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A parent is being backed online after they sent their child to school with personalized supplies.
Published to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole forum, a parent under the anonymous username u/Bluecarrot002 shared their story in order to receive opinions from the "AITA" community. The viral post has over 10,000 upvotes and 3,000 comments.
The original poster (OP) began their story by explaining that their daughter, "Mia," recently started a new school. When the OP received the school supplies list, they noticed that they needed to purchase extra supplies. The OP wrote that they "didn't necessarily agree" with buying it, but it "wasn't a hill they were willing to die on" so they bought everything on the list.
"Mia is very particular on what type of stationery she likes," the OP wrote, "I've heard horror stories of kids stuff being redistrubuted and them ending up with crappy supplies so I sat down with Mia and we got her personalised binders and notebooks and pencils with her name on etsy. It's all part of the item so can't be removed and given to another kid (like I said, as requested, I bought extra binders, etc.)."
When Mia arrived home, the OP received a "passive-aggressive" note from her teacher regarding the school supplies. The teacher tried to gather all the school supplies so the kids could choose what they wanted and requested that the OP brought in generic ones instead, which they are refusing to do so.
The teacher has requested that the OP stops by for a discussion.
Newsweek has reached out to u/Bluecarrot002 for comment.
Newsweek has published several articles regarding education including a teacher who was slammed for forcing a disabled student to reveal their scars in school, a mom who was slammed online for telling her child it's "her own fault" she missed out on her dream college and a man who was backed for not funding his nephew's college with his niece's money.
How much money do parents spend on back-to-school supplies?
Back-to-school shopping can be fun yet expensive. The average amount of money that parents will spend on their child's school supply list for the 2022-2023 school year is about $697, per savings.com.
School supply lists vary for each grade. According to cozi.com, here is a list of a typical elementary school supply list:
- Backpack
- Lunchbox
- No. 2 pencils
- Pencil box
- Colored pencils
- Pencil sharpener
- Pens
- Highlighters
- 12-inch ruler
- Point tip scissors
- Gluestick
- Wide ruled 1 subject notebook
- Crayons
- Markers
- Book covers
Redditor reactions
"[Not the a**hole]. I hated this as a kid. My parents would buy Crayola and I would some how get the dollar tree brand. Enough parents complained. Like I'm sorry Susan's parents bought the dollar tree brand but my parents got me this and that's what I want to use," u/jadepumpkin1984 wrote, receiving the top comment of over 16,000 upvotes.
U/vix682 wondered, "[Not the a**hole]- you bought extra as requested and then personalized for your daughter. I don't know what the teacher has a problem with. She purposefully didn't mention that she was gonna switch up the kids supplies and is mad you foiled her plans?? Then what are the extras for?"
"[Not the a**hole]. This trend of Yankee swap in elementary schools is some nonsense. When you buy supplies for your kid, they go to . . . your kid. There's nothing for you and the teacher to discuss. Your kid gets the premium supplies that you purchased," u/He_Who_Is_Right_ said.
"Seeing as how you supplied the teacher with the requested items, [not the a**hole]. I'm all for helping out educators supply their classrooms with adequate supplies, but that doesn't mean I won't get my kids their own stuff. If my kids have plenty, they'll share anyway," u/LenoreSkellington commented.
About the writer
Ashley Gale is a Newsweek reporter based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her focus is reporting on trends. She has covered trends, ... Read more