Ugh! Please don't let me become one of these!
The New York Times ran a story over the weekend about parents who, in short, need some hobbies. Because instead of macrame and collecting antique cookie tins, they're spending their time, energy and money on spying on their kids' every move -- you think I'm saying that metaphorically, I'm not -- at school.
Schools are adopting one of the scads of software programs that allow parents to go online and check out what grade Maddie got on her history test that day. Some programs will send alerts to Mommy's cellphone. One mom prints out her kid's daily grade report -- highlights the shitty grades and lays it all out on Jr.'s desk -- yet, goes ahead and asks him what he got on his test. Isn't that some kind of domestic entrapment?
Oh, come on, you say. They're a great way for parents to keep track of pending and incomplete assignments. True! It's far too much to expect the actual students to learn to manage that -- and to suffer the consequences when they can't. Parents can also log on to see whether a kid was late or absent from class, and get updates on any discipline issues. Those programs build the parent-teacher dream team!
Go ahead and say it -- I'm too old-fashioned. I might as well send my kids to a one-room school house, so resistent am I to adopting these modern, necessary kid spying tools. I shunned the nanny cam as well. We just kind of trusted our babysitters and listened to our kids.
What's your take? Are these programs they key to your child's success, or pretty much a guarantee that the professional workforce 15 years from now is going to be filled with idiot Americans who can't make it to the board meeting without their aging mother's encouragement and/or admonishments?
