Father Won't Pay for Pizza Party, Teacher Responds. Who's at Fault?

A father, we’ll call him John, recently shared his story of refusing to send money to the class for his child’s pizza party and the teacher’s reaction to the refusal.

[{"selector":"#anim-cdc778a4-5616-4c75-8f3f-cea873998197","keyframes":{"opacity":[1,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-259efd62-6f08-4b5d-9a7d-4b4512172fd0","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(3)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-357dfe87-d17d-48a7-80bf-9cab886bdad0","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":3000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Read more

A Sad Situation John explained that his child’s class was having a pizza party, and the teacher had been requesting $5 from the parents for the last week to help pay for it. John’s daughter suffers from disordered eating due to mental health issues and is currently in therapy.

[{"selector":"#anim-0afeda23-622a-4d14-9124-726f42cb345a","keyframes":{"opacity":[1,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-01dec4e2-4788-4dba-8047-54a149172d5c","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(3)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b5e25dc6-9a44-4c1d-8dec-a96e23d4113c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-117.43421%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a5df89ca-b114-4c84-9ea2-5875b5282b92","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-eaa3bd56-30a7-4e82-bc71-73fdae3957e0","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more

The teacher is not ordering from that restaurant, and John said he would not have asked the teacher to have them make it the exact way his daughter likes it. John added that his daughter is lactose intolerant and couldn’t eat the pizza anyway.

[{"selector":"#anim-fdf7080a-1400-414f-8e07-3f74c60472ac","keyframes":{"opacity":[1,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2f1a9f1d-6843-4a81-adf8-277d1ca82939","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(3)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-178c79f4-7be0-4a05-8c39-e386706f45a8","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-121.18056%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6082db16-2777-4d99-800c-3b733ed25ee4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-448f3ed4-23bc-4910-97c8-b4a6b8574cf7","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more

Who's at fault?

[{"selector":"#anim-5670a6a1-febb-42e6-9e7f-89d02649bbb8","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-114.95328%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a84b1883-80b5-4990-9ef3-620051d77172","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e4f88e89-5622-4af7-88d8-8dc47bae2b9a","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more

He also made sure to pack his daughter a lunch for that day. The teacher replied that contributing $5 wasn’t an option but that she didn’t have to if his daughter didn’t want to eat the pizza. John is standing firm that he won’t contribute money to something his daughter won’t be participating in.

The Masses Weigh In The commenters were definitely on John’s side in this scenario. One mother suggested John talk to the school and ask why contributing money to a special event wasn’t optional. “You never know what other parents are being bullied into paying this money as well,” she added.

[{"selector":"#anim-8b088f74-64f3-41d0-abff-12879896ef46","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-123.13168%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9e4b55a9-5b44-4c33-8def-5059260aa532","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-84c401d4-94b3-4157-8f50-82e447e4e75e","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more

Another person remarked that this isn’t money for school lunch; it’s money for a special event that John’s daughter isn’t even participating in. “I had a similar issue with a teacher last year, and she took it out on my kid later. So even though you are NTA, I guess be aware,” they warned.

Someone else said that this issue points to a greater issue of excluding poor children because their parents might not have $5.

[{"selector":"#anim-7a72847a-0eba-49f7-870e-b94643aa562e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-123.13168%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b8b8e98e-c368-4053-833f-17c153795865","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-96bce75e-560b-4c43-9a6f-092b208e2809","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more

Swipe Up To Read More

[{"selector":"#anim-9bace0c4-6cbd-43ca-86ab-376cd9049365","keyframes":{"opacity":[1,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-84612758-5879-4841-b484-f15f0bfe5847","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(3)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Read more