Teachers often have to address a student's weaknesses which can be very hard for a parent to hear.
In contrast, parents often reveal things about their children that are troubling. In the following case a mother reveals her lack of confidence in her son's abilities which explains to the teacher his low motivation problems. The conference had been scheduled because Ryan was having difficulty in a number of his classes. During the conference, Ryan's teachers informed his mother that Ryan was intelligent, but that he did not seem motivated to do well in his classes. Ryan received zeros for all his homework and class work because he did not turn in any of his assignments.