There’s a difference between parental support and parental interference, and the line tends to get blurry fast when grades are involved.

When a college student who had held a job since high school and paid for his own education got caught failing Calculus during a surprise grade check, his parents responded by calling him sneaky and trying to contact his professor directly.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITAH for not telling my parents I’m failing a college class

I’m 20 years old, currently living at home. I do not pay rent, however I’m respectful of my parents’ space and I’ve had a job since my freshman year of high school.

He’s doing his best in school too, but one subject is giving him trouble.

Currently I am in my second semester at a community college and taking 4 classes — one of which is Calculus, which I am failing.

Instead of choosing to share this with them by choice, they asked to see my current grades — something they hadn’t done previously.

His parents weren’t happy at all.

When they saw my grade, they proceeded to tell me it was “shocking and sneaky” that I had tried to hide it from them.

My plan was to withdraw and retake it over the summer, with hopes of having more time to better understand the concepts.

His parents didn’t seem to approve of how he handled this.

When I told them this, I was told that “this was not an appropriate way to solve the problem and would not work in real life.”

They then proceeded to ask for my professor’s name to email on my behalf — which I did not want, as I felt like it wasn’t their problem to deal with.

Now he’s mad at them too.

I feel like they had overstepped a boundary by inserting themselves into the situation and trying to get me to go about it their way.

I feel it’s important to state that neither of my parents are paying for my college.

I cannot think of any occasion in which I’ve asked them for support besides continuing to live in their house.

He tries to do what he can to contribute to the household.

I also wouldn’t consider myself a freeloader — I do what I’m asked in regards to helping out around the house and have constantly mentioned wanting to move out and live on my own.

We rarely ever have any conflicts, however now I feel like it’s solely due to the fact that I am actively trying to avoid starting them.

AITA?

If his parents aren’t paying for his education, then they definitely shouldn’t get to dictate how he communicates with his professor.

What did Reddit think?

This professor wouldn’t be able to take an overstepping email from a parent seriously.

Maybe the parents just proved they can’t be trusted with this kind of information.

Maybe the most valuable lesson here is learning how to get back on his feet on his own.

The parents could try acting a bit more mature here.

No one is perfect — especially not a college student still figuring out life.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.