Mom Says She Doesn’t Care About Her Kids’ Grades

My daughter is in first grade and has homework every single night. It’s just one page of math, a couple of reading passages, and a short book to go over. It’s also optional, which is totally great! Sometimes, life gets in the way, and we don’t have time to do the schoolwork. Sometimes, I’d rather have her playing in the backyard with the neighbor kids than stuck inside doing addition problems. She’s an all-around good student, so I don’t mind much!

One mom says that it’s not just homework she doesn’t really care about, but actually, she doesn’t really care how her kids perform on their homework. School grades are just not an important factor for her when it comes to the development of her children. She explained why in a now-viral TikTok video.

Annie (@mom.behind.the.scenes) begins, “I don’t care about my kids’ grades. Now, that might not make me the teacher’s favorite, because I really never look at what grades my kids have. I truly don’t care.”

Now, if my kids are passionate about their grades, and my kids are excited about their grades, then I am as passionate and as excited as they are. Outside of that, what matters to me is that my kids are doing their best, and that they have the resources and the opportunities they need in order to do their very best. Whatever that is, it might not be straight A’s, and that’s okay.”

Instead of acing a math quiz, Annie wants to make sure her kids are acing friendships and hobbies and their personal development as a human.

“They might not be good at math, and that’s okay. I care more that they are mentally okay, and emotionally okay, and passionate about things in life, and kind to other people, and those things are not defined by a letter on a piece of paper or a percentile. It doesn’t work that way for the rest of life. It doesn’t define who my kids are. If my kids have straight C’s, a D or two mixed in, and they’re good humans, I’m good. Those grades, that doesn’t define who my children are.”

Several TikTok users commented on Annie’s video with their own opinions on school work, grades, and the unnecessary pressure put on kids to perform.

“I’m a teacher who also doesn’t really care about grades. I care that my students put forth effort. I tell my students they cannot fail my class if they show up everyday and try. and that’s true,” one user said.

“Kids are forced to learn what told anyways..makes less passion for learning too. Good humans better!!” another noted.

One mom said, “This makes me feel so much better about never downloading their report cards. I know their strengths, weaknesses & passions. I can see their grades daily and know if we’re in danger of failing something. Also, I never look at the standardized testing scores.”

However, there was some pushback on Annie’s POV.

One user noted, “My parents were the same way and while they were great parents, looking back it did not allow me to live up to my full potential. I passed my classes without ever studying and was in honors classes But when it came time to apply for colleges doing the bare minimum only allowed me to go to a few state schools. If I had applied myself more I could have gone anywhere I wanted.”

“Same! I care if they’re failing because that speaks to something else going on. I’ll never shame them. I’ll support them,” another noted.

Failing is definitely another story, and one every parent should look into, but as my dad used to say, “C’s get degrees!”