Minor irritation

One of the things which annoys me is when a child does not turn in an assignment and then claims to his/her parent that they have. I dutifully check all of the potential places a child could have submitted an assignment (even though there is one designated place for each class). Then I respond to the parent stating that I have checked and re-checked (because the first time I check is when I've graded the rest of the class's assignment), and, alas, the assignment was not turned in. I usually have them ask their child to check his/her binder ... because usually that's where the assignment was all along. The parent, of course, does NOT apologize for making me do all the extra work of searching again when they should have asked their child to double-check in the first place.

What really irritates me, however, is when the parent simply assumes that if the child can't find the assignment that I must be lying when I say the child hasn't turned it in. (You know how "the customer is always right?" Sometimes it feels like the sales philosophy is taking over education ... "the student is always right," regardless of my years of experience, my professionalism, my education. I'm not saying I don't make mistakes or I'm never wrong ... but why are some people so quick to believe their [irresponsible] child over me?)

The icing on the cake is when the parents simply assume it's no trouble for me to then go out of my way to make extra photocopies of an assignment due weeks (sometimes months earlier) so that the child can make up the work. Yes, I want the child to be successful. No, I don't want his/her grade to be severely affected by his/her irresponsibility. However, REALLY? Of course there's no gratitude. It's just an expectation that I will do all the extra work to make one child happy. And you know how many of these issues come up within a few days of the grading deadline? More than I'd care to share.