<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>from New Software Lets Parents Track Kids
Schools across the country are adopting computer programs that allow parents to check the Internet daily to see whether their kids skipped class, handed in their homework and even what they had for lunch.
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``Our parents don't need to know everything we do all the time,''
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Teachers enter information like grades, homework assignments and attendance into a Web site, where parents with a password can see it. Parents can find out what foods have been charged to their child's lunch money account and whether their children have been given detention.
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the law clearly states that parents have a right to look into their children's school records
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Another perspective on this<P>1) It appears on the face of it to be nothing more than making existing school records available electronically for parents, bypassing the need to bother an overworked school administrator: parents could get this information today, by means of a phone call to the school.<P>2) Provided the information is restricted to what the school already keeps, then it is surely non-threatening? In the UK parents are legally required to make sure their children attend school, so to be certain that they have arrived is reassuring (besides, if you want to bunk off, do it after registration - - - <IMG SRC="
http://www.keenspace.com/forums/wink.gif"> ). Dietary concerns are more of a grey area (and besides, what's wrong with fruit juice?). Homework - well if you don't already know what homework has been set and whether its done, you aren't paying enough attention as a parent.<P>3) Roscoe, I'm saddened by your vehemence <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>nearly every adult is an enemy, the most fervorent being those closest to us.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Without knowing more about your situation, it's difficult to know what to say. Most parents put a great deal of love into their children, more sometimes than into each other, and it leaves them vulnerable. Some react by being afraid to let go, afraid that something will happen and they will not be able to deal with the pain.<P>The source of my perspective.<P>My son is six-and-a-half, and is our pride and joy. I know I've invested a lot of myself in him, and that if anything happened to him, my world would fall apart. I also know that he will someday stop wanting cuddles, grow out of saying "I love you Daddy", and want to make his own decisions that conflict with mine.<P>I consider my first duty to make sure he is equipped to make those decisions. That includes exposing him to as rich a set of experiences as I can, and letting him make decisions about little things now. Those decisions can get more important as he gets older, so hopefully there won't be a big wall to get over at adolescence. (Adolescence is a big enough wall on its own!)<P>The other point I am gearing myself up for is the absolute need, somewhere along the line, to make the shift from "father-and-son" to "friends". It'll be hard, I'm a control freak so he probably is too, but I can't think of another way to deal with it. Trying to stay in control can only make things worse.<P>OK, back to the point. A concerned parent will want to know this innocuous school record information because they care about you. It may not seem like it, but they almost certainly do. I know its an old-fashioned saying, but if you can try to look through their eyes, it might help to understand them better?<P>This isn't tagging, nor is it constant on-line monitoring. It seems to me a way for the school to unburden themselves of the need to answer telephone calls from worrying parents, using Internet technology to good advantage. Lets face it, the teachers will not be putting anything into the records that they don't have to.<P>Muttley
feeling old, now.<P>[This message has been edited by Muttley (edited 05-29-2001).]<p>[This message has been edited by Muttley (edited 05-29-2001).]
