If teachers notice that parents are not enforcing school rules, they can request a parent-teacher meeting to discuss the importance of enforcing school rules in the home, on field trips and any time the parent is on the school campus. Teachers can use this one-on-one opportunity to remind parents that their behavior influences their children and that they are setting a negative example for the students. Parent-teacher meetings are a direct way to confront the problem, and it is best to hold meetings with individual sets of parents rather than with groups of parents.
Teachers can also send home a copy of the school rules with the students or mail them to the parents' homes. By reissuing the school rules, teachers can gently remind parents that the rules -- which were probably passed out at the beginning of the school year -- are still the same and ask for their support in enforcing them on and off campus.
Another approach for teachers is to hold a formal meeting with the parents and student. In this scenario the teacher has a chance to ask the student, in front of the parent, about his behavior and why he is not following the rules. If the student has recently been assigned detention or even suspension, teachers can bring it up and discuss what might happen next if the student continues to disobey the school rules. This type of approach is intended to make the parent aware of the importance of following school rules and instilling them at home.
A student who breaks a school rule that puts others in danger or jeopardizes his own health and safety can lead to such consequences as getting suspended from the school. Parents may be held responsible if, say, the student was caught bringing drugs or weapons onto the school campus. Teachers who notice these types of school rules being broken can report the incidents to the principal, who may give parents a warning or one more chance to help enforce the rules before more dire consequences, such as expulsion, kick in.