You just finished a great class and you are on that high that only teaching can give you. The students are leaving the room and the energy is high only to be crushed by an irate parent ready to pounce and make your teaching high crash and burn. Ever been there? If so you know what this is all about, If not, I am happy for you but don't get lulled into thinking it will never happen. Being a guy, and a big one at that! I have never really experienced a full fledge attack but I have seen and heard of some really ugly incidents.

 First and foremost try not to get hot yourself. It is going to take a lot not to but as they say don't try to put out a fire with a blow torch. Try to get them into some space or area that they can sit and you can be away from other students and parents. Most of these situations occur from a misunderstanding or a child going home and crying saying a teacher was mean, humiliated them, or some other type of problem Try to let them vent a bit before you speak. As a matter of fact try not to speak. Let them do most of the talking and try not to get mad (warning, warning.this may be VERY HARD TO DO). Once they have finished talking you can start to work on the problem. We like to focus on the positive points of the students first then if there was a problem we address it at that point and say that we expect more out of them. Try not to ever argue with a mad parent or to get them to agree with you when they are heated. If a parent is obnoxious or belligerent after they are through venting you can calm the waters and get them out, FOR GOOD!

Studio owners should not allow or permit any parent to run rough shod over their faculty. Always let the studio owner know if an incident has taken place. We do not like for our faculty to meet with any parent to discuss this kind of problem without us being there but sometimes it is unavoidable. I would suggest that you try to get the parent to come in with the student at some point, sooner rather that later, to clear the air and move forward. Sometimes after this type of incident, the student wants to quit. By encouraging this meeting everyone will see that you care about them and that you hold no grudges. It is advisable to keep a line of communication open with all of your students and the parents should know you have an open door policy when it comes to fixing a problem. I remember once when we had a huge argument with a mom and dad who we happened to like a lot. It started off as a normal discussion about their son who was taking classes with us for some time. I don't remember what the problem was but they started to get nasty and mad. We tried to keep it calm but things started to get heated. After they got through blasting us, we told them the way it really was and that if they were not agreeable to what we were saying then their time at our studio was over. They saw that we meant business and they backed down. It ended up that we had a good laugh afterwards, shook hands and are still friends to this day long after their son moved on to college. Why is this story important? It shows that the parents are not always right, neither of course, are we; the key is to determine what is really best for the student. It also shows that if you spend time communicating with parents and are willing to work things out and move on, you can build long lasting great relationships with your clients.