+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Family

Korean mom has a perfect response to the teacher who called her son's lunches 'disgusting'

Good for her for standing up for her child's culture.

korean food, korean mom, korean child
via Roman Harak/Flickr

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."


"I felt absolutely appalled when she said this, as me and the teacher have, up until now, always maintained a very friendly relationship. She added that the lunches I’m packing my son are ‘very distracting for the other students and have an unpleasant odor.’ I told her that I understand her concerns, as the lunches I pack are definitely not the healthiest, but the lunches are according to my son’s preferences.”


The mother added that she usually sends her son to school with small celery sticks, blue cheese and goat cheese, kimchi, spam and spicy Sriracha-flavored Doritos.

“I ended the call by saying that I very much appreciated her worries, but that at the end of the day, I am not going to drastically change my son’s lunches all of a sudden, and that it’s not my fault if other students are ‘distracted’ by his meal,” the mother continued. “It is very important to me what my son enjoys, and I want him to like my lunches.”

The teacher replied with an email saying the mom's response was "unacceptable" and that his lunches were “just too inappropriate to be sent to school any longer.”

“I haven’t responded yet and don’t want to. I want to maintain a healthy relationship with my son’s teachers. I am confused as to what to do,” the mom ended her story.

It’s clear that the teacher is way out of line in this situation because the child is eating food that is entirely normal in Korean culture. It may have a strong odor to those who aren’t used to it, but that’s just an opportunity for the teacher to explain to the children how people from different parts of the world eat different types of food. It’s not that hard.

The only reason the teacher should have any choice over what the child eats is if it is egregiously unhealthy and may cause them harm.

The most popular commenter on the forum suggested that the mother bring the issue to the principal’s attention.

"Report her to the principal," Thatshygal717 wrote. "Her comments regarding your son’s food are 'disgusting' and 'have an unpleasant tone' aka cough cough racist tone. She’s too inappropriate to be teaching at the school any longer."

Another commenter, muffiewriters, assured the mother that she was doing nothing wrong. "Your son's food is perfectly normal," they wrote. "For a 5-year-old. Your family's food is normal. The teacher is TA for not recognizing that.”

The mother hasn’t shared what she did next, but she’s handled the situation perfectly so far. She told the teacher that it’s not her fault if other kids are distracted by her food and that she will not change her son’s diet to please other people.

The beauty of America is that we are a country of many different cultures mixed like a beautiful bowl of salad. It’s great that so many people supported the mother and reminded her that her family has every right in the world to eat the food they love, and if it bothers anyone, they can keep it to themselves.

P.S. That teacher has no idea what she’s talking about. Korean food is delicious.


This article was originally published on 3.20.23.

From Your Site Articles
parenting
Badge
Visit Sweden
Visit Sweden
Education

Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

True

After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

This confusion on the European continent has played out in countless ways.

Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

Skämtar du med mig? (“Are you kidding me?” in Swedish)

Keep ReadingShow less
travel
Education

A boy told his teacher she can't understand him because she's white. Her response is on point.

'Be the teacher America's children of color deserve, because we, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country.'

Photo by John Pike. Used with permission.

Emily E. Smith is no ordinary teacher.



Fifth-grade teacher Emily E. Smith is not your ordinary teacher.

She founded The Hive Society — a classroom that's all about inspiring children to learn more about their world ... and themselves — by interacting with literature and current events. Students watch TED talks, read Rolling Stone, and analyze infographics. She even has a long-distance running club to encourage students to take care of their minds and bodies.

Smith is such an awesome teacher, in fact, that she recently received the 2015 Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Internet

There's a fish so 'romantic' it absorbs into its mate and people can't stop talking about it

"So I'm out here single with a pool of men with 'trust issues' while Mother Nature is fusing fish couples together."

Nat Geo Wild|YouTube

The mating habits of anglerfish are capturing the internet

Have you ever heard of the anglerfish? It's one of those profoundly unusual looking deep water fish that live towards the bottom of the ocean. You know the kind of fish that's almost translucent with a squished head that nightmares are made of? Well, it turns out the unique look is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the anglerfish.

There's been a viral post going around social media explaining all about this fish's mating habits and It's giving people the willies. Well, while it's giving some people the creeps, there are a select few that wouldn't mind if humans had similar mating rituals. Though, with this fish's habits, mating only happens once and then the male ceases to exist.

This isn't some sort of black widow or preying mantis situation, no one's heads are being eaten. But according to the infographic, and science, the anglerfish male attaches to the female and fuses with her body unable to survive without her.

Keep ReadingShow less
anglerfish mating
Identity

75-year-old ‘hip-hop granny’ impresses and inspires with her dance moves

Ms. Stephanie didn’t even start formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

@fiercefitnessty/TikTok

Ms. Stephanie bringing it at her hip-hop class.

Stephanie Walsh isn't your average hip-hop dancer. At 75, "Ms. Stephanie" is still able to hold her own on the dance floor, popping and locking with people a third her age, and she loves it.

When you see her dance—and her enviable muscle tone—you might think she'd been a trained dancer all her life. But she actually didn't take any formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

Walsh told Growing Bolder that she had wanted her daughter to dance when she was little, so she got her ballet lessons, which the daughter hated. Realizing that dancing was her dream and not her daughter's, Walsh took her kiddo out of ballet and started classes herself right away.

She had always loved to dance and developing her skills only led to more and more dancing.

Keep ReadingShow less
joy
Mental Health

Notice everyone talking about dissociating lately? A therapist explains what it really means.

An expert breaks down the truth.

Kati Morton|YouTube

Therapist explains the phenomenon of dissociating

Therapy speak (notice how everyone talks like a therapist these days?) has entered the chat and unfortunately it's here to stay whether therapists like it or not.

With the rise of social media and content creators trying to break the stigma of mental health, therapy speak has become a part of people's daily lexicon, even if it's not always used properly. "Dissociation" is a term used frequently online whether it's someone saying they dissociate or diagnosing themselves with dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder.

It's clear from comments and videos that there's confusion around what truly constitutes dissociation and when to be concerned. Kati Morton, a licensed marriage and family therapist, breaks down what she calls a spectrum of dissociation, helping to clarify the phenomenon.

Morton begins the video by explaining what causes dissociation and what it is.

"When we become overwhelmed, meaning what's happening to us is too much for us to manage, our brain, oftentimes, pulls the ripcord on reality."

Keep ReadingShow less
dissociative identity disorder
Family

A man’s family criticized his girlfriend's weight, and he handled it with grace

"I never thought of my girlfriend as overweight."

via Rafaah Machado

A couple posing near a tree.

A 29-year-old man is dealing with serious tensions within his family after they confronted him about his girlfriend’s weight and how she chooses to dress. To find out if he was in the wrong for how he handled the situation, he took to Reddit to get some clarity.

The situation started at a recent family gathering.

“While attending my (26 M) brother’s girlfriend’s birthday party at their house, my mother and my brother brought me to the kitchen and confronted me, and told me that my girlfriend needs to dress more modestly and that they have a problem with her not wearing a bra,” the man recalled.

The discussion came out of the blue for the man who had no idea his girlfriend’s style or weight was an issue for anyone. It certainly wasn't one for him. His girlfriend had previously told him that she doesn’t like wearing a bra because it makes her chest feel “tight” and “uncomfortable.”

Keep ReadingShow less
relationships
Joy

American living in Norway explains the country's taco craze—and how theirs are different

It looks like we've got some catching up to do.

@krystaalexa/TikTok

Happy Tacofredag.

There are few dishes in this world so universally loved as tacos. And what’s not to like? There’s so much flavor packed into such a small hand held morsel. Hence why it’s close to impossible to eat less than seven in one sitting.

Americans, land of Taco Tuesdays, certainly holds a special place in its heart for Mexico’s most famous food staple. 76% of the country eats them every week, and over 4.5 billion tacos are eaten each year.

But as it turns out, Americans aren’t the only ones who are taco obsessed. Nor are they the only ones to make some alterations to the original recipe.

In a now viral TikTok clip, Krysta Alexa, an American mom living in Norway, reveals the country’s passionate love affair with tacos, even dubbing them the nation’s "unofficial dish."
Keep ReadingShow less
food
Trending Stories