Worst Examples of Helicopter Parents

You’ve heard of helicopter parents but do you really know how extreme their behavior can get? Brace yourselves, dear readers, for we are about to embark on an absurd expedition into the irritating realm of helicopter parents! If you think you’ve experienced micromanaging at work, this might help put things into perspective as these people make micromanaging look like a pro sport as they hover over their offspring’s every move. So buckle up (or maybe let your parent do it for you), and let’s jump into the most annoying world of parental overinvolvement!

I asked my teacher followers to share their most shocking parent requests. In less than 24 hours, I received over 1,000 responses. Many told similar stories, which I outline below.

The Most Common

Many parents request daily phone calls, texts, and emails from the teacher, updating them about lesson plans, assignments, behavior, and grades.
Many parents still spoon-feed their children in elementary school (up through 5th grade!) and expect teachers to do the same. (One even came to the school every day to spoon-feed her 2nd grader during lunch. I’m sure that kid will grow up to be perfectly well-adjusted.)
Many parents request that finals be moved or that their kid be allowed to take tests early or late because of a vacation. (These requests are often approved, by the way.)
Many parents expect teachers to be available to tutor their kid or meet for a conference at any time, including hours before school starts, during class, all hours of the night, and on the weekend.
Many parents request that the teacher hit their kid. Some give specifics, like using belts or slapping them across the face.
Many parents request that the teacher call home on nights and weekends to help discipline their children. Some ask the teacher to discuss specific things, like cleaning their rooms.
Many parents request that elementary-aged kids be wiped (one mom wanted a phone call when her son pooped so she could come to school and wipe him.)

Bathroom concerns

“Please warm the toilet before my child sits on it. She can’t use the bathroom if the seat is cold.”
A parent complained about the toilet paper in the boys’ bathroom and wanted to know if the custodians could replace it with a softer kind.
A parent requested the teacher brush their child’s teeth after every meal/snack.
One mom wanted the teacher to check the color and size of her son’s poop. He was a senior in high school!
A student swallowed a watch battery at home. The parent sent in a fork, clothespin, and a note asking the teacher to inspect the child’s poop each time he went at school so they could find the battery.

Health concerns

A parent asked if the teacher could keep their child from hugging or sitting too close to other children because they didn’t want her to get sick.
A parent of a 1st grader asked not to have her daughter sit in line on the blacktop after recess because it would give her a yeast infection.
During an IEP meeting, the parent of a 4th-grade girl requested that the teachers include a goal to address her farting in class.
A second grader’s mom sent her son to school with ringworm all over his face. She put bandages on him, but they fell off almost immediately. He scratched his face all day and then touched everything. The nurse called home, but the mom said she couldn’t miss work and refused to pick him up. Of course, the other kids were curious (and grossed out) about the circles on his face, and the next day, she called to complain that the other kids were asking about his face. She said the teacher was at fault for allowing him to get bullied.
A parent asked the teacher to help her fourth-grade son “clean his nose out” before getting his picture taken for picture day.
A mom asked the teacher to remove a Christmas tree from the classroom because her son is allergic to it, and that’s what was causing his behavior issues. The tree was made from construction paper.
A boy would have a tantrum if staff checked on him because he was in the bathroom for too long. “Well, you’re going to have to teach my son to masturbate because I’m not doing it,” was the father’s response. For the record, the teacher was female.
A 4th-grade parent asked the teacher to track when her daughter had her period and the mood changes that came with it.
“My son is under stress when he takes assessments. Could you please squeeze his head while testing?”
“My son (in high school) needs a cot somewhere in the building because when he gets tired, we let him sleep for a little bit.”
A mom wanted the teacher to set a timer for every 10 minutes to remind her daughter to drink water. When the teacher said it would be a distraction to the rest of the class, the mom said that the teacher should walk over to her privately to remind her. This was not for any medical reason; she just thought her daughter needed to drink more water.
A parent demanded her daughter be excused from disciplinary clean-up (which was issued as a consequence for throwing food) because she was “allergic to trash.”
A parent informed the teacher that her child would miss every day of school after a full moon due to her “full moon insomnia” and would need all assignments and tests postponed until she caught up on her sleep.
“Can you check to ensure she’s wearing underwear daily?”
A parent requested that the teacher carry her 5th grader’s trumpet to and from band practice because it was too heavy for him.
“Can you smell my son and tell him if he smells? I don’t think he showers often. Maybe talk to him about being clean.” He was 16.
A mom insisted that her son drink a cup and a half of water literally every hour. And if that kid came home and peed with even the slightest tinge of yellow in his pee, the mom went berserk!

Academic Concerns:

“But you’re not telling me what YOU’RE doing to help her pass your class- you keep telling me what she needs to do, what about you?” -Parent of a 10th grader
A parent wanted the teacher to tell her when her daughter handed something in late before it was late. She literally had to explain how time worked.
“I didn’t know that doing my child’s homework was going to label her a cheater.”
A student’s IEP required teachers to give him a copy of the test WITH THE ANSWERS the night before so he could “study,” per the parent’s request.
A parent wanted the teacher to give her a copy of her daughter’s rough draft, which she hadn’t yet written, and a copy of what it should say.
The mother of a ninth grader who was failing several classes told the teacher that it didn’t matter because her son was going to be a porn star.
“She doesn’t have to be smart. She has to be pretty. She will find a rich man, marry him, and never use chemistry again.”
“My daughter did not plagiarize because only copyrighted work can be plagiarized. She copied from a friend.”
“I wrote that paper, and I thought it was pretty good! I’d like at least a B!”
“Do not give my child homework because I don’t have time to help him. It’s written in his IEP.”
A parent wanted to see all assessments and classwork ahead of time to decide if the lessons were appropriate and to determine if her daughter could take the assessments.
“We’re trying to help our 12th grader prepare for college, so we bought him a planner. We’d like you to fill it out and sign it every day. We’re hoping he’ll take on this new responsibility well.”
“Can you please screen my son for auditory processing disorder? I asked him to get chicken breasts out of the freezer, and he brought chicken wings. I’m concerned.”
A parent requested that a fifth grader only do half of the work that was given in class because doing all of the work gave him anxiety. She also requested that he get to pick the questions he was required to do (the student has no IEP).
A mom wanted the teacher to give her son credit for the essay he didn’t write because he had done it “in his head.”
“Keep a tally chart and report to me daily how many times a day you call on my daughter. She says you don’t call on her enough.” The principal made the teacher do it.
The mother of a high school freshman convinced the intervention specialist to write into her daughter’s IEP that she cannot score below 70% on any assessment, or she gets a retake, regardless of the fact that she was very capable but never did homework or studied.
To minimize distractions, a teacher was asked to teach a student in a tunnel or tent.
“Call me every time my son has a failing grade because I pay too many tax dollars to check grades online.”

Food concerns:

“My child can’t eat the fruit from the shared fruit platter in case the parents injected drugs into them.”
“Please allow my child to remain in the hallway (unsupervised) during lunch because he’s vegan and can’t see other children consume animals.”
A mom emailed the teacher during class to ask her twins if they would rather have Taco Bell or Subway for lunch.
“Please teach my son to use his Tostitos scoops to scoop chicken salad.
“You chew the food in your mouth and then put in my son’s mouth. It’s called premastication.”

Self-esteem concerns:

A parent asked if the teacher could put an A on all of his daughter’s papers and put her real grades in the grade book. All of the D’s and F’s were lowering her self-esteem.
A parent demanded the teacher change her child’s grade or else she would see to it that the teacher be held personally responsible for her child’s low self-esteem.
In an IEP meeting, a parent asked if they could write, “teacher will frequently smile at the student” as an accommodation.
A parent did not want the teacher to give Dum-Dums to her child because she thought it would hurt his self-esteem.
“Please refrain from putting an actual grade on his paper, as it really hurts his feelings!”
A parent asked the teacher to change either her son’s grade for the quarter or his final exam project grade. She felt the project grade should be raised since it was a group project, and he had to do it by himself (because he was in in-school suspension). She felt that “summer school would hurt his spirit.”
A parent emailed the teacher because her daughter had just gotten glasses.
The daughter was feeling a little self-conscious, so Mom was wondering if the teacher would set an alarm in the classroom and remind the daughter every 30 minutes how “great and beautiful” she looked in her glasses.
“I need you to motivate my son by putting inspirational quotes on a Post-it and putting them on the corner of his desk daily.” This is for a high school student.
A parent said that to motivate her kid, the teacher would need to make sure she complimented her daily, and not just by praising her work efforts. All of her teachers needed to compliment her shoes and hair daily to encourage her to want to be in class.

Special requests:

A teacher mentioned to her class that she had attended a concert the night before. In a parent conference with the dept. chair, principal, and teacher, a parent insisted that the teacher no longer be permitted to attend weeknight concerts because she needed to, “keep her eyes on the prize of educating our country’s future,” like her son, who – it’s worth noting- grew up to be a criminal and was incarcerated for rape.
“My husband is a teacher, and he told our son he could copy and paste from the internet as long as he changed every 3rd word because then teachers can’t catch it. So it’s not his fault, and you shouldn’t give him a 0 for plagiarism.”
Half days in a particular district used to be called “early release days,” but a parent complained to the school board because “what are we releasing them from prison or something?” So now they MUST call them “early dismissal days.”
A parent asked that the teacher not mention dying because she hadn’t told her 6-year-old about death. It was President’s Day, and they were talking about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
“Please email me as soon as you know you will be out sick so I can emotionally prepare my son.”
“Stop making her like art so much. I want her to be a doctor or a lawyer.”
A parent of an 8th grader said that if her son couldn’t sit still, the teacher should let him stand beside his desk and do jumping jacks during the lesson.
Mom called to inform the teacher that her son would be bringing his knitting needles and yarn to class and that the teacher should just allow him to knit during lessons because “unless he works all day, he’s never going to finish his Christmas presents.”
At the start of an IEP meeting, a parent requested that the teachers refer to her as “Sexy Chocolate.”
A mom asked the teacher to give her 8th-grade son a shoulder massage whenever he got nervous.
A parent wanted the teacher to sprinkle essential oils on her daughter after lunch or when she wasn’t focusing.
On the first day of school, a parent told the teacher she wanted her to keep a daily journal of everything her daughter did during the day. She wanted a detailed explanation of anything her child did wrong and what the teacher did to prevent the behavior. The student would set the book on the teacher’s desk every morning and remind her to write in it.
A parent requested her child be transferred to another class because the teacher was “too fat.”
A parent felt that learning about the Holocaust was too violent and requested that the teacher change the ending of the memoir Night.
“My son’s teacher had a baby last year, and he had to have a substitute during the maternity leave, so I would really appreciate it if you didn’t get pregnant.”
A kindergarten teacher used a stop light system for behavior management, and a parent asked her to take it down. She was afraid her daughter would dislike the colors red, yellow, and green for the rest of her life.
A parent told the principal that her very naughty child calms down if he can bounce on a trampoline for a while. She requested that the school buy a trampoline that only he could use. He could just leave and bounce on his trampoline for half an hour if he misbehaved.
An elementary student slapped and swore at the teacher. The mom brought in 3 huge bins of toys that only her child could play with. She told the teacher she needed to give him more breaks to play with them throughout class. That was her solution.
On the Friday before daylight savings time, the mom of a middle school girl called the school to request that no one mention anything about daylight savings time because it confused her daughter too much and gave her anxiety. They were supposed to pretend it didn’t happen.
A parent called the teacher and said, “Since you’re going to the school every morning anyway, can you pick up my son?”
A parent called the teacher on picture day and asked her to rub Vaseline all over her child’s face before he took his picture.
The parents of an elementary student came in with a notarized (yes, notarized) list of demands for their child. One of the demands was that no one in the class eat gluten because they didn’t want her to feel left out, even though the daughter didn’t have Celiac disease. Eating gluten-free was just the family’s personal choice.

Helpful Feedback:

A parent ripped into the teacher in front of the principal because he did not ask his son “the right way” to turn in his homework. Apparently, “Put your homework on your desk” was mean.
A dad invited the teacher to visit his workplace because he was the CEO of a company and had 200 people under him, and the teacher could not even handle 30 kids.
A mom told a teacher who was about to go on maternity leave that it was inconsiderate to get pregnant while she was teaching her daughter, a high school senior.
A mom said it was the teacher’s fault that her 8-year-old son pooped his pants because she was out sick. “He couldn’t ask the sub to go to the restroom because he didn’t know her.”
A parent emailed the school asking if they could invest in a hawk to scare away the seagulls because one of them pooped on her son.