A mum shocked her son by turning up to his maths lesson and sitting with him so that he didn't misbehave.

Becky Crandley went to The Sittingbourne School, formerly Sittingbourne Community College, yesterday and sat next to her son Harley for the last 30 minutes of his lesson after she received phone calls and emails from the school about his behaviour.

The mother-of-five, who lives in Sittingbourne, said: "Harley's maths teacher got in touch with me last week and said he was calling out in class. I said, 'if you need me to sit with him in the lesson so he doesn't misbehave, then I will'."

She added: "He's not a bad lad. He's not aggressive or anything like that, but it's just his disrespect towards the teachers and the attitude he gives across at school – he's not like it at home. It's frustrating because he is intelligent, but he's just pushing it aside to fit in."

Becky was invited to join her 12-year-old son Harley in what was his final lesson of the day.

The 30-year-old said: "He didn't have a clue. I did say to his teacher, can you please not tell him. She, obviously, cleared it with the school first and it was only the last half hour of the lesson that I could sit in, but that was enough.

"When I got there his name was already on the board for calling out.

"When he saw me walk through the door, his face went so red with embarrassment. He put his head down in shame like 'oh my god, my mum is here' – it did make me chuckle.

"I went and sat down next to him and he asked me why I was there. I said it's because of your behaviour and the disrespect you show your teachers. I then told him he needed to get on with his work and do as he was told – and he did exactly that.

"I sat next to him the whole time, I was checking his work and everything, it was brilliant."

When asked how the other children reacted to her being in the lesson, Becky said: "When I first walked in, a few of the kids laughed and a few were shocked – it was a mixed atmosphere, but I think it's woken a few of the children up because they won't want it to be their parents next time."

However, Becky said after five minutes of being there, she was shocked by some of the children's behaviour in the class.

"When he saw me walk through the door, his face went so red with embarrassment. I sat next to him the whole time, I was checking his work and everything, it was brilliant."

"They were calling out, being rude, and I was ashamed my son had been acting like they were," she said. "I'm not bringing him up to talk down to people, especially women, and I won't stand for it – teachers don't deserve it.

"They're not there to parent our children, they're there to teach and guide.

"As far as Harley is concerned, something needed to be done and I think he'll definitely think twice now. He knows I will come to every lesson with him if needs be."

"I think more parents need to do this to be honest," she added.

After her visit to the Swanstree Avenue school, Becky posted a photo on Facebook that she had taken during the lesson of her sitting next to a not-so-happy Harley – and it has since gone viral.

"I didn't expect the reaction I've had, within an hour it had over 1,000 likes," she said.

At lunchtime today, it had 2.4k likes and more than 560 comments.

"I'm not bringing him up to talk down to people, especially women, and I won't stand for it – teachers don't deserve it. They're not there to parent our children, they're there to teach and guide.

Becky said: "Every single comment has been positive and supportive. There are so many people in the same situation as me and they're praising what I've done – I just hope they do the same with their children."

She added: "It's not about shaming my son, it's about doing what's right and telling other parents they can stand up and make a change.

"A lot of parents blame the teachers and it's not them. If my son ruins his education now, he has ruined his future already, and I'm not having that."

"I think the school was really good to have let me do it and they should do it more. Maybe give the kids a three-strike rule and when it comes to the third strike, their parents come in and sit with them.

"If parents don't put their feet down to their children today, it's scary to think what this world will become.

"Mums have lost too many babies. It all stems from their attitude, the way they disrespect things and just do what they want, and it's just not acceptable."

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