My understanding is that FERPA is applicable to any school, public or private, that receives any sort of federal funding, but I defer to those who know the issue better than I.
And – happy to help!
Class of 2003; my high school student handbook had a section exactly like that. Upon turning 18 (or getting married) a student could substitute their own signature for that of a parent/guardian, but the school would still release any academic/disciplinary information to the parents just like if the student was underage unless the student notified the school in writing not to. At the beginning of every school year everyone had to tear an acknowledgement page out of the handbook and turn it in with a student and parent signature, but I don’t know how many people actually read through the whole thing. Students who were of age could also update their personal information or emergency contacts I will. I took advantage of that option when I changed my middle name without telling my parents. I meant to, but put it off and they didn’t find out until the graduation ceremony. :smack:
Agreed, the school did nothing wrong. The parents need to direct their frustration at their daughter and have a very serious conversation with her.
Fair point, but that doesn’t really apply at the secondary level unless the student is attending a private school in which case the school can set it’s own rules regarding parent access to student information.
Parents aren’t paying tuition for an 18 year old attending a public high school- but they are very likely to be providing financial support beyond room and board. (cell phone, car insurance,spending money, etc)
Your employer demands access to your medical files, saying you’ll be fired immediately if you don’t comply. You protest. They say “We write the paychecks; we make the rules.”
Good deal?
The difference I see is that your employer is not functioning in loco parentis, whereas my understanding is that a school is. Universities, where most people are of age, seem to have at least some “parental” responsibilities, though that may be understood as an arrangement between the institution and the adult student that does not include the parents.
I’m also class of 2003. But, even after turning 18, my report card still came in the mail as it always had, with my name on it. So, as long as you lived with them, it’s not like they actually did anything to keep parents from finding out. (I think there was also an online account, but I may be conflating that with college. I do know it was my account, not my parents.’)
So I assumed this was a new thing to actively try and hide this stuff. It seems it would only be possible as things moved online. And then there would usually be a period where such stuff was unregulated.
OK - how is that difference relevant to the privacy situation with an adult student?
I’m confused. Are you trying to say that an employer demanding to see your medical records is somehow equivalent to a student’s parents wanting to see their child’s grades in high school?
Of course it’s somehow equivalent. It’s private personal information, and the person whose information it is decides who will see it and when.
Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of child abuse. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of someone who had to leave home.
I’m having trouble reconciling looking at your 18 year old child’s grades with child abuse.
Plus, I’m sorry, but my children’s grades are not private personal information to me if I am footing the bill.
Sure they can. And the person providing financial support gets to decide to what extent and under what conditions they will support another adult. If that adult doesn’t like those conditions, he or she is free to forgo that support. Employers don’t support their employees - they pay them a certain amount of money for performing certain tasks.
Of course we all have- but what does that have to do with anything? Are you seriously saying it’s abusive if a parent doesn’t want to continue to support their adult offspring unless they are actually attending school and passing?
No, I’m saying that for those kids who ARE being abused, removing all points of “leverage” their parents have can be literally a life saver.
I think the money is (and has to be) a separate issue - but if you insist on treating your kid as an adult by making your support conditional, AND insist on seeing their private info too, that’s you wanting to have it both ways. Conditional support ought to mean conditional access to information.
I would definitely look down on any parent who kicked out their offspring who was legitimately trying to graduate high school. Yes, there is a gap between when they turn 18 and when they graduate, but I consider that a scheduling thing.
I also have an issue with any parent punishing a student for a bad grade if the student is trying. I’ve heard of families that did that, and they sound absolutely awful. I wouldn’t get mad with a student who fakes their grades in that situation.
Who said it doesn’t? The adult kid is entirely free to condition their parents’ access to grades on those parents providing support. In post 81, I explicitly said my parents couldn’t have forced me to give them access because there wasn’t any support for them to withdraw.
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Yeah, that IS me wanting to have it both ways. That’s the beauty of being a parent!
I think consistency would be my problem. Both my kids were 18 year old seniors. And I was still responsible for medication, still needed to sign off on their participation in sports - in fact there wasn’t anything that them being 18 absolved me of responsibility for as far as the school was concerned. So if that is the case, if I have the responsibility, I get to see grades and talk to teachers. Otherwise, don’t give me any responsibility - and by the way, my kid makes $9 an hour working 10 hours a week - you now get to cover all their graduation fees and their Senior year sports fees and they get free lunch.
Now, I could still access their grades through the school portal, so I knew what they were. And although my son wasn’t a stellar student, he passed every single class and was never really in danger of not graduating. My daughters grades weren’t accessible to me her Senior year, because she was dual enrolled in college - and college doesn’t have helicopter parent functionality built in.