How strict is too strict? That’s the question on TikTok viewers’ minds after a mother publicly slammed her son’s high school principal.
In a viral TikTok, Cass (@cassdamm) claims she received an unwelcome surprise in her inbox from her son’s principal. Something her son did, which would be considered mundane to others, irked the principal so much that the she sent the mother a strongly worded five-paragraph email.
What was in the email?
Attached were nine screenshots, complete with the time stamps of the 15-year-old using his bathroom hall pass to…get himself a soda.
Cass explains her son asked to go to the bathroom during math class, and obtained a hall pass to do so. However, as the surveillance camera captured, her son proceeded to go upstairs and buy himself a Dr. Pepper from the vending machine. He then walked back to class.
“I’m genuinely so confused,” Cass tells her viewers before addressing the principal directly. “Why were you staring at the cameras to confirm if my son actually went to the bathroom or not?”
Cass’s disbelief gives way to anger, as she accuses the principal of being “obsessed” with her son.
“He was not doing anything wrong,” Cass says. She shares with viewers that her son has anxiety, which he usually gets during math class, and soda helps calm it. According to her, he was back in class within six minutes.
Cass concludes her TikTok by accusing the principal of wasting her time with a trivial matter when there are more pressing ones.
“We live in cartel town. I know people are out there fighting, you can’t be more concerned with that than you are with my son?” Cass demands.
It seems Cass’s TikTok struck a chord since it has almost 1 million views as of Sunday. The Daily Dot reached out to Cass via email.
Viewers are on her side
Many viewers called the principal a “bully” and chastised a system that upheld such strict behaviors.
“But when children are getting bullied, then they don’t see anything,” a top comment with thousands of likes read.
Another echoed, “Why we treating kids like prisoners in maximum security?”
Someone referencing the iconic quote from Kourtney Kardashian wrote, “I’d respond to her 5 paragraph email with ‘Kim, there’s people who are dying.’”
But wait, there’s more
In a follow-up TikTok, Cass shares that her son actually did go to the bathroom. He only stopped at the vending machine on his way back.
According to her, the principal told her she was following her son because she was watching a classroom across the hall when the 15-year-old stepped out with his hall pass.
Cass concedes that her son has only ever gotten in trouble at school twice: One for hugging his girlfriend and the other for being close to someone who had their cell phone out (the school is a no-phone zone.)
In her reply email, Cass gave the principal a piece of her mind. She demanded to know why the principal was “stalking” her son instead of dealing with more important matters.
To her TikTok viewers, she shares how her son was on a 504 plan because of his anxiety and ADHD. This, it seems, put a target on his back since the principal watched his every move so he didn’t wander into places he wasn’t allowed.
What’s a 504 plan?
Understood.org defines a 504 plan as removing “barriers” when it comes to learning.
“It provides accommodations that don’t change what kids learn, just how they learn it. It’s a common school support for kids with ADHD and other kinds of disabilities,” the site states.
Cass says that with her son on the 504 plan, he has permission to leave class whenever he feels the need to. However, the principal did not consider the vending machines to be an “approved area” for the student.
How bad is anxiety in the high school classroom?
High school is already a pressure cooker for teens trying to fit in–toss a learning disability or anxiety on top, and you have an environment that can make learning unbearable. According to Compass Health Center, 1 in 7 teens has a mental disorder. The 504 plan, which was enacted in 1973, is supposed to help students with learning disabilities. But some teachers side-eye the program.
In a 2022 Reddit post in the r/AskTeachers forum, one teacher felt schools were handing out 504 plans “like candy.” They felt the program was being abused by students, not to mention a significant number of them were on it.
However, fellow teachers corrected her in the comments.
“504s are fantastic. I love knowing in advance that students have specific needs,” a top comment read.
@cassdamm He’s a nice kid. I’m sure he would have bought you a soda too, Kellie. #momtok #teenmom #butwhy #whyyousoobsessedwithme ♬ original sound – CassDamm 
Another pointed out that schools mismanaging 504s are to blame.
“504s are good. The problem, as you’ve noted, is that they are handed out poorly. For the most part this is because administrators are not focused on learning, but on avoiding problems. If parents want 504s, they get them,” they said.
There are about 1.6 million students on the 504 plan in America, the Department of Education states. As to whether they are actually helpful may be debatable, depending on who you ask.
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