Parent’s violent tirade is not surprising, former teacher says

Parents are increasingly questioning the handling of classroom incidents, a former teacher says.

It is not surprising a mother was filmed inside a classroom threatening to “slit” a student’s throat, according to a former teacher who recently quit education, as parents are increasingly taking school issues into their own hands.

Indiana Russell, 24, began teaching straight out of university in 2022, but left education two years later in October 2024 after being harassed and yelled at by students and parents.

In an incident caught on video on Monday, a woman appears to be confronting two students at St Paul’s College over a bullying incident involving her own daughter, while threatening them in a violent tirade.

A parent filmed confronting a 12-year-old student at a Gilles Plains school accusing them of bullying her child. Picture: Supplied

The video has since gone viral with many Advertiser readers supporting the mother. Picture: Supplied

“You ever f****** mess with my daughter again I’ll slit your f****** throat,” she was heard yelling.

In response to the incident, Ms Russell, now working in administration at an engineering firm, said while she never experienced “a parent go that far”, these occurrences became more common.

Former teacher Indiana Russell said parents are increasingly taking school matters into their own hands. Picture: RoyVPhotography

“Whenever I hear stories in the news, my first response is ‘how horrible’ and then that I’m not surprised,” the former teacher from Modbury, said.

While “some schools are better than others” at dealing with bullying, the issue is difficult to tackle.

“No one deserves to be threatened by a parent,” she said.

“They’re assuming the school hasn’t handled it well and they think they can handle it better than the school.”

Ms Russell said there was a “culture where parents think they know better than teachers”.

“We’re professionals, teachers train for a minimum of four years and you don’t get people telling people from other professions they don’t know what they’re doing,” she said.

“You go into self preservation as there’s no point trying to fight back.”

Issues with bullying in schools are made worse when “a child goes home to their parents and then they (the parents) tell me how to do my job”.

“In the last couple of years there’s been a shift towards gentle parenting and it’s gone too far,” Ms Russell said.

“They think ‘how dare someone tell my child ‘no’?”

Originally published as Parent’s violent tirade is not surprising, former teacher says