'I told my dad what happened, and he was livid': Dad stands up for daughter after teacher kicks her out of class for having cramps, student never returns and proudly gets an F

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Feb 21, 2025 7:00 PM EST

Junior high is rough. You're awkward, your body is changing in ways you don't understand, and kids are absolutely ruthless about it. With acne, body odor, and unexpected growth spurts, every day feels like a new personal crisis. And then, of course, there are cramps. The dreaded, soul-crushing, take-you-out-for-the-day kind of cramps.

Unfortunately, not everyone seems to understand that, including one junior high teacher who kicked a student out of class for having cramps. Instead of offering a shred of empathy, she sent her to the nurse (with the strangest remarks). Her dad was not about to let that slide.

This story is every middle schooler's dream: a parent who actually gets it and is willing to stand up to the school when things get unfair. Keep scrolling to read from his perspective how he stepped up after his daughter was punished for something completely out of her control.

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  • Cheezburger Image 10470126592
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "A teacher kicked me out of her class for having cramps, so I never went back to her class."

    Ever since I hit puberty, I've had incredibly painful menstrual cramps. It wasn't unusual for me to be completely incapacitated for several hours at least once during each cycle. It was rare for them to hit me during school, but when they did my teachers. usually understood. Usually.
    via FaunaJoy
  • My last year in Jr. High, I was assigned to a teacher, Mrs. R, who was easily the number one favorite of every kid in school. I'd heard a lot about her in previous years, so I was really hopeful when I started her class. Well, it was pretty easy to figure out why she was so popular. She gave out
    via FaunaJoy
  • chocolate constantly, and described herself as a "chocoholic". I don't know if it was because I was overweight, or because it was obvious I wasn't giving in to the bribe, but she took an immediate dislike to me. The feeling became mutual very quickly.
    via FaunaJoy
  • I managed to get through most of the year with her with average grades, figuring I'd just tough everything out until I graduated. But one day, the cramps hit me just before lunch. I spent the entire lunch period laying in the nurse's office, with little to no
    via FaunaJoy
  • relief, since anything the nurse had wasn't strong enough to handle the kind of cramps I'd get. Mrs. R's class was after lunch, and only a couple doors down the hall from the nurse, so I managed to limp my way down into her classroom, since I didn't want to get in trouble for being absent (Yay, US school system).
    via FaunaJoy
  • I figured I'd be able to just sit in the back of the class and hide, since we were watching videos for some dumb project she'd assigned us. Unfortunately, I picked the desk that she parked the projector next to. FML. I was hoping if I was quiet, she'd just leave me alone, but every time I
    via FaunaJoy
  • so much as slouched, she snapped at me to sit up straight. I don't know how long this went on, but I ultimately just asked quietly if I could lay down in the back of the class. She angrily snapped "If you're in that much pain, just go to the
    via FaunaJoy
  • nurse!". I took the chance and got the h l out of there. I was told later by a friend, who'd been in the room, that after the door closed behind me, she muttered "I pooped out four kids, don't you talk to ME about cramps!". Needless to say, I was upset. As
    via FaunaJoy
  • Cheezburger Image 10470126848
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • soon as I got home, I told my dad what happened, and he. Was. LIVID. I'm going to have him write out the next part, as he has a better memory for what happened than I do.
    via FaunaJoy
  • Dad here. A little background: I was the stay-home parent in the family. Dealing with stuff like this was part of the job and I didn't mind because, when it comes to my kids, I have a protective streak a light-year long. I contacted the
    via FaunaJoy
  • school and complained. I said I wanted an appointment with her supervisor, the vice principal, the following day. Not an hour later, this guy calls me, with the teacher in his office, and he wants to discuss it now over the phone.
    via FaunaJoy
  • I said, "I don't know who you're used to dealing with, but you're not going to blindside me two on one like this out of nowhere. No, we will not discuss it right now. You can make the appointment I asked for." He said, “I understand that your daughter
    via FaunaJoy
  • was in pain -" I said, “I told you we are not discussing it right now. If you're not willing to make an appointment and insist on trying to sandbag me like this, we have nothing more to discuss. Tell the teacher my daughter will not attend her class again." He tried to talk
    via FaunaJoy
  • about grades and I said, "I dare her, I DARE HER, to punish my daughter for this. Please do. See what happens." She skipped that class for the rest of the term, and never got in trouble for it. When I saw
    via FaunaJoy
  • her grade I was ready to rumble again, but she said, no. So I deferred to her wishes. She can explain why. In summary, my philosophy is, only be as big an a hole as the occasion requires, BUT don't be afraid to be as big an a hole as the occasion requires.
    via FaunaJoy

  • Kudos to this dad for standing up when so many wouldn’t. Instead of brushing it off, he dared the school to actually punish his daughter and see what happened. He wasn’t about to let them shame her for something she couldn’t control, proving that real parenting means having your kid’s back.

  • And back to me: Thanks to my papa bear of a dad, I spent the rest of that year sitting in the hallway outside my favorite class of the day. I would read, sketch, and just in general relax for an hour until the bell rang. At the end of the year, I had to laugh when I got my report card. "F for
    via FaunaJoy
  • non-attendance" in Mrs. R's class. It was the only F I've ever gotten on a report card, and I'm proud of it. To answer any questions: No, I haven't been diagnosed with anything like PCOS or Endometriosis. We found a birth
    via FaunaJoy
  • control that kept the pain manageable, and only recently started looking into a diagnosis again. We suspect PCOS, but need to do more tests. Either way, I'm hoping we'll have an answer soon. Edit: I think I should clarify that this happened in 2005, when I
    via FaunaJoy
  • was 15. I'm going to be 35 here soon. Basically the only reason I never got tested to see if I have PCOS or Endometriosis was because once I found a birth control that made the pain either bearable or entirely gone, it didn't feel necessary. Welp, now I know better.
    via FaunaJoy

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