
Yomiuri: Parents from hell give schools a hard time
Public primary and middle schools and boards of education across the country are agonizing over how to deal with parents who make unreasonable requests and complaints...For example, one parent demanded that the school not ask her child to clean the classroom because she had never asked her child to help with cleaning at home, and another parent demanded that a student who had fallen out with the parent's child be transferred to another school or be suspended...A member of an education board said he had fielded one complaint by telephone that lasted six hours. Some parents even implied they had connections with gang organizations to apply pressure on schools. Teachers who are consumed by dealing with parents have less time to oversee extracurricular activities and grade tests, and can become stressed out...Some members of education boards refused to respond to the survey, saying examples cited by them might lead to more complaints, indicating that many municipalities may have similar problems...more...