Posts by copperheron18

James Perez54 said:Look, genius...

Nobody is claiming there aren't unstable parents who threaten teachers (just like there are unstable ex-husbands or veterans out there, etc.), but it isn't nearly as common an occurrence as you're making it out to be. 😁

The issue with handed-out grades starts when a teacher gives an A to little Timmy because his mom is a nurse at the local hospital, or to little Jane because her dad works for some government agency, for example...
Then someone does a sweep through the school, and another kid's mom kicks up a massive fuss about the injustice, so that same teacher settles things by giving her kid a free grade too, and so it goes, and so it goes...

If you give a handout to one student (whether it's for your own benefit or because of pressure from above), then you have to give it to the next one whose parent is constantly badgering you for information.

Because what other logic does a parent have to demand an unearned grade for their child? It's simply the logic of "If you gave Timmy an undeserved grade, then you better give it to my kid too."
Wouldn't it be much easier for a teacher if they had a clear conscience, opened up the gradebook, showed the parent the grades for their child versus a top student, and honestly explained why the child hasn't earned an A?

But... the vast majority of teachers are under constant pressure; they fear the confrontation and find it easier to just toss in another handout grade (one more here or there doesn't seem to matter much).
Yet, on the flip side, they are full of praise regarding their own integrity, principles, and dignity. 🙄

In my middle school, things were a total disaster regarding this sort of thing. My class was full of kids with connections: one had a grandmother who was a former teacher at that very school, another had a father who was a CEO, a third came from a family that struck it rich overnight, and a fourth had a mother working in Washington... plus a few others. We had teachers who would directly pad their grades based on "participation" or other arbitrary metrics. Some kids would pull a D or an F on their actual exams, only to end up with an A on their final report card. Then there were the milder cases where they'd give them a quick verbal quiz at the end of the year just to justify bumping them up to an A for the sake of it. It was awful. Though, I suppose not every school in the US is like that.

Oh, and just to add a final note: despite all those high scores and being enrolled in prestigious prep schools thanks to those inflated points, absolutely none of those kids actually maintained their straight-A status once they got there.🙄

Linda Price5 said:For anyone truly literate, expressing themselves in writing becomes second nature—it’s automatic. It’s much like how an expert driver doesn't have to consciously think about shifting from first to second gear. 🙂

How many jobs are actually out there for construction workers who didn't finish high school?

Most people fall somewhere in the middle of the bell curve when it comes to intelligence. So, when we look at this former hospitality student who struggled, it might not simply be a matter of him lacking brainpower. If he had cognitive difficulties, he should have been provided with a tailored curriculum. If the issue was something else—like a subpar K-12 education system (which, let's face it, is a major flaw in the US; you see plenty of teenagers who struggle with basic literacy despite having decent grades because why bother mastering reading comprehension when you can just coast through English class?)—then it's probably a mistake to pin the entire failure on the individual.

I highly doubt that, say, people in Scandinavia are significantly more intelligent than Americans.

There you go. Regarding that first point, I disagree. Just because I don't bother with perfect punctuation or spacing on a web forum doesn't mean I'm illiterate. I don't feel the need to justify my literacy to anyone here.

Why does someone struggle through middle and high school? Obviously, it depends on a multitude of factors beyond just the quality of the school system (which, admittedly, isn't perfect). If the education is the same, why does one person end up in medical school while another ends up on a construction site?

If we want to avoid turning this thread into a debate over who is most literate or which school district is better, let me stick to what I've heard directly from numerous teachers and what I observed during my own schooling. If anyone disagrees, fine, but I still maintain that teaching math in a prep academy is a far more pleasant experience than teaching it in a vocational school.

Linda Price5 said:Barbers, carpenters, HVAC technicians, tilers, chefs, servers—you name it. Not everyone needs to flock to those elite prep schools that somehow churn out graduates who can barely string a coherent sentence together in their own language. Believe me, some students actually learn things there, though it’s rare.

(Disclaimer: I have nothing against preparatory academies; my issue lies with the pedestal we put those semi-literate "elites" on. 🤦)

Just how many of these jobs exist that don't require a high school credential, and what does the annual growth look like for those positions? 🍿

I don't interact much with people who barely finished middle school, but I know from experience that several kids from my middle school ended up working construction jobs shortly after being kicked out of their high schools.

I didn't say only prep schools have value—I won't sit here and list every single type of vocational school—but for example, I think medical training is incredibly difficult, if not more so than prep school. I'm not trying to insult all trade schools, but when someone finishes middle school with mediocre grades, enrolls in culinary school to be a waiter, and then either fails out or gets expelled after three months for skipping class... no, I don't think that person is particularly brilliant.

As for the idea that someone doesn't know their own language or is semi-literate—well, that happens in prep schools too, just far less frequently than elsewhere. Regardless of whether you were thinking of me specifically, you certainly can't judge someone's literacy based on how they write on a forum, Facebook, or in a chat. For instance, I speak with a heavy regional dialect, which doesn't mean I don't understand proper pronunciation. Personally, I make an effort to use correct grammar and spelling on this forum, though that doesn't mean I don't adjust my tone during official business or when speaking to people I'm not close with (like when I was writing an English essay in school, for example. 😁)

feralmoose4 said:Please tell me you aren't a teacher.🙂

Why is that?😁

No, I am not a professor (thank goodness), though I could certainly go on forever debating the quality of education, the faculty, high schools, or even universities themselves.🤣

It likely stems from being surrounded by professors—family, friends, acquaintances—combined with my habit of constantly comparing my own experiences in school and college with others. Through exchanging those perspectives, I've arrived at certain conclusions...

Personally, I don't believe a high school diploma is a prerequisite for many career paths. I won't sit here and list every single profession where you don't need to know English, calculus, or even the chemical formula for ethanol. In those sectors, employers aren't actually looking at your schooling; they’re looking for a willingness to work. It reminds me of those recent articles floating around the internet about how nobody in America wants to be a ranch hand or work manual labor on highway construction projects during the summer. We end up having to import labor from overseas while our own unemployment numbers stay stubbornly high... anyway, I digress, but that was my thought process.

It is also an open secret among academics that getting a job in certain fields is significantly easier if you graduated from a prep school. Honestly, you practically need deep connections just to get a foot in the door. Take a high school classroom, for instance: if a teacher threatens a pop quiz, the room goes silent instantly. No student wants a 1 or a 2 dragging down their GPA. Unfortunately, in some schools, teachers can't even use those tactics because the kids simply don't care. They'll take a failing grade just to get the teacher off their back so they don't have to show up for summer school.☕

rustydrifter10 said:Look, it’s not like everyone in vocational schools is a thug, and it's certainly not true that every kid in a prep school is a perfect little model student. For me, what really matters is who is standing at the front of the classroom and how they approach teaching my kids. When I was picking out an elementary school, I looked closely at their track record and found out that some of their teachers even help write the actual textbooks used across the country. And that isn't just any random school; they have real substance. Honestly? I’d much rather send my child to a trade school where they might actually walk away with a solid grasp of grammar and spelling than send them to some "elite" academy only to have them come out more illiterate than a third grader. What's the point of a diploma if there's nothing behind it?

Of course that’s true—I’m speaking in broad strokes here, and there are always outliers. My neighbor teaches English to a mix of students: some from four-year high schools, some specialized computer science tracks, and others in three-year vocational programs like mechanics. In the prep school classes, everything is smooth sailing; they listen, they engage, they study. Most of the tech kids are similar, though perhaps a bit more distracted, but generally polite children. But those three-year vocational kids? She gets a literal knot in her throat before class. They are incredibly arrogant and disrespectful; they refuse to do any work, yet they'll throw a fit the moment they receive a failing grade they actually deserve.

She has made it clear time and again that forcing everyone into a traditional high school track is pointless. For many, it simply doesn't fit. What is the purpose of pushing everyone toward a diploma if there is absolutely no substance behind it?

Linda Price5 said:Forgive me, I know I’m drifting off-topic here, but which specific high school are we talking about, and is the same instructor still teaching English? I suspect there are people in this group who actually give a damn about their children graduating with even a modicum of literacy.

When I'm posting on a forum, I don't obsess over grammar. It’s much like how I speak with my own family—there's simply no need to fret over sentence structure, whether I use "due to" or "because," or if I nail every syllable perfectly. I see no reason why my level of literacy should be up for debate on this board, especially since I'm typing quickly while juggling a dozen other responsibilities. Look, I shouldn't even have to defend myself, but in this specific instance, I felt compelled to. If my observations regarding the workload of teachers in public high schools versus vocational schools bothered you, then I apologize; however, the facts remain unchanged...

Nancy Cruz3 said:I think when people say "prestigious high schools," they aren't talking about private institutions—they mean the top-tier public schools that are notoriously hard to get into and produce the best results. Think places like Stuyvesant or Bronx Science in New York.

Exactly... I have no idea when private schools suddenly became the gold standard for prestige and quality (aside from the price tag required to walk through the doors🙄).

I was thinking specifically of places like Lincoln High, Roosevelt, or even some of the elite magnet schools.
Working there is actually quite pleasant, provided you know how to hold your ground and manage your curriculum effectively; it's smooth sailing. But as for the private sector? Honestly, it's a nightmare. You're dealing with a crowd of entitled elites who lack any real substance yet act like they're the smartest people in the room simply because they have deep pockets. It's the delusion that money can buy both an A+ and actual intelligence.

Jason Ortiz5 said:Good grief... 🤦

Look, nobody’s saying crazy, aggressive, or totally unhinged parents don't exist. But the way people talk about it makes it sound like being a high school history teacher is actually more dangerous than being a soldier deployed in Afghanistan.

My mother-in-law actually admitted that even in her 40s, she’s only had a handful of real conflicts with her own parents. And that’s over her entire lifetime. Mind you, this woman is basically the gold medalist of playing the victim and complaining about every little thing under the sun.

Look, there is a massive gap between what happened 30 or 40 years ago and what is happening today; any rational person can see that. Back in the day, a professor was highly respected—a doctor was even more so. People used to bring gifts (bribes, let's call them 😁) because those professions were held in the highest esteem. You had the elite tier: the teacher, the doctor, the lawyer. You simply cannot compare the past to the present while my sister-in-law is working now. So much has shifted in the interim—economic instability, social shifts—which has left many people on edge, causing them to lash out at anyone within reach. The current state of society is just different, and while it affects teachers heavily because they deal with such diverse groups, it isn't limited to them.

It is not the same thing to be a teacher at a prestigious prep school where the kids are decent, actually want to learn, pay attention, care about their grades, and come from educated, cultured families. It's an entirely different universe compared to teaching at a three-year vocational school populated mostly by delinquents who lack basic vocabulary, manners, or any sense of decorum.

Middle schools are essentially a volatile mix of both extremes, and no one can dispute that. Being a teacher at a top-tier academy (specifically the one I attended, though many others are similar) is, in my opinion, a fantastic career. But being a teacher at some vocational school (I won't name names to avoid offense) is 🙂

Nancy Cruz3 said:Aside from the topic itself—where plenty of nasty, useless comments have been tossed around—I just felt the need to weigh in on this one specific detail.
Just so we're clear on a few things—

I personally know of plenty of cases where parents have threatened teachers.
It’s true—most of the issues centered on specific teachers in the upper elementary and high school grades—though, granted, there were threats made against some of the female instructors as well.
And that’s only because mommy’s little golden boy can't handle getting anything less than a five.

It all starts small—slashed tires, keys scraping against car paint, threats involving spray-painted front doors, those middle-of-the-night calls... then it escalates to knives being flashed at information desks, and eventually, yes, gun threats and even bringing a bomb onto a school campus.

Just so you have some idea of what people actually tolerate—before you decide to make fun of it again next time.
Smart move.

This is the cold, hard truth. Unfortunately, we live in a society filled with all sorts of unstable individuals, and these things happen; I’ve heard stories about it more than once... an aggressive dad shows up, claiming he has PTSD or was a veteran, threatening to kill everyone just because his "gifted" kid got a grade slightly lower than what he decided they deserved.

Given everything I read in the news or see on TV, my life would seem pretty easy compared to worrying about a single grade... honestly, I don't think I could handle working under those kinds of conditions. I’d probably quit within a week.

Andrew Martin89 said:Some lady actually had the nerve to call me out on the bus today—I was on the 34th Street line with my five-year-old, and there was a perfectly good empty seat right behind me, but no, she just *had* to insist on sitting right next to us instead.🙂

Wait, excuse me—what exactly did you mean when you said I "could have said" that?

I don't quite follow, but if I were in your shoes, you’d practically need to bring in a construction crew with an excavator just to get me off the floor. Honestly, there is simply no force on earth that would compel me to stand up for some elderly ladies when I'm feeling this way—and frankly, there is no force at all that would make me rise in any situation if I were being met with such arrogance.

Timothy Wood38 said:That is definitely drug tolerance. Honestly, since I don't know if your insomnia has some underlying psychological or physical cause, I'm hesitant to give any specific advice. You really need to sit down and talk to your doctor about this. Just keep in mind that Xanax is primarily an anxiolytic, and it's only secondarily a hypnotic. Because of that, it can absolutely lead to both tolerance and dependency.

Honestly, my situation is "unique," and it truly feels like a dead end.😢
For the most part, I have a small baby, which naturally meant constant nighttime wakings at the start. It completely wrecked my sleep-wake cycle. During the first month, I could drift back to sleep easily from a semi-conscious state, but that stopped. It’s been six months now. There are brief windows—maybe a week or two—where I can sleep normally, wake up at night, and just drift right back off, but lately, these sleepless stretches are getting longer and much worse. Last night, I took 1.5 x Xanax 0.25; I slept maybe four hours, and after that, nothing. I wasn't even close to drifting off again. I finally crashed around 9 AM, but duty calls... These constant wakings and the sheer anticipation of when I'll be jolted awake again has driven me to the brink of madness. I simply cannot sleep because of the dread. Even though I only woke once last night—meaning I actually had the chance to sleep normally—it just wouldn't happen. On top of all this, there's a mountain of other stressors: finishing college, passing my final exams, trying to catch up... and perhaps some form of postpartum depression. Everything has piled up, and the worst part is feeling like there is no way out.

Ultimately, I have no idea what could restore a normal rhythm for me. If my Xanax is losing its efficacy, I can see where this leads: maybe another benzodiazepine, or perhaps a higher dose of Xanax (though I don't see how increasing doses can go on forever), or maybe an SSRI antidepressant. 😕😢

I am reaching out for some help, advice, or even just to hear if anyone else has dealt with something similar.

For several months now, I’ve been taking Xanax 0.25 occasionally at night because I struggle with sleep—insomnia, waking up constantly throughout the night, the whole bit. It actually worked quite well initially; I could finally relax, drift off, and get decent rest. Having a young child makes everything harder, but even if I was woken up during the night, I could easily fall back asleep. That held true until recently, when it simply stopped working. Now, even after taking a pill, I might manage to nod off, but I find myself wide awake again after just three hours. Sometimes, despite having taken the medication, I can't sleep at all; it relaxes my body, sure, but my mind stays wired and sleep just won't come.

Is this just a case of building up a tolerance where I should increase the dosage or perhaps switch medications entirely? Has anyone else gone through this?😕

sophiella said:I already told you—if you thought this thread was going to turn into a group session where we all trash the teacher and rally behind you... you were clearly mistaken. You shouldn't have even opened this topic.
My comment isn't an attack; I am simply reading everything you’ve written, following those very guidelines you constantly insist we follow. From your own words, it's clear you hadn't even sorted out your own logic. You deliberately weighed whether or not to give him the money, and then decided against it because of what the teacher or the school administration might say. You consciously exposed your shy, fearful child—your own words—to an agonizing situation: standing there in front of thirty classmates, watching them buy food and eat while he couldn't. You subjected him to bullying and teasing from his peers. These kids are ten years old, not five; their insults cut deep. And yet, you find it necessary to lash out at the woman who stepped in to help your child by offering him the funds, specifically noting that Mom could pay her back later just to spare him the embarrassment.
You failed to raise your little one to have the backbone to say no.
The fault lies with you.
The boy took the money.
She didn't force it on him; she offered it, told him nicely he could repay her, and despite that, he took it.
You let him sweat it out in New York City because of $2.50 you had, and you allowed the teacher at school to be put in the position of asking him for money that he simply doesn't have.
While you sit here making a scene on this forum expecting praise and sympathy—for what, exactly?

And frankly, looking at this post, it's clear how you interact with anyone whose opinion doesn't align with yours. It's shameful.
In this scenario, the victim is your child, and you shouldn't be fighting petty battles over pennies through him—especially since YOU caused this mess in the first place.

As for that poor teacher, I actually admire her now.
To see the kind of people she has to deal with.

Everything said here is true... blunt, perhaps, but true...
She likely hesitated about whether to give him the cash or not (no one is disputing that if she had extra, she would have handed it over without a second thought), but she ultimately chose not to. In the end, the teacher decided to fix the mother's oversight—though, in that moment, the teacher probably didn't realize she was stepping into a minefield or how this would blow up. If she had known, she probably wouldn't have offered anything. Honestly, nobody would have made a fuss if this entire mess hadn't turned into a situation where the teacher is being scrutinized. It seems she is just trying to quiet her own conscience by seeking validation from people on this forum that she did the right thing.

Kimberly Robinson2, tell me: would it have been easier if the teacher hadn't given him the money, leaving him to come home crying because everyone else was eating and he wasn't—blaming you for the humiliating spot he was in? Or would it have been easier if he told you the teacher gave him money and didn't ask for it back? (Personally, the latter sounds even more insulting to me, as if someone were handing my child charity.)

James Perez54 said:I am an astronaut.😛

As for what I do for a living, this isn't a thread about me...

If you consider yourself part of that untouchable academic elite, then please, do me a favor and explain why you bend over backward for those tedious parents who constantly nag about grades and act like their kid is some kind of misunderstood genius...
Will you actually miss them?

Or does that apply to the kids of friends, acquaintances, or just anyone with enough cash to throw around...

My neighbor—who runs that high-end boutique downtown—was just bragging to me about how some local professor shops exclusively at her store...
What a coincidence... handing it right over to her daughter, and just imagine—the kid even pulled a perfect score on her exams...😍

No, I haven't, but I can tell you this: if I did, I’d make sure to hold my ground. I wouldn't let my parents lecture me or act like they know more about my career than I do—and honestly, I wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt about that. Not for them, and certainly not for my kids. At least, not most of them, given the way some people think these days. I wouldn't feel bad about a child simply refusing to eat at a McDonald's, for instance. That just shows how far these ridiculous arguments can go. Everyone should be responsible for their own mess. It feels like no matter what you do, you're wrong. You take the kids on a field trip? Criticized. You don't? Criticized. You give them five dollars or two, or buy them a Happy Meal or you don't—it's all wrong. And then comes the endless stream of sob stories. Look, does anyone actually have a family? Some people live off welfare while others struggle to get by. Personally, I couldn't care less.

Honestly, thank goodness I’ll never have to work in education. That is my final, definitive conclusion.☕

The reason I asked about your profession is simple. Since you’ve gone out of your way to brag about having a perfect GPA, I naturally assumed you actually finished a degree somewhere. Typically, among the academically inclined, there isn't much of a tradition of tearing others down—certainly not with this level of vitriol—unless, of course, someone harbors a deep-seated grudge against a specific field.

James Perez54 said:It's simple: there just aren't enough qualified or competent professionals working with kids.

They won't realize it until they purge the dead weight from their own ranks, but most of them just act like cowards and pretend it isn't their problem...

It seems you have a bit of a grudge against professors in general. Or am I just being overly critical of every single profession I come across?

As for that final remark—suggesting they should just shut up like cowards while pretending none of this affects them—I might actually agree if we were talking about certain professors at state universities who lack even a shred of competence. In those cases, they probably shouldn't be anywhere near students because they simply aren't qualified for the job. However, I would never dream of applying that logic to this teacher, nor to the vast majority of educators working in our local elementary and high schools.

James Perez54 said:Regarding grades, I am talking about actual, non-fictional student knowledge (measured by As) and you are intentionally twisting my words.

Who is to blame for the inflation of As and honors? Are parents writing the grades in the report cards? Are they threatening teachers at gunpoint?
You tell me, what's really going on here? 😁

I don't know anyone who pays for tutoring to get an A (sic!), let alone to fix an F.

By the way, I have never encountered such a massive collection of hypocrites, emotional wrecks, insecure people, and frauds (exceptions exist, obviously) as I have within the education system.
Why is that?
Back in my day (I'm 43), anyone who couldn't get into their preferred college (lower-performing students) or couldn't find a high-paying job in their field (unrelated) would regularly end up working in a school, taking out their frustrations on children.
I highly doubt things have improved since then.

Exactly. It is the parents who are constantly hovering over schools, badgering for better marks, pleading, and exerting pressure on professors, lecturing them on why their child "clearly knows more" than the curriculum suggests...

But has it occurred to you that someone might fail because they aren't paying attention, or they talk too much, or they don't concentrate? Are the teachers supposed to be held accountable for those lapses, too?

As for your claim that people enter academia just to vent their frustrations on their children because they failed at everything else—honestly, I have no comment. It sounds so pathological that it borders on being detached from reality. 😕

It seems to me you are projecting your own personal grievances through these insulting remarks toward everyone who is, or will be, an educator. I am genuinely curious: what degree did you earn, and what exactly do you do for a living that allows you to be this vitriolic toward a group of people who actually put in the work to finish their degrees just to serve society?🙄

Sure, she could have just let the money go, but here we are. It turns out the simplest solution would have been never to hand it over in the first place. I mean, if she’s out here clawing for it now, it’s obvious those $7.00 actually matter to her—she isn't exactly throwing cash into a bonfire. And if they truly meant something to her, she shouldn't have given them away at all. The kid would have eaten, and nobody would be left holding the bag (well, except maybe him, but then that becomes his issue and his parents' issue for failing to provide basic funds)

So many people in this country hold jobs they aren't even qualified for or capable of performing. This goes way beyond just professors in some hypothetical scenario, and honestly, we could debate that for hours, but that’s beside the point.

James Perez54 said:No, that’s just a tiny little way to compensate them for the constant headaches, because, oh boy, 🙄, working with kids is incredibly draining.☕

No, it isn't really the kids that make it difficult... It's dealing with their primitive parents.☕

Or we could put it this way: a teacher shouldn't be handing out cash to a child. Her mindset should have been—everyone has money, everyone eats, except for perhaps one kid who has his own sandwiches and water (so he isn't starving), and I am not the Red Cross, so I have zero reason to give a little one money (clearly, I can't lend it to them, since as they say, you don't lend money to a child, you lend it to their parents).

Look, personally, after everything I’ve seen and read here, I would have done the exact same thing. I mean, why should I care how that child felt at the moment? (He can go discuss that with his mother). Why should I care if other kids tease him for it? (That is simply a matter of their own lack of discipline). Otherwise, it all ends up in that "help the poor soul at your own expense" cliché. Honestly, I'm curious—if this situation had been presented on an American forum, what kind of comments would we be seeing...

wiredwalker14 said:Of course they get a commission—whether it's for workbooks, Scholastic materials, or any other publisher... I actually know of a case at my school where a Teacher organizing a summer camp trip let her preschooler grandson go for free, and she told us herself. Besides, I used to work at a publishing house, so I'm not just guessing. What a teacher decides to do with that commission is entirely up to them. Whether they buy extra supplies for a student whose family is struggling or keep it for themselves... that's their call. But I also know that publishers always provide an extra copy or two, specifically to help out the kids who might not have the funds.

Honestly, looking at all this, one could easily conclude that being a Teacher is a truly blessed profession. It’s practically all commissions and complimentary trips; you're constantly receiving little kickbacks left and right. It honestly seems like a much better gig than working in Congress or sitting on some corporate board of directors.🙄

I’ll say it again: I am genuinely baffled. If everything is supposedly so wonderful and rewarding about being a professor or a teacher, why aren't we seeing a mass exodus toward those careers? It makes no sense. Instead, we see people with minimal specialized training pulling in significantly higher salaries, yet nobody seems to want to discuss that discrepancy. Of course, the narrative shifts to how difficult it is to be a city bus driver, which conveniently justifies why they might earn more than an educator. It's a convenient excuse, really—as if the fact that they didn't need a four-year degree from a university like Yale or Stanford somehow validates the pay gap.

I have quite a few close friends working in the school system, and I simply cannot remain silent when I see comments like these—even if I know this isn't strictly the topic at hand. When I read these remarks, knowing firsthand what these educators endure from parents on a daily basis, I feel compelled to say that we ought to be erecting monuments to our teachers and professors. Personally, I wouldn't be able to finish my degree if I were subjected to the level of disrespect, condescension, and sheer rudeness that many students and their parents exhibit toward faculty today. It’s a cycle, really; after all, behavior doesn't just manifest out of thin air. No child is born with such a disposition; it clearly starts at home.🙄

Let’s get back to the point. It seems quite obvious that every student and their parents were perfectly happy to support McDonald's as long as there was cash being handed out to sweeten the deal, wasn't it? Honestly, I had no idea the Teacher was so intimately acquainted with the OP's financial struggles. If she truly noticed that only one child was short on funds and her intention was genuinely to perform a good deed, she could have simply given the money to him directly. $3.25 The strategy should be subtle. You buy something small—maybe just a scoop of ice cream or a side of fries—to test the waters. It’s about seeing if Mom will send some extra cash back your way without making it obvious. You don't want to be too blunt with the kid about it; that's bad form. Instead, you wait for the right moment at a Parent-Teacher Association meeting to bring it up casually.