Teen Refuses to Work on Group Project with a Special Needs Classmate

A worried teenager who refused to work with a special needs classmate on a school project took to social media to find out if he was wrong for doing so.

The teenager in question took to Reddit to tell his story. She wrote that as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that ensued, all of her academic activities had to be postponed.

Her school had an unscheduled break that lasted for a while. Hence she missed out on a lot of school work. So when the lockdown was subsided, her school reopened, and they decided to put all students in random classes.

They also took all the pupils to the same level, wanting them to start from the same level. Once classes began, her teacher chose to put students in groups and give them duties to help jog their memory after a long time of staying at home.

They were tasked to make slideshows, alongside audio and video recordings. The poster who is from England was put in a class with a boy named Mark. He is a special needs student and, according to her, refuses to work because of his condition.

She wrote that sometimes Mark hardly speaks and can go for days without uttering a word. He also cannot do anything without requiring assistance. According to her teacher’s sitting plan, she and Mark were next to each other.

The poster noted that, at first, she had no problem with Mark being her partner until he began having episodes in the middle of the day during class. Nevertheless, she still wasn’t bothered because she understood his circumstances.

She tried so hard to include him in whatever activities she did as much as she could. Unfortunately, she began having trouble when it was time for them to work on the project.

She was paired with Mark and another guy who wasn’t participating. Mark couldn’t work because of his condition while the other guy refused to care about his school work.

Frustrated, the poster approached her teacher to discuss her challenges. She told the teacher that she wanted to be in another group or do the work alone but was met with a backlash.

Her teacher yelled at her calling her a snob and a disrespectful brat for treating a classmate with special needs that way. However, the poster couldn’t reconcile her teacher’s anger because Mark couldn’t literally do anything on his own.

He couldn’t read or write, so he wasn’t helping with the project anyway. As for the other guy, he outrightly refused to do any work. Now, She is conflicted and wants to know if she was wrong for speaking to her teacher.

What do you think, and what advice do you have for the poster? If you are interested in reading an interesting story about a man who went to his parents’ cabin after his wife said she was pregnant, click here.