Liane — Thanks for the question …
After reading the emails aloud and picking apart the misspellings, bad grammar, bad logic (“but she’s a good kid!” “I’m a life coach!”), and ridiculous requests, my husband does what the other profs who left comments do: tells them his policies are stated clearly on the syllabus and that any discussion of the specifics would have to be between him and the student.
Of those parents who have actually called him, one father was stunned to learn his son barely attended class; and another set of parents had to hear that their son failed because (1) he plagiarized his paper and (2) he never once attended class.
No matter how profs. handle these parents, I can’t seem to lose sight of the fact that parents are actually CALLING AND EMAILING THEIR OFFSPRINGS’ PROFESSORS! Don’t parent-teacher conferences end in the sixth grade?

My dad is a college prof, and he tells the helicopter parents, “[Name] is my student, so I’m not at liberty to discuss his/her performance with anyone but him/her. If he/she has any concerns, he/she is free to call me to discuss them.” He almost never hears from the student.

My husband is a college professor who often handles things like this. Typically, he makes his policies exceedingly clear at the beginning of the semester, both in print on the syllabus and in discussions on the first day of class. So, when parents call to protest, he can say, “Sir, I appreciate your concern, but Junior received and acknowledged receipt of the same information that everyone else did. My chair and my dean feel my policies are fair. Juinor and I have had meetings and discussions throughout the semester, and I’ll be glad to forward you the emails where he acknowledged the consequences of his poor study habits and lack of attendance.”

Generally, this shuts them up, but in the case of one student, when he did poorly in his classes last semester, his daddy just had him declared mentally troubled (once he realized that the profs weren’t going to budge) and had those classes removed from his record so that he could continue at the university with no consequences. BS, frankly.

It’s just a matter of keeping your policies clear and documented, and ensuring that if parents complain, you’ve got ample evidence that you have gone above and beyond to ensure that policies are understood by their children.