What's the most inaccurate thing your child has ever been taught... https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inaccurate-thing-your-c...

Search Quora Try Quora+ Add question

Related questions
What's the most inaccurate thing your child has ever
been taught in school? Who was the most disturbed child you
have ever seen?
Answer Follow · 278 Request 6
What is the oddest reason you have
All related (100+) Sort Recommended been contacted by your child's school?

As a child psychologist, what is the

Lily Anderson · Follow most disturbing child you have deal…
Junior designer and Illustrator · Upvoted by Kumari Jayasundera, MS Animal Science and
Rebecca Sirevaag, M. Ed. Education, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2020) · Updated 2y What is the most horrifying thing your
This one is still a sore point for my mom. parents have ever done?

Now, my little brother is smart. Really smart. His high school calculus teacher has What's the most appalling behavior
called it “Once-in-a-generation kind of smart”. you've seen by a young child's parent?

He spends his free time reading encyclopedias and testing out mathematical What is the most disturbing thing
formulas. This year he represented our country in the international maths olympiads, you've seen done to a child?
and did extremely well.
Add question
But the thing he's really interested in, is physics.

At the age of 13 he already knew what he wanted to write his master's thesis on -
just to give you an idea of his level of intelligence.

Naturally, his favourite subject has always been science… (more)

13.9K 49 133

Art Kagel · Follow

Husband, father, grandfather, friend, Informix fanatic · Upvoted by Grae Molloy, studies
Paramedicine & Police and Law Enforcement at Schools (2023) and Brett Pasternack, M. S.
Education, Bank Street College of Education (1994) · Updated 2y

My second grade teacher said that the Earth is farthest from the Sun in winter. I
raised my hand and when called on replied something to the effect “That’s not true!
The Earth is actually closest to the Sun when it is winter here!” She said, “Then why is
it cold in the winter?” I said, “’Cause the Earth tilts and the North is tilted away from
the sun so the heat bounces off the atmosphere or misses us. That’s why it is summer
in the Southern part of the world when it is winter here. The south is tilted towards
the sun then.” Mic drop! (My dad had gotten my brother and me a picture and words
bo… (more)
2.6K 9

D L Phillips · Follow
8 Kids - 4 Graduates, 1 Post Grad, 1 PhD and 2 military · Upvoted by Jonathan Lee, M.Ed.
Higher Education & Leadership, UNCW (2016) and Tom Satter, M.Ed Education, Regis
University (2006) · Updated 2y

I was at work. The phone at my desk rang.

It was the school office calling me.

“Mr. Phillips, this is Mrs. Smith (not her real name), I am calling you to tell you that
your daughter had an accident, today.”

My heart immediately sank. The tension rose in my heart like I had just jumped into
Lake Superior while there were still ice blocks washing up on shore.

“What’s happened? Is she okay?” Waiting anxiously for each word.

“Yes, I guess, Mr. Phillips. Your (11 years old, mind you) daughter urinated on
herself in class and we need you to bring her a new set of clothing.”

—-Long pause—-

Internally, I was overjoyed that it wasn’t a physical injury of some kind; but then my
mind started to insert a few questions into my consciousness.

Me: “Wait, what did you say?” (Mrs. Smith repeated her statement.)

Me: “Where was she?”

Smith: “She was in class.” Messages

Me: “Where is she now?”

Smith: “Well, she’s in the lobby of the school office.”

Me: “When did this happen?” (Her reply was muddled a bit. I found out later that it
was more like an hour.)

Me: “Is she still in her wet clothing?”

No messages
Smith: “Yes”
Connect with others on
At this point, I am an hour away from the school and my wife was unavailable. I Quora by beginning a new
reminded them of those facts… conversation.

Apparently, my daughter was taught by the teacher that girls (a lie just because
New message
the teacher didn’t like kids getting up and disrupting her class), could hold
their bladder longer than class, so no girl should have to get up and go to the
bathroom, during class.

As she explained that my daughter deliberately peed herself to get out of class, I
stopped Mrs. Smith and demanded to speak to the vice principal.

1 of 5 2022-10-18, 17:04
What's the most inaccurate thing your child has ever been taught... https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inaccurate-thing-your-c...

Try Quora+ Add question

starting to smell.”

My eyes are starting to bleed, at this point. With all my military bearing now
completely gone, my words came fast and full of “pappa bear”.

ME: “Mr. Jones, I am about an hour away from school. I can’t leave work. However, I
will be picking my daughter up from school today. When I do pick her up, here’s what
I expect. I expect my daughter will be clean, dressed in fresh clothing, and full of
stories about how she was apologized to by you, your teacher and the principal of
the school for not allowing her to go to the restroom when she politely asked. IF I
find she’s anything other than what I just described, then I will drive my daughter in
her urine-soaked smelly clothing to the emergency room at the local hospital, to
make sure her bladder isn’t ruptured, then to my attorney’s office, so that he can
participate in teaching you all accurate information about the illegality of physically
keeping a child from going to the restroom! On top of that, I will be speaking at
great length to the school board about how irresponsible and cruel it was for you to
do this to someone’s child! Do I make myself clear?”

That situation still grieves me terribly, every time I think of it. It’s not just information
that comes to our kids, all mixed up and twisted. They are being manipulated by
school staff, as a commodity. When you see stuff like this, it makes you so angry!

Epilogue: I picked up my daughter, and her clothes were nicer than the ones I sent
her to school with. She was clean and gave me a big hug. She was sitting some
distance away from the vice principal while he was on the phone with me, but she
heard me quite clearly explain their error to them.

I told her, “If you hear anything in school that you doubt for one second, come to me.
Call your mom. Don’t ever be disrespectful; but if you ever have to go to the
restroom, you excuse yourself politely, and you get up and go. I will back you!”

Another hug.

Edit: Thank you! Wow. Such an unexpected response to my very emotional answer… I
am so humbled. Appreciate all your comments. (And edits. SAVED by those edits. My
English teacher always used to say, “David, if you could slow down just long enough
to form proper sentences, you could write a bestseller.” Thanks so much.)
1.4M views · View 66,518 upvotes · View 177 shares

66.5K 177 899

Related questions More answers below

Who was the most disturbed child you have ever seen?

What is the oddest reason you have been contacted by your child's school?

As a child psychologist, what is the most disturbing child you have dealt with?

Pam Dooley · Follow

Instructional Technologist at Education (2000–present) · Upvoted by Russell Johnson,
Parenting since 1985. and Rebecca Sirevaag, M. Ed. Education, University of Alaska
Fairbanks (2020) · Updated Jul 12

My son was in the 4th grade when his science teacher called furious that he had been
disrespectful in class. I asked her what had happened. She said “I was teaching the
students the difference between mammals and fish. I told them that sharks are
mammals and whales are fish. He interrupted me and told me I had made a mistake.
I, of course, told him I was right and he said ‘Who gave you a diploma?’” I told her I
would talk to my son about his rudeness. I then called the principal and made an
appointment to see him and the teacher together. In the meeting, I asked her to
repeat her story and she… (more)
36K 70 516

Nancy Smith · Follow

Studied at The Ohio State University · Upvoted by David Blyth, MA Education, San Diego
State University (2000) and Rebecca Sirevaag, M. Ed. Education, University of Alaska
Fairbanks (2020) · 1y
Messages
I was in an exercise class with several other women, one of whom was a middle
school history teacher. One day after class, I asked her how students were taught
about the U. S. losing the Viet Nam war. I had always been curious about this and was
excited to be on the verge of learning the answer.

She looked at me aghast and said in a lecturing tone, “We didn’t lose. We won.”

This was years ago and I am still appalled. And I still don’t know how the defeat is
taught in schools.
No messages
2.4K 4 301
Connect with others on
Quora by beginning a new
Kimberly Britton · Follow conversation.
School Psychologist (1998–present) · Upvoted by Abby Harrison, Professional dog trainer
parents want give me their kids · 2y
New message
My daughter was in the 3rd grade and came home with a math assignment having to
do with exponents. Now I am not a math person; that job belongs to her dad, who is
a chemical engineer. I did notice, however, that she appeared to have confused the
term “cubed" as being to the 4th power instead of the 3rd. When I pointed this out,
she insisted vehemently that her teacher had taught her “cubed” was to the 4th
power that very day! So, though my head was exploding, I could see that there was

2 of 5 2022-10-18, 17:04
What's the most inaccurate thing your child has ever been taught... https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inaccurate-thing-your-c...

Try Quora+ Add question

It was time to hand this educational debacle over to the chemical engineer. My h…
(more)
5.4K 11 81

Alicia Dana · Follow

Data Scientist at Large Healthcare & Pharmacy Company · Upvoted by David Blyth, MA
Education, San Diego State University (2000) and Leah Gordon, M. Ed. Admin. Education,
Boston College (2004) · Updated 2y

Update: thanks for all the great feedback. This happened when Tim was 7. He is now
25. Tim just graduated from Boston University with his masters in Biomedical
engineering.

One thing that I wanted to add is that the whole IEP team thought Tim’s answers were
strange and part of his problem so their attitude was that he failed the questions
because he couldn’t give typical answers.

We need more room in our classrooms for kids who think differently and don’t always
give the expected answer. Especially when you are considering a kid’s aptitude and
where they will be placed academically.

Original answ… (more)

5.2K 13 168

Jasmine Buendicho · Follow

Studied Psychology · Upvoted by Sandra Jordet, Masters History & Education (1992) and
Peggy Ebersole, Masters Education & Special Education · Updated Sep 27

So I’m not the kid, but the sister.

My mom grew up in Minnesota and her parents were from Wisconsin. Being military,
we as a family, had lived in both Minnesota and Chicago - prior to this. This is
important.

We moved to Texas and my brother was in elementary school, I want to say third
grade. He comes home one day and tells us that they were learning about the 4 Great
Lakes. Yeah, you read that right. He said 4.

My mother, being the insanely intelligent woman she is (she’s got 2 masters degrees!)
gently corrected him, because we all knew there were 5 Great Lakes. She wrote a note
to the teacher,… (more)
2.7K 10 81

Susan Foster Grayson · Follow

Former Aerospace Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin (company) (1982–1994) · Upvoted
by Abby Harrison, Professional dog trainer parents want give me their kids and
Sandra Jordet, Masters History & Education (1992) · Aug 5

My son was in 4th grade. He came home with a math paper that was marked “F”. I
read through the problems and realized the answers were all correct. I called the
teacher and he said that my son needed to show his work on the paper. I replied “he
didn’t show his work because these problems are easy and he did them all in his
head”. I told him that if he wanted to take off some points for not explaining, that
was one thing, but an “F” was completely unacceptable.

In the course of the conversation, the teacher said “Son needs to recognize that 2+2
does not always equal 4”. I almost choked on my dri… (more)
9.4K 22 430

Richard Muller · Follow

Married 50 yrs. 2 children; 2 grandchildren. They are even better than physics! · Upvoted by
Paul Alex Prince III, M.Ed. Education & Literacy, University of Houston (2016) and
Vegard Stornes Farstad, M.Sc. Physics & Education, Norwegian University of Science and…

I’ll talk about an egregious mistake taught to me by my physics teacher.

At the Bronx High School of Science, my physics teacher Mr. Landsberg explained
refraction at the surface of water. He drew a diagram that showed that a fish
underwater could see a person standing on the shore, even though the light bent
when it entered the water. Then he drew another light ray that showed (he claimed)
that the man could not see the fish. Here it is, as I best recall:

Messages

No messages
Connect with others on
Quora by beginning a new
conversation.

New message

3 of 5 2022-10-18, 17:04
What's the most inaccurate thing your child has ever been taught... https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inaccurate-thing-your-c...

Try Quora+ Add question

The class erupted in outrage. Of the 25 student… (more)

3.8K 15 63

Courtney Powers · Follow

Former Medieval Enthusiast at Various Venues (1976–2013) · Upvoted by
Kumari Jayasundera, MS Animal Science and Shirley McCafferty, Masters Education, Azusa
Pacific University · Updated 2y

My daughter’s 4th grade teacher took a dislike to her and thought to use her petty
power to stick it to her. She sent her home with a note saying she was going to be
assigned to the class for slower students because she was obviously incapable of
managing mathematics. Just the day before, her math teacher (a different teacher)
had sent her home with a report that in the computer-taught math curriculum, she
was doing college-level math work. (In the 4th grade).

We showed up livid at the principal’s office. We described our problem. The principal
brought in the teacher, who started in with the wh… (more)
4.8K 9 78

Guy Klose · Follow

Software Engineer · Upvoted by Arlene Yordan, M.A.E Education & Counseling, Inter
American University (1982) and Shirley McCafferty, Masters Education, Azusa Pacific
University · 2y

My older son signed up for Honors American History his junior year in high school.
His first day home from school he told me something that I found kind of odd. First
day of class, their instructor showed them Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine”.
My son tells me that after they had watched part of it, the guy said, “you know the
funny thing about this movie? Michael Moore is a Republican!”.

I said, “Wait a minute — that’s not true at all!” and then I told him about Michael
Moore’s various movies, and his “activism”.

So the next day, my guy goes into school and challenges the teacher, relayin… (more)
4.6K 14

Joan Piwowar · Follow

Former Semi-retired, Small Business Owner · May 7

This happened to me when I went back to school in my 40's for Medical Assisting. We
had a quiz and the answers were multiple choice. One question was: one who is
admitted to the hospital. One of the choices was ‘admissions’, another was ‘patient ‘. I
chose ‘patient ‘. When the tests came back that question was marked wrong. I went to
her and quietly asked her how it's wrong. She went to the back of her text book
which had an answer key and it showed the correct answer to be admissions.

I said that has to be a mistake because admissions would be a department, but the
question began with “one who… (more)
761 4 18

Alan Higgins · Follow

Former Lab Tech · Sun

My brothers German language teacher always corrected him on his pronunciation,

until parents evening.
My mother went to the meeting, Bremen born and bred. She pointed out, in German,
that she did not want her children speaking her mother tongue like some bloody
farmer.
362 9

Chris Nash · Follow

Former game programmer, now real-world programmer · Upvoted by Rebecca Sirevaag, M.
Ed. Education, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2020) and Chris Pampling, Post-Graduate
Certificate Education & Higher Education, University of Huddersfield (1993) · Updated 3y

Two things spring to mind.

About 2002, my son brought home a book from school. It was a small paperback
book, about 40 pages or so. He said they got to keep it.

I picked it up and started thumbing through it. On the second page, I found a huge
boner: Messages

Thomas Jefferson was the second President of the United States.

Jefferson, of course, was the third POTUS after John Adams.

I scoffed at this and assumed poor editing. I went on to later “facts” in the book. I
came across this untruth:

No messages
George Washington Carver invented peanut butter.
Connect with others on
Quora by beginning a new
George Washington Carver made some great discoveries, largely related t… (more) conversation.
3.6K 7 146

New message

4 of 5 2022-10-18, 17:04