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No more student privacy?
Published: Monday, May 5, 2008 - 9:00pm
When a student comes home from school, a parent might ask: "Hey, how was school today? What grade did you get on your test, how'd you do on it?"
If the student did well on the test, he would proudly tell his parents his grade. On the other hand, if he did poorly, he might try and change the subject, or lie about his grade. Fortunately for students, they have the privacy to hide their bad grades until the report cards come in.
However, student privacy may soon no longer exist. Parents no longer need to ask their children about their grades or wait for report cards.
According to a recent New York Times article, parents now have online programs such as Edline, ParentConnect, Pinnacle Internet Viewer, and PowerSchool to track their children’s daily and overall grades.
These programs even allow parents to check tardiness and discipline notices. To make matters worse for the bad student, schools from kindergarten through high school are now implementing these online programs to encourage parents to constantly monitor their grades.
These programs have been rather controversial. Some argue that breaching student privacy will dramatically increase family tensions and stress. For example, how would you feel if you had a bad day and performed poorly on a test, only to return home with your parents demanding an explanation for the bad grade?
On the other hand, parental involvement in student grades can help make a positive effect. Parents can immediately see where their child has problems and address the issue quickly before it becomes a failing grade. Also, the programs will discourage children from lying to their parents, which is usually the problem that creates family tensions.
Whether or not you think it is right for schools to incorporate these online programs, how you perform in school is equally important to both you and your parents. So don't slack off at school and blow off tests. Instead, study well and score high on your tests so that you don't have to worry about your school privacy and can confidently tell your parents how you are doing at school.
Comments
Not a privacy issue
These online grade trackers do not invade students' privacy. Parents are entitled to know their own kids' grades.
Parents should be aware of how their kids are doing in their classes without relying on parent-teacher conferences or quarterly report cards. If report cards are the only grades parents are looking at, then by the time they find grade issues, it may be too late for improvement.
Why are parents entitled to
Why are parents entitled to know their own students' grades? I can understand this at the elementary and maybe even middle school levels, where good homework habits are formed, but in high school? That's ridiculous.
It's not ridiculous.
For many students, the help they can get from their parents, teachers, counselors, etc. is invaluable. Parents should know the grades their kids get so that they know where and when to help. Knowing more than just a quarterly letter grade facilitates pinpointing issues before they worsen.
There is much more homework in high school than there is in middle school. High school homework is also much more challenging. Someone who developed good homework and study habits early on would still need to work on those habits throughout high school.
And as Gordon said in this blog post: If you get the best grades you can, you will be proud to let your parents know.
I would think that these
I would think that these obsessive parents would want to reform their childrens' morals instead of quiz grades. Honestly, people should care more about children who have been trained to lie daily to their parents than those who get less than an A on a test.
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