According to her Reddit post, the unnamed 16-year-old girl was in the middle of an online class with a teacher she called "Mr. T" when she realized her period had started.
As she explained, all students in her class are required to keep their cameras on for the full lesson, but can ask for bathroom breaks if they private message the teacher.
Mr. T had always been "quiet and reserved," so she wasn't nervous to ask him to go to the bathroom.
"I privately messaged Mr. T asking if I could use the restroom," the student wrote. "I waited for 10 minutes but he didn't reply so I messaged him again, still no reply."
Understandably, she was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable and definitely needed to dip away from her computer to take care of some things. So she texted her teacher a third time and finally explained that she had started her period and desperately needed to go to the bathroom.
Apparently his reply was, "You should have planned better. Learn to control yourself"
"What? I CAN'T control my period," the student recalled in her post. "I tried explained that I couldn't but he didn't respond."
Feeling frustrated and helpless, she decided to do what was best for her, despite what her male teacher had said.
"I got annoyed and switched of my camera anyways and left to the bathroom," she explained.
However, upon her return, she was shocked to discover that her teacher, in retaliation, had kicked her out of the class lesson. But that's not all he did.
"I later found out the he had written me for switching of my camera and I was given a warning. I was pissed."
After being written up for turning off her camera, this student decided to head to the class Google doc, which is there for students to submit weekly complaints/issues with their online lessons. She submitted a report explaining what Mr. T had done and waited for action to be taken.
She explained, "Today I found out, through my mother, who is also a teacher that Mr. T is being [investigated] as there have been multiple complaints about his behavior and mine was apparently the last straw."
"My dad, brother and few of my friends are calling me and an asshole as I could've just waited for a while instead of complaining and potentially making a man lose his job, especially during this time," the student admitted.
She concluded her post by expressing guilt about her actions, admitting she doesn't want Mr. T to lose her job. So she asked Reddit to tell her once and for all if she really was the asshole in this situation.
Users were not only on her side, but they were furious to learn that she had gone through such an awful experience.
"This is a grown ass man teaching a class of kids that are probably half female," one person wrote. "He should know the bare basics about menstruation and how to address if a female student is having an issue."
Another commenter added, "It blows my mind that someone can reach adulthood thinking a period can be held in.
"Your dad, brother, and friends (who I am assuming are also male) are the assholes," this person fumed. "I'm so f***ing tired of men thinking we can just hold in our period blood the way you can with your bladder."
When someone argued about sex-education classes failing the male gender, another person countered, "Even if sex-ed is s***, grown men have the responsibility of teaching themselves. I have no sympathy for adult men who can’t bother to do a few google searches to learn about half the population."
This person put it best when they wrote,
"First of all this is highly unprofessional. Second, there were more complaints about him, he brought this on himself. If a student needs to use the restroom, they have to go. Have a rule like one bathroom break per lesson and recommend students to use the restroom in between classes. But he couldn't be bothered to be professional, that will get him fired."
Let us know what you think of this situation in the comments and if you think her teacher was in the wrong.
h/t: Reddit
