Depending on the teacher’s interpretation, she might believe that she should not report the student for cheating because it would impact his grade point average and cause more stress for his mother.
That is the difficult thing because when a teacher creates a bond with her students, she will feel bad reporting him for cheating because they can see the negative effects that'll escalate. However, if they disregard what they did, then they will continue to do so because they never knew that they needed to face consequences for their actions. Then in the long run there will be more harm than good.