Why are parents becoming needy and hard to deal with year after year? Why is it always their child and no one else’s? Over the last 11 years parents have changed. I must say that I’ve seen all sorts of parents from my 1st to my 10th year teaching and has continued now into my 1st year as an AP.
In case you don’t know this about me, I am very protective over my staff. They come first. I don’t let anyone speak rudely about them. When parents come to meet me and want to file a complaint, I sit and listen and write down everything they are saying. Nevertheless I have to open an investigation and ask my questions to the teacher. After my conversation with the teacher I learned that the student had twisted everything and exaggerated the whole story. To make it 100% correct, I always get the students to speak to me as well and ask them a few questions.
For example today as I was leaving school, I saw a parent speaking to one of my staff members and asked if everything was ok and they replied back saying yes. My gut feeling said it wasn’t. So I waited in my car until the parent walked out to make sure my staff was ok and wanted to get the full story before I got an email from that parent. I waited for about 10 minutes in the car. I said to myself, “2 more minutes and I will walk back in to check on them”. Luckily the parent walked out as I was stepping out of my car and then 5 minutes later the teacher walked out. I went and asked the teacher what was the problem because I knew I’d get an email 30 minutes later from the parent to ask me to investigate. I got the story from my staff and of course it wasn’t the teacher’s fault at all! 28 minutes later… DING! There was a new email from the parent. I laughed and read it. I do not reply back to parent emails after 4pm. Tomorrow I will take care of it and close the whole case.
Children at home are completely different than in school. I know that from my own two children. If they are angels at home I know that 95% of them are the complete opposite at school. But parents do not believe us until I give them my own children as an example. We are not out there to get their children but they need to cut us some slack.
To keep up with everything is one thing, but to keep up with needy parents is another. The majority of our parents are becoming like that and I simply cannot understand why! I’ll admit that this is the hardest part of my job keeping up with parents.
What do you do as an admin with parents who are needy and refuses to believe their child can do NO wrong? How do you solve situations with them?
