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A teacher is being dragged online after he rebuked a disabled student's hairstyle that they use to "hide the left side" of their face after they lost their eye.
The now-viral Reddit post, titled, "AITA for showing my missing eye to the new teacher after he told me my bangs are disrespectful," has garnered 15,000 upvotes and 900 comments since it was shared to the subreddit "Am I the A**hole." Redditor @Competitive-Dingo-24 shared the post on June 15, and it's had people talking ever since.
According to Pew Research Center, there are almost 7 million disabled students in the United States, and they encompass 14 percent of the enrollment in public schools. The number grew 11 percent from the 2000-2001 school year to the 2017-2018 school year.
"I had an accident when I was a baby, and I lost my left eye," the original poster (OP) explained. "I don't have an eye socket I could put a fake eye in, it's just normal skin and some scars on a big [patch] of my face (they reconstructed my face with a later surgery this way). The right side and the bottom half of my face [are] completely normal. I have big side bangs that hide the left side of my face so I don't freak anyone out and I don't get weird looks."
The OP has been attending the same school since they were 5, and the teachers and the kids know about the situation. Recently, they got a new teacher. He started off by asking the students to go around and introduce themselves.
"When it got to me, he was rude and asked me 'Do your parents know you come to school looking like this? It's extremely disrespectful, fix your bangs, I want to see your face!'" the OP recounted.
So the Redditor said they "obeyed," tucking their bangs behind their ear, exposing the left side of their face. The teacher reportedly "gasped," and his face also "turned red." The OP's classmates "laughed," and their teacher told the Redditor they could let their bangs down.
Later that same day, the OP's head teacher came to them to "scold" the student, telling the Redditor they were "wrong to 'shock' the new teacher," and how they should have just told him about the situation.
The OP concluded: "Did I do anything wrong? I just obeyed his orders, it's not my fault he ended up not wanting to look at my face. AITA [am I the a**hole]?"
Numerous comments poured in, and people are fully backing the OP and slamming their teacher, given the circumstances. One comment reasoned the teacher was "rude as f**k," and they didn't stop there. They said he was an "a**hole," and it "resulted in him being embarrassed." They also thought the head teacher was an "a**hole for trying to reprimand" the OP for "existing."
"I despise educators who use their position of authority to bully students," a Redditor said. "And yes, intentionally insulting a student's appearance in front of their peers the way he did was being a bully."
A user voted NTA, or not the a**hole as their verdict, and they reasoned the teacher put the OP in an "awful position," adding, "Even if you were not missing an eye there are so many viable reasons why someone would want to 'hide behind bangs.' That teacher bullied you. Yes, you should file a complaint. Have your parents do it if they are willing to go to bat. That teacher has no business around kids."
The head teacher was also called out as well for her comments. "It's very disrespectful of the head teacher to say your appearance is 'shocking,' no matter the reason. Both teachers are acting like a**hats. I would make a complaint against both of them."
Another Redditor wondered "where in the world" having bangs is "disrespectful," insisting, "That's absurd. And a teacher shouldn't be commenting on your appearance. Especially when it is in no way distracting."
A user thinks the new teacher "wanted to act big, and it backfired." They also think he needs to "learn" from it.
"He works with kids FFS [for f**k's sake], he should be more sensitive to what implications that could have had on your mental health had the rest of the class not been aware, and he made you reveal a part of yourself that you've intentionally concealed."
Some people think the OP should get their parents involved in what's going on, and one such user said to do so because the situation isn't OK, and that the teacher berated the Redditor for covering their face.
They added they were "sorry" they felt the need to cover their face, adding the teacher "made you do that on the spot with the whole class watching, and he acted super immature about it. Now you're in trouble for ... complying with your teacher's request? That's a steaming pile of bs [bulls**t."
Another user doesn't think the OP is the a**hole, but they think the teacher and the head teacher are. "Please tell your parents so they can write a formal complaint on both of them," they said. "The teacher should have more common sense than to react like that. The head [teacher] shouldn't have made it your responsibility to coddle the grown adult."
A Redditor recalled the teacher's "reaction when the student showed their face," adding, "What a horrible thing to do to a child. These adults are awful. I send a gentle supportive hug to the student who was mistreated and blamed when they did nothing wrong."
Another user thinks the "teacher disrespected" the OP before they commanded them to show their face. "Then he complains that you were rude for doing what he asked you to do," the Redditor said. "The boss of your school sided with the teacher ... That right there should tell you you're on your own ... f**k them ... Stay safe and keep your grades up."
Newsweek reached out to Redditor @Competitive-Dingo-24 for comment.
This isn't the only viral moment involving schools or teachers. A school was slammed for trying to make a girl who has cerebral palsy climb a rock wall. A teacher was called "racist," dragged for forcing a girl to sit alone with "foreign" food. In addition, a boy coming back to school received a sweet greeting in a video clip.
