My 11yo's school just called CPS on me for 4 strange reasons

"I'm so confused, how can this be a legitimate complaint?"

A single dad has taken to Reddit to vent about a frustrating situation which ended up with CPS (child protection services) knocking on his door.

"School called CPS on me and is making my life so difficult," he said.

"I’m 25 and have a son, 11. I will admit we aren’t the most stable family, but in no way is he being abused/neglected."

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Why did CPS come to the dad's house?

"I got home from work on Wednesday and got a knock at my door; it was some lady saying that CPS had received a call of potential 'child endangerment' and asked if she could ask a few questions," he continued.

"Well, today I march into school with my son because what the f**k. The reasons they gave were:

"1 - he didn’t have healthy lunches

2 - he walked to/from school by himself

3 - he said I would be mad if he failed his upcoming test.

4 - some minor behaviour issues."

The dad says his son packs his own lunch, which is usually a sandwich with some snacks, which he acknowledges "isn't the healthiest but he honestly doesn’t eat anything all day if I pack it."

"He literally lives less than a five-minute walk from his school, and he’s 11. Of course there are dangers of a kid walking alone but they are acting as if I’m forcing him to walk through dark alleyways."

The dad assumes that the final straw for the school was when his son said he would be mad over a failed test. "But what parent wouldn’t?" he reasons. "It’s not like I yell at him, but of course, I’d be mad if my son was failing.

"I understand that school staff are just trying to look out for the children’s safety, but they are blowing this way out of proportion, and I hate this."

Image: iStock

"Kids twist things"

In the comments, users weighed in, with some suggesting that his son may have exaggerated some things at school.

"In first grade my son would eat breakfast at home, then at morning snack he would plow through his packed lunch and express how hungry he was . The teacher was concerned and sparked a conversation with him where he claimed he wasn’t being fed breakfast at home.

"This turned into the teacher giving him EXTRA food and feeling concerned. Boy was I shocked when the guidance counselor called me!" the top comment read.

"He ended up admitting his lies and we had to get on the same page about what’s allowed for snacks and when but man ...kids can definitely twist things and make things sound so off."

And someone else wrote: "This wouldn’t come close to meeting criteria for investigation in my state unless you are leaving info out or there’s been several referrals about the same things with more details."

However, others thought the dad might not be telling the entire truth.

"OP also relies heavily on repeating he 'doesn’t yell' as though that’s the only form of punishment that could be problematic," someone pointed out. "Withholding care items, silent treatment, leaving the child alone for a long time, not providing food… these are all inappropriate punishments or behaviors that are not yelling."

And this person added: "When it comes to even the barest suspicions of potential of abuse or neglect, schools always err on the side of protecting the child over protecting the adult.

"And 11-year-olds tend to be pretty dramatic, so it is more than possible that he said something that tripped an alarm in the adults that he didn't even realise would be problematic to say."

Originally published as My 11yo's school just called CPS on me for 4 strange reasons