A mother in China who mocked her son’s teacher for being “too poor” to afford a car because he rides a bike and for making her son think “studying is useless” has outraged mainland social media.

A screenshot of the conversation between the parent and teacher has gone viral, with many criticising the mother for being materialistic, snobbish and rude.

The incident occurred in June when the teacher, surnamed Wang, was riding his bike to work when he encountered a boy from school, news portal qq.com reported.

The pair exchanged polite greetings and went on their way. However, when Wang arrived at his office and checked the WeChat group for teachers and parents there was an odd message from the boy’s mother.

“Teacher Wang, do not ride a bike any more. You’d better buy a car,” wrote the mother of the boy, nicknamed Rongrong, in the chat group, which has 58 members including parents and teachers.

Wang replied: “Thank you Rongrong’s Mum for your concern. It’s an enjoyable experience to ride a bicycle. What’s more, it’s not far from my home to the school.”

However, the mother persisted: “If it rains, it will be inconvenient. So it’s better to buy a car.”

“If it rains, I won’t ride the bike. I will hold an umbrella and walk to school. Anyway, walking is perfectly fine for me,” Wang replied.

At this point, the mother revealed her real reason for insisting the teacher drive to work: “My son has been riding in a BMW since his birth. The people around him all have luxury cars. You are his teacher. You ride a bicycle. What will he think, in your opinion?” she wrote.

“What will he think about the fact that I ride a bike?” asked the puzzled teacher.

“Every day I tell him to study hard. And he finds you riding a bike to work, what will he think? He will definitely think that a teacher can’t make money and studying is useless,” wrote the mother. “You work hard for half of your life but your living standard is not as good as my son’s - he has had a BMW to sit in since his birth. I bet he won’t study hard in future.”

It’s not clear if the teacher responded again to the mother’s final comments, but parents in the group criticised the woman and defended Wang.

“Rongrong’s Mum, since your family is so wealthy and you detest teacher Wang for not having a car, why don’t you buy him a car? ” one parent told the mother.

“You are concerned that the teacher riding a bike will affect your child’s education, right? Aren’t you willing to take out such a small amount of money from your pocket?” added the parent.

The mother’s comments have been shared widely after they were posted online.

“What a weird parent to have such a thought!” wrote one person on Weibo.

“I think this mother is impoverished in the spiritual world,” another said.

“I am a teacher and I’ve experienced this kind of incident before. Some students look down upon teachers who don’t have a car. I think it’s an urgent task to raise teachers’ salaries,” a Heilongjiang user commented.

 - SCMP