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Mom Emails Son's Teacher to Opt Him Out of Homework After He Comes Home with Packet: 'We Are Done'

On TikTok, one mom describes how her son received a 15- to 20-page, double-sided August homework packet on the first day of school

TikToker cayleyxo and her son faced a difficult moment after he came home with homework following his first days of kindergarten
Cayley emailed his teacher, sharing that "we are done" with assignments
Following comments from other parents and educators, the mom shared that she and her son's teacher were able to meet in the middle

For one mom, kindergarten homework was just not working.

In a now-viral TikTok , Arizona-based mom of three, Cayley (known as cayleyxo on social media), explains why she emailed her son's kindergarten teacher at his charter school to opt out of homework assignments. In the video, she describes how her son received a 15- to 20-page, double-sided August homework packet on the first day of school, which stressed him out.

"I sent my son's kindergarten teacher a cutesy little email saying, 'I'm sorry. Based on the stress, mental, physical anxiety it's causing my kid, we are done,' " the mom explains in the TikTok.

She adds that the email came after she and her son tried to work on the homework packet together. On Aug. 26, she had him sit down quietly during breakfast and work on finishing at least one or two pages of the packet because he was behind.

During that moment, Cayley says they both started crying.

"It was an emotional mess. I felt so guilty dropping him off at school," she says. "He didn’t want to be there. For the last two weeks, he told me he doesn’t even like school and doesn’t want to be there anymore, which hurts my mama heart because you’re 5. The only thing you should be worrying about is learning and what time snack time is."

"Work to live, we don’t live to work," she adds, explaining how she wants her kids to love school.

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d3sign / Getty Images

Since posting, Cayley’s video has garnered almost 250,000 views and 1,600 comments from people sharing their reactions to the situation, including teachers offering their thoughts on homework.

"Kindergarten teacher here—it's normal for kids to not like school the first couple of weeks or even months!" one person wrote in the comments. "It’s a big adjustment, especially for kids who have never been to preschool or away from their parents. Hang in there, Mama. He’ll love it once he starts to make friends. As for homework, I agree with you. I never sent home homework unless parents specifically asked me, and I always let them know it was optional. I did, however, tell parents to read a book to their child every day, so that was their only 'homework.' "

"I’m a substitute teacher, and homework is SO outdated and unnecessary! Most teachers at the district I work for have made it a thing of the past, but some are still hanging on. Good for you, though!" another teacher replied.

Other parents also chimed into the conversation, one adding: "My kids get SO much homework. They’re GRADED on it too, starting in 1st grade public school! The pressure on these kids is insane."

"We had kinder orientation tonight and my son’s teacher said “homework! It’s kindergarten, I’m not giving homework. Just read with them.” And I thought “good because we ain’t gonna do it” 😂," another parent said.

On Sept. 7, Cayley posted a follow-up video to the TikTok , revealing that after emailing, the teacher reduced the homework to one page. She also included more interactive assignments like keeping a reading log and practicing sight words.

"I told her I would be up for meeting in the middle and working as a team because that is what we’re here for — the benefit of our children," Cayley says in the video. "This is your sign to maybe say something to your teacher, nicely and politely, if something doesn’t sit right with you at their school."

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Petition calls for removal of 2nd-grade teacher after 'absolutely pathetic' comment on student's work goes viral

Feedback from a second-grade teacher on a student's math assignment has gone viral, and now a petition is calling for her termination. (Photo: Facebook)

A petition calling for the termination of a second-grade teacher at a Pennsylvania public school has garnered more than 7,000 signatures after a social media post regarding her feedback to a student went viral.

Chris Piland took to Facebook to voice his displeasure with his son's second-grade teacher at Valley View Elementary School — identified as Alyssa Rupp Bohenek by the Scranton Times-Tribune — after she wrote a remark on a math assignment.

Written in red ink above the assignment, which features 50 subtraction problems, the teacher allegedly wrote of the 7-year-old’s work: "Absolutely pathetic. He answered 13 in 3 min! Sad."

"I am beyond frustrated that someone would write this on a childs work," Piland shared.

According to the Times-Tribune , school superintendent Rose Minniti, was made aware of the remarks written on the assignment on Tuesday. After a meeting between the Valley View School District and the teacher, an investigation has been initiated.

“It’s a personnel issue and the results of that are not going to be dictated by social media,” Minniti told the news outlet. “It’s going to be dictated by the facts and evidence.”

Still, many online are calling for the teacher to be fired.

"Alyssa Rupp Bohenek is a teacher for the Valley View school district that thinks it's ok to bully and talk down to her students, and needs to be removed," reads the petition , "Fire Alyssa Rupp Bohenek."

A counter-petition has been launched in defense of Bohenek, although it did repeatedly misspell her last name and only has 62 signatures so far. Those in support of Bohenek believe, "it is something she should [be] reprimanded for but certainly not fired over."

“As always with everything, we’re going to try to do what’s best for the students and what we need to do for the employee under investigation,” Minniti said.

Piland, Minniti and Bohenek did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.

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‘Wasn’t Prepared At All’ — M’sian Teacher Floored By ‘Gen Z’ Answers Written By Students

Being a teacher is no doubt a challenging job. From having to deal with problematic students to marking endless amounts of assignments and exam papers, it takes a lot of grit and determination not to give up.

A Malaysian teacher recently shared an amusing video of him reacting to some absolutely mind-blowing ‘Gen Z’ answers written by his students for their assignment, where he said he “wasn’t prepared for it at all”.

M’sian teacher stunned by ‘Gen Z’ answers by students

In the 57-second TikTok clip , the teacher who went by the username @eaiinotez began the video by saying that he felt the current batch of students were getting “worse and more stupid”.

M'sian teacher rants about students' 'gen z' answers

To back up his claim, he showed viewers an assignment paper which was submitted by a secondary school student and the answers which were written on it.

The first question came with the picture of a bat, where it asked students to ‘state two characteristics for the animal shown in Picture 1’.

In response, the student wrote ‘Kovid 19’ (Covid-19) and ‘can fly’ as the answers, leaving the teacher to call it “mind-blowing”.

The teacher then showed another assignment, where students were tasked with completing a conversation with a sentence.

In one of the questions, the question gave ‘Can I watch the television now? I’ve completed my homework’ as a starter.

To the teacher’s shock, the student wrote ‘Pooja, what is this behavior?’ instead.

For those who don’t know the reference behind this phrase, its origins can be traced back to a moment where two women got into a fight in an episode of an Indian reality show , where it later became a viral meme.

These answers were more than enough to drive the poor teacher crazy, where he jokingly pleaded the authorities to bring back the abolished Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) exam.

‘Bring back UPSR & PT3!’

The clip, which has since garnered more than 530,000 views at the time of writing, saw netizens expressing shock over the students’ answers.

Some supported the teacher’s plea to bring back UPSR and PT3, adding that such answers were a cause of concern for Malaysia’s education system.

'wasn't prepared at all' — m'sian teacher floored by 'gen z' answers written by students comment 1

Another suggested that schools should reinstate the practice of caning misbehaving and underperforming students so that they will take their assignments more seriously.

'wasn't prepared at all' — m'sian teacher floored by 'gen z' answers written by students comment 2

Another shared how his student wrote ‘Parameswara’ when asked to give an examples of an unicellular organism. Spoiler: the correct answer was ‘paramecium’.

'wasn't prepared at all' — m'sian teacher floored by 'gen z' answers written by students comment 3

Watch the video here:

@eaiisnotez PLEASEREEEE I M NOT READY FOR THIS #school #malaysia #malaysian #upsr #education #spm ♬ original sound – eai

What would be your reaction if your students gave such answers? Let us know in the comments!