Yesterday, there was an article in the Boston Globe about software that allows parents instant access to their student’s records in high school - including the student’s attendance that day and even, in some cases, what the kids have eaten at lunch. How does this strike you? The attendance, and grades and records information makes sense to me, particularly if attendance is an issue with your teen…and the article indicated that the attendance component of this program is positively influencing kids’ attendance at school. This is a good thing.

But monitoring details of kids lives in high school down to points of minutia -as in what they bought at lunch - can backfire badly, in my opinion. Yes, obesity is a problem. But parents of high school kids ought to be focusing on teaching kids how to make good decisions themselves, not playing the food police.

Here is it again…another article, this time from the Houston Chronicle…parents tracking every thing a kid eats in school.* Hello? Am I alone in thinking this is a bit invasive and possibly even counter-productive to teaching kids good self-regulatory habits?

*granted, this may be at middle school rather than high school, but I don’t see much difference. Do you?

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