Unscheduled Parent Conference

TGIF. Payday! So why am I so miserable? It was a stressful day. Yesterday, when I had Rodney in class, he wanted to go to the bathroom. We don’t normally let kids go unless it’s between classes or an extreme, extreme emergency. I didn’t really believe Rodney. It seemed like he was bored and just wanted to get out of class. Every two minutes it was, “I have to go to the bathroom. I really, really have to go!” Near the end of class I started to feel sorry for him. Maybe he really did have to go. Well, when class got out I watched him. He didn’t go to the bathroom. He went to Ms. Helm’s room.
Today, five minutes into class, “I have to go to the bathroom!” I reminded him of yesterday’s class and told him that I’d seen him when he left my room. “I have to go . . .” I told him that if he said it one more time then I’d send him to time-out. “But, I really have to go . . .” I sent him to time-out.
It was probably the most pleasant class period I’ve ever spent with that group of students. After class (the last of the day), Ms. Weeks, the time-out lady, came by. She had called Rodney’s dad and he was going to come see me today or after school on Monday. Thanks a lot. For a moment, I considered rolling out of school and saving my weekend. Then, I remembered that I had to do substitute plans for Monday since I have to be in that meeting.
Minutes later, Rodney came into my room with his dad. Immediately, the mood was hostile. I explained what had happened. His dad started yelling at me and got up in my face, “I’m telling you right now, some teachers aren’t worth a fuck!” his finger pointing down in my face. I tried to diffuse the situation with a smile, “Well, I think . . .” He interrupted, “I’m not playing games! I got my diploma! I don’t play games with teachers no more! Last year, I sued the school system! I’m not paying no $500 for a lawyer this year! I’m dealing with you face-to-face!” His finger is still in my face. “Either you’re lying!” pointing at me, “Or you’re lying!” pointing at his son. The conversation turned to whether Rodney had been disrespectful of just disruptive. I maintained that Rodney had been just disruptive. The yelling started back up, “That lady on the phone told me you said he was disrespectful to you! Someone’s lying here! I’m going to find out what you wrote on that paper!" He stormed out of the room with Rodney, looking for Ms. Weeks.
Well, now we know what’s wrong with Rodney. How is a kid going to respect his teachers when his parents disrespect them in front of him? The school is always telling us that if you have a problem with the student then you HAVE to call the parent. I don’t want to call the parent. Most of the time, the parent IS the problem. I don’t want my students to get beat up at home because I talked to their parent. I really don’t know what to do. How do I handle Rodney now?