r/AITAH•
frealvrr

AITA for screaming at a student?

I (26/M) am a Chemistry Teacher teaching a Year 12 Chemistry class.

I have this student in my Year 12 Chemistry class. Let's just say that she has been BARELY PASSING Chemistry due to the extensive amount of time and effort needing to complete assessments. Unlike others who need an extra hour or more, and have been constantly communicating with me and using their own home time and other spaces to revise and ask questions, she does none of them, instead I see her on her phone doing no school work, not even her other subjects. She only communicates with me on any learning issues when I directly approach her. This is not feasible as I have 32 students in my class and I cannot keep asking her when I have 31 other students to manage.

She expects me to always be there for her to answer questions like I am a saving grace. This was proven with her looking dumbfounded and stunned when she did not respond to my call out of help for anyone in need, and so I did not approach her. FYl, I did reach out to the Learning Support Team, the Guidance team, other teachers to seek strategies to provide extra support for her to participate confidently in classes - and no luck, all the other teachers are struggling, except for Hospitality.

Now, the final exam is LITERALLY IN 5 DAYS TIME and I have made warnings to the student that I will be away next week, so I am unable to provide much more help physically to answer their questions, however I am available online. Knowing that, I want to ensure that my students are listening very carefully to some important information about their exams. When the students came first thing in the morning, I made sure that the students were listening by making sure that I grabbed their attention and told them to put their phones away, which everyone complied with. However, she did not do so and ignored my notices by continuing to text (or maybe go on TikTok IDK) for half of the time of what I was saying for their exam preparation. Out of frustration for my worries on her failing, I shouted at her to put her phone away and to listen. This was the first time that I ever shouted at someone that harsh and I am sure it was a shock to many of my students to see me like that. During the class, I noticed that she CANNOT even do the basics, which heightens my worries even more and legitimised my reason of screaming (from my own perspective).

So, AlTA for giving such a reaction?

P.S. I am aware that I should have informed her family earlier on general learning concerns. This is my fault and have learnt to contact family in the future.

P.S.S. Initially, I denied her request to be moved into Year 13 Chemistry, however she wants to be a nurse (yep, you read that right) - the Head of Chemistry and myself has had a word with her. Honestly, I don't even know about her place as a future nurse - heck, I would refuse care if I knew she was the nurse, but hey I could be wrong, she might have a comeback, but I really don't know.

Posted Jul 9, 2025, 5:59 PM UTC

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