![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/elementary-classroom-setting-tired-frustrated-857708444-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTHERE\u2019S one lurking in every school playground – THAT parent who marches into the classroom and confronts their child\u2019s teacher when they don\u2019t agree with something they do or say.<\/p>\n
You can spot her a mile off. She\u2019s the immaculate mum, a Queen Bee – the one who runs the PTA with an iron rod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But it isn\u2019t the Bee who causes us teachers the real strife but the interfering underlings who we label the Mum Mafia. The sort who terrify and intimidate other mums who they deem unworthy.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been a teacher for 27 years and\u00a0 you won\u2019t believe how annoying they are. Here, I reveal their \u2018sort\u2019 and how they\u2019re perceived in school.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll know exactly who I mean\u2026<\/p>\n
On inset days we go through a list of every child in the school \u2013 and those with a Mum Mafia parent are marked in red. Every year group has a Queen Bee and she is never a nice mum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019s inevitably grown up in the area and knows everyone from the local shop owner to the headteacher\u2019s sister. She only surrounds herself with mums that she deems worthy and if you\u2019re scruffy and chaotic she won\u2019t look at you let alone talk to you. Teachers are terrified of her.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll hear when Queen Bee has rounded up her mafia troops and warn each other that within hours one of them will be in with some \u2018suggestions\u2019.<\/p>\n When Queen Bee is at the school gates we email each other \u2013 forewarned is forearmed.<\/p>\n The Queen Bee will spread rumours based on nothing, usually on WhatsApp \u2013 which has overtaken social media as a way to whip parents into a frenzy.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Often she doesn\u2019t know as much as she thinks she does but says it anyway. The worst I\u2019ve ever come across was one who told everyone that she knew someone from Ofsted and the school was going to be rated \u2018requires improvement\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was rated actually \u2018good\u2019\u2026but she made everyone believe it was by a whisker rather than looking stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not only our teaching methods that are regularly hammered but the Mafia want in on our personal lives too. Dating is a nightmare – I once bumped into one of the Mafia while I was on a date and the next day her son asked me about my \u2018new\u2019 man.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another time I hid in my local Sainsburys when I had a few bottles of wine in my shopping trolley as I knew that the rumour would start that I was an alcoholic. I became so paranoid, I started shopping online\u2026<\/p>\n If the Mum Mafia decides something needs changing \u2013 from the school menu to the uniform policy, then Queen Bee rallies the troops. It\u2019s astonishing how quickly they gather, within hours of a new decision we\u2019re braced for the attack. It\u2019s a coordinated one \u2013they take it in turns as the Queen Bee hates looking like \u2018that\u2019 mum. We know their tactics and take bets on who will come in this time.<\/p>\n The Mum Mafia wannabes – those who haven\u2019t made the clique – are tasked with emailing relentlessly until they get their way.<\/p>\n Most schools have parking rules, made for rational reasons, such as safety. The Mum Mafia never accept them and will draw up bang outside the gates, blocking the path for the school bus and insisting it\u2019s entirely necessary because they\u2019ve got a baby inside, or they don\u2019t want their car being scratched.<\/p>\n They also refuse to accept that holidays can\u2019t be taken in term time. And will not only book a week away at the start of term, but demand you send them the work so their child doesn\u2019t struggle upon return. My answer is always no\u2026I don\u2019t need more work<\/p>\n The Mafia not only believe they\u2019re above the law but think their child is too. They will come in sweet as pie and say their little darling had a manicure for her 16th<\/sup> birthday and she\u2019s sure that we\u2019ll agree that although there\u2019s a no nail varnish policy in place, just this once it would be ok.\u00a0 If we object, the smile swiftly turns to a scowl, and they\u2019ll go to the head of the year to complain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mobile phones are another bone of contention. I\u2019ve had a child go to the loo and send a picture to a classmate of him vaping. When I confiscated the vape and phone, the Mafia mum complained about ME saying my lessons weren\u2019t challenging enough and her poor son was bored.<\/p>\n Some mums now research which exam boards are supposedly more lenient with GCSE grades. They then start suggesting we use the \u2018easier\u2019 ones. Once the course has started they\u2019ll download the marking schemes and check over returned homework to see if they can find an extra mark \u2013 and then write a filthy email explaining why little Johnny actually deserved an A* (he didn\u2019t!).\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TM-comp-School-2.jpg\")
<\/picture>KID YOU NOT <\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m a teacher & mums drive us crazy – each one has been given a secret nickname<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/GM_19-10_SECRET-SECRETARY_COMP.jpg\")
<\/picture>KID YOU NOT <\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m a school secretary – it\u2019s hell after half-term, I blame the lazy parents<\/h3>\n
\u2026BUT SHE KNOWS NOTHING<\/h2>\n
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HER UNDERLINGS SCRUTINISE<\/h2>\n
THEY\u2019RE READY TO POUNCE<\/h2>\n
THEY\u2019RE ABOVE THE LAW<\/h2>\n
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