Parents want the world for their children, even if they don’t deserve it.

This swim instructor did not deem a student’s skills to be ready for the next swimming level, but her mom disagreed and tried to persuade him to reconsider.

Read the full story below.

You have to pass my daughter, she’s already taken this course twice!

Once upon a time, I was a swim instructor. I taught through the city Parks & Rec, 4 hours on Saturday mornings.

I loved teaching, and there was a lot of water in the area, so learning to swim was an important skill that could keep the kids alive, in addition to all the other benefits.

I taught Red Cross classes here, starting with an infant class at 6 months. Older kids had Learn-to-Swim levels I–VII. If you wanted to be a good swimmer, you could stop at Level V.

Level VI built endurance, including swimming 500 yards continuously, and Level VII was for nitpicky refinement—solidly ready for swim team. I’ve never seen any team or job require it; it was just a matter of personal accomplishment. Most students didn’t bother.

This man did not think a girl’s swimming skills is enough for the next level.

I had a girl who just wasn’t ready to pass Level VII. Her strokes were sloppy, and she couldn’t do a back crawl flip turn to save her life.

Aside from the group lesson once a week, she never got in the water. She was about 20–30 hours of practice away from being good enough to pass.

At the end of the last day, I told her she needed more practice on specific things, to swim more than an hour a week, but she was getting close.

She took the sheet, the end-of-series candy, and walked off the deck.

Between dives in the deep end to retrieve sticks and bricks, I noticed a woman come out of the locker room and beeline for the manager.

They spoke for maybe 20–30 seconds; my manager pointed at me, and the woman headed my way.

So her mom tried change his mind.

W: I want to know why you didn’t pass my daughter.

Me: Can you please take off your shoes? Outdoor shoes are not allowed on the deck, and it is very slippery in heels.

W: (kicking off shoes) You failed my daughter again! You’ve taught her twice. Why did she fail?

Me: This is not a pass/fail thing. There are no scores. When she has consistently good form in all of the strokes and turns, she’ll be done. This is just a matter of practice, nothing more.

W: She’s been here twice. You HAVE to pass her!

Me: If you would like to bring her back out, I can show you exactly what she needs to work on.

She didn’t. She picked up her heels and headed for the locker room.

They didn’t come back for the next series, which ended up being the last, as the city decided to cancel the entire swim lesson program, leaving only public open swim.

Promotion is based on swimming skills, not mom’s persuasion skills.

Other people in the comments section are chiming in.

A valid observation.

This parent gets the point.

This one feels bad for the girl.

This user has a lot to say.

And here’s an appropriate response.

You can’t argue your way to Expert level.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.