Mom's emotional letter highlights how educational system is failing her 'brilliant, beautiful boy'

A mom recently sparked an important discussion about how children who are not academically gifted are viewed by the educational system. Aaron Leatherbarrow is a 10th-grade English class teacher who goes by @punkrockteacher on TikTok where he shares his "punk rock" teaching philosophy.

Recently, he read an emotional letter from a concerned mother to her son's kindergarten teacher. "My child is starting kindergarten this week. I already know that you will be horrible to my boy. He runs in the grass barefoot, he pees in bushes, his hair is long and he has no desire to read at the age of five," she wrote.

The mom highlighted how her son's other positive traits would be diminished because the system would rather focus on his academic proficiency. "I've already been told by you that he is academically behind and is going to struggle. Your system has set my child, my brilliant, beautiful boy, up for failure," she wrote. "You will not notice that he listens, that he's kind to everyone, that he kisses his sister and protects her. You don't care that he excels at jiu-jitsu, can scale walls like he's Spider-Man. He's hilarious and knows what I'm thinking before I can articulate it. He swims as if he is from Atlantis and has the beauty and the complexion of the gods."

Many parents responded with similar concerns in the comments. @shanimaynard wrote, "My youngest starts kindergarten. She is wild and full of life. I’m afraid of the system destroying her fire." @nasava22 added, "As a teacher, these are the kids that excel. Mom is so right that our system fails to see these qualities." @smash0128 shared, "As someone who works at a school I promise that I look for all those things in each of the children. I like to see the wild, creative, brave, kind."

The letter is a reminder to both parents and students that success and failure shouldn't be defined by just one set of skills as it is in the current education system. What's more important is that young children are free to pursue athletic talents, creative projects and just focus on being a better human and the best version of themselves. They deserve to be treated with respect and to know that they are worthy of kindness and respect and admiration for who they are. We need an educational system that celebrates one's creativity and uniqueness, not stifle it.