School rules can feel harsh, especially when a student’s grade is impacted.

So, what would you do if your child left a major exam to go to the bathroom, and after having to turn the test in early, received a very low score that impacted their overall grade? Would you plead your case to the school board? Or would you teach your child to accept the consequences and move on?

In the following story, one parent finds himself in this predicament and refuses to step in. Here’s what happened.

AITA for not going to the school board becuase my daughter got a 12% on an exam since she went to the bathroom

My daughter is a freshman in high school, and she goes to a really good private academic school. My older daughter went to the same school and graduated.

The school has a strict test-taking policy, and one of the rules is that you must turn in your test if you leave the classroom. You will be graded on what you turned in. There are exceptions to the rule, like if you get called to the office or an emergency.

The school is structured to give extra time to go to the restroom/other stuff between periods. You get 15 mins between each period to talk to teachers or do other stuff. The school is small, and it doesn’t take long to get to the next place.

The daughter took her phone to the restroom.

The problem is that my daughter had a big exam last week. Halfway through the test, she left to go to the bathroom, so she turned her exam in. The teacher refused to give the test back when she got back from the bathroom, and she got it back yesterday. She got a 12%.

Most of what she answered wasn’t right, and then half of it was blank.

I asked, and she admitted to taking her phone, so it’s a real possibility she looked up some answers in the restroom.

Luckily, she has time to bring the grade back up.

She has been extremely upset since. Her grade went from an A to a C, which we still have a few months, so I am sure she can get it back up.

She wants me to go plead her case to the school board (especially since I know a few of the parents) so she can retake the test. I am refusing to do so, because she needs to live with the consequences.

She has been mad since, and my ex is angry I am not fixing this.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why a parent would want to fix this, but that’s not exactly teaching responsibility.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit think they should proceed.

This reader agrees that there’s nothing to argue.

For this person, the daughter didn’t have an emergency.

According to this comment, he needs to have a talk with his daughter.

Yet another reader who thinks he needs to have a talk.

This is the best move. As an adult, you don’t usually get to argue a point to change the outcome at work.

It’s best to teach them young.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.