Technology Invasion: Your Parents Can Access Everything!

Wouldn't it be, like, awful if your parents could see your entire academic portfolio—course grades, standardized state test scores, attendance history and more!—in one place? No more excuses like, "Everyone did bad on this test, it was super hard!" cause they'd be able to see how your score compared to your classmates'. And forget about intercepting those calls about your frequent tardiness, cause they'd be able to see that too. Well, consider your worst nightmares a reality.

Ok, so this really only applies to students in New York, but the rest of you know that it won't take long for your states to catch up. The new "Parent Link" website collects all that important data about you and puts it online, so your parents can access it easily and regularly. Yeah, we know, really, really scary. Sure, a very few of you are goody-two-shoes, straight A students who are completely honest with your parents all the time. And then there's the rest of us. But even the best students should be worried, cause this can only be a sign of things to come.

Step into the SparkNotes Dystopia Time Machine and take a gander at what this invasion could lead to:

In another year...
Parents will petition for more "locker transparency" and have cameras installed inside your narrow slice of aluminum privacy.  No more stashing your violin away instead of bringing it home to practice, cause your mom will be able to see where it's hiding. And all that other junk—old lunches, failed homework assignments, and rotting gym clothes—will be broadcast live via webcam straight to your parents computer.

In 2 years...
Schools and parents will join forces in a show of solidarity against dating. With the help of super-fancy technological advances that we can't yet understand, they'll install electronic force fields around every individual student making any and all human contact impossible. And if you try to overcome these barriers, crazy alarms will go off—not only in your classroom, but at your house, on your parent's cell phones, and even at their places of employment. Next thing you know, you'll be surrounded by "anti-dating warriors" who will pry you off your object of affection.

In 5 years...
Just before you begin high school, a small micro-chip will be implanted in your skull so that every thought (yup, every thought) will be transmitted straight to your parents brains. They'll basically live simultaneously lives, their own and yours. Unfortunately, the chip only works in one direction, so you won't be able to use their college-educated, professionally trained minds to help you answer questions on your school exams. And even if this doesn't seem like a big deal, cause you'll be out of high school and on to the freedom of college, don't do a happy dance too soon. Something even more scary and invasive will probably be making its way to a college near you, just in time to stifle your first taste of independence.

Do you think your parents have too much access to your personal and academic life?  Do you think they should? Or are you completely open with them?