So...my 6 year olds elementary school.... - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - So...my 6 year olds elementary school.... (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:06:28 PM EDT

Is requiring that I allow them to print our home address in a school directory that will be distributed to all of the other parents at the school or else they will not allow my child to participate in any class functions like the yearbook, class pictures, awards programs, school productions (plays, choir) pretty much anything that would include him in being a part of a group or class.

Now personally I have a few issues with this like the fact that all the neighborhood pedophile has to do is get a copy of the class pictures and a directory and they know right where to pick my kid up at.

The school says it is for my child's protection but I can't see how this protects my child...If by putting him more at risk they mean to protect him then I'm confused.

Evidently its the entire school district K-12 that is making this mandatory.

I hear its because the school almost got sued for posting some persons home address last year...but I can't be sure of the source on that one.

Do you think that there is anything I can do about this?

Before you go there: private school is not an option at this point or he would already be there.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:08:37 PM EDT

[#1]

For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:10:40 PM EDT

[#2]

I would have to say no. There is no reason that an address should have to be printed for everyone to see. The school has your address already if they need it for they are the only ones who really do need it. Like you said, you dont need all the CHO-MO's knowing where these kids live.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:14:24 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Perhaps you should go take a dump or something and let the adults chat about adult things.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:17:00 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
I would have to say no. There is no reason that an address should have to be printed for everyone to see. The school has your address already if they need it for they are the only ones who really do need it. Like you said, you dont need all the CHO-MO's knowing where these kids live.

I agree.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:20:19 PM EDT

[#5]

Pretty weird.

If you want my advice - I would say that you should just go with the flow.

It might be the best option for all parties involved.

Sometimes you just have to eat shit.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:21:47 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
The school says it is for my child's protection but I can't see how this protects my child..

...and I bet they couldn't explain it if they tried. It's just some BS line they are parroting without even a nanosecond of thought behind it.

The school should explain why they feel it's necessary to impose such draconian penalties on a rule with no logical reasoning behind it in the first place.

Fuck I hate mindless school administration cheesedicks.

ETA: Seeing who the OP is I'm surprised he hasn't started WW III with the bastards yet.

(Ra, that's a compliment, not an insult)

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:31:28 PM EDT

[#7]

I have sent the letter to the ACLU and will see if there is anything that they feel we can do about this.

I think I might contact a local attorney as well.

It makes no sense to me that they need to ostracize my child from participating in any of these activities because we won't publish our home address for the world to see.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:33:15 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Perhaps you should go take a dump or something and let the adults chat about adult things.

Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:35:29 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Perhaps you should go take a dump or something and let the adults chat about adult things.

Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

If you wanted to answer the question to the original post than I wouldn't have to have a smart ass come back for you. Do you have kids? If so would you mail/e-mail your home address to the entire school for no apparent reason?

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:37:17 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

Not to be a pedantic prick, but men of character don't compromise on matters of principle, no matter how trivial.

If the school can't articulate why they have this "rule", then they certainly don't deserve compliance or cooperation.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:38:55 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Perhaps you should go take a dump or something and let the adults chat about adult things.

Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

FWIW, I think it's totally stupid to have all this information together. Not necessarily for the "OMG the pedophile" but because I think it's fucking retarded to hand out all my information to everyone else in the school district. I have an unlisted number for a reason thank you very much.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:40:52 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

I want you to post your home address right now.

Ain't nuthin' gonna happen, right?

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:41:00 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

Not to be a pedantic prick, but men of character don't compromise on matters of principle, no matter how trivial.

If the school can't articulate why they have this "rule", then they certainly don't deserve compliance or cooperation.

Agree

Call their bluff.
Whats the worst that could happen.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:42:30 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

Perhaps you should go take a dump or something and let the adults chat about adult things.

Perhaps you shouldn't solicit opinions if you are afraid you might disagree with some of them. You are only fucking with your kid by being so paranoid. Every kid looks forward to school pictures and the yearbook. You want to deny her that because you think there's a pedophile around every corner? Or is this the hill you want to plant your "No Govt. intrusion" flag on? If that's it, then you think pretty small.

If you wanted to answer the question to the original post than I wouldn't have to have a smart ass come back for you. Do you have kids? If so would you mail/e-mail your home address to the entire school for no apparent reason?

My kids school district has a student and faculty directory. Even if they didn't, anyone who wanted to find out where my kids live could do so with little effort. I think you are making something out of nothing.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:45:34 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I would have to say no. There is no reason that an address should have to be printed for everyone to see. The school has your address already if they need it for they are the only ones who really do need it. Like you said, you dont need all the CHO-MO's knowing where these kids live.

I agree.

+2

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:47:13 PM EDT

[#16]

The problem that I'm having is that the school district is blackmailing us into cooperation by threating to keep our child out of said activities.

That is the problem.

That and the fact that I see no reason for anybody to have this information except for maybe his classroom. The school already has this information on file, they just hit the panic button because they F'd up last year and almost got sued.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:48:54 PM EDT

[#17]

It came out a little rough but TIM made a good point.

One needs to pick their power struggles wisely; even men of character.

Posted: 10/10/2007 11:58:20 PM EDT

[#18]

why not use a POB and a fake address to give out to strangers , its the cheapest protection i know of..

Your the parent you pay the taxes so you set the rules any way you have to.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:06:19 AM EDT

[#19]

Fuck these commies. Threaten a lawsuit. Or...let them segregate your child after you say no to publishing your address and then sue the fuck out of them. You're sure to be on Fox News within a month.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:18:41 AM EDT

[#20]

I would not do it, i would speak to the school board. I would hate for my kids to have to miss those things also. Im sure that something can be agreed on with the school board for the kids sake.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:29:33 AM EDT

[#21]

It's a matter of privacy and you have a legit concern. If you roll over like all the other parents who are sheeple then nothing will change, like hold the school board accountable. If you find you can't do anything legal to the school and don't want your child to be deprived then I would provide an address ANY address....and not say a word.

Just an example of not saying anything and follow the heard. Our school district charges 3.00 at the begining of each school year. This "FEE" is claimed to be for dances and other acitivities and essentially it goes for the Senior party of my childs class. Not one parent complains or asks about this fee. They just do as they are told. I refused to pay this last year since my son paid for his school dances, games and was not attending the Senior party. When it came for graduation the school was going to keep him from participating in the grad ceremony because of not paying the 3.00. They couldn't keep him from graduating but they could keep him from the ceremony......I told the principal the 3.00 fee is a "tax" / "tuition" and it was not legal. I asked him what is keeping the public schools from charging a $100.00 "Fee" / "Tuition" for all children to attend public school and he said nothing. In fact he said that is the direction public schools are going. (You see they can't call it "tuition" but they can call it a "fee" and get away with it. Kind of how our State and Federal governments get away with "taxing" us with "fees".) I told the principal my son would be present for graduation and I wanted to see him keep him from attending. To avoid any issues on graduation day the principal paid the 3.00 out of his pocket.

Stick to your principles / ethics and make those assholes justify their actions. If you are not happy then take your kid to a private school. If I was just starting to raise kids today they would not be exposed to our public school system of indoctrination. Good luck.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:39:13 AM EDT

[#22]

Threaten to take it to the local media with the whole "It's a pickup list for child molesters" angle if they don't STFU and let your kid do everything without the published addy.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:49:29 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

It should be strictly voluntary. The school is way out of line.
And you are, too.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:50:36 AM EDT

[#24]

If enough people complain, the fuckheads will back off.

The more of this bullshit I see, the more I find myself coming to the conclusion that having a child would be a bad idea.

Posted: 10/11/2007 12:54:31 AM EDT

[#25]

Ask for their address and their bank account numbers.

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:03:38 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Pretty weird.

If you want my advice - I would say that you should just go with the flow.

It might be the best option for all parties involved.

Sometimes you just have to eat shit.

Herd behavior is just going to allow them to up the ante for next year.

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:09:52 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

It should be strictly voluntary. The school is way out of line.
And you are, too.

You're right. I should not have been so crass. I wish I would have said it differently. However, I find the "fight the man" attitude tiresome. The man doesn't always need fighting. Not everything is part of the big Govt. conspiracy to control our lives.

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:11:59 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Not everything is part of the big Govt. conspiracy to control our lives.

How do you determine that?

IMO, it is better just to live by the notion that the government IS NOT there to do anything for you.

Fuck 'em.

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:13:05 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
Ask for their address and their bank account numbers.

I hope you're joking; if not, what a bad way to deal with people.

Everyone agrees that the policy is bullshit.

But the OP wants to protect his kid from a -potential- pedo threat.

And instead, he is going to mess with his kid -for sure- by dragging them into the middle of some stupid dispute.

In this scenario, just follow the herd, it's not worth it man.

ETA: When I was younger I used to fight everyone and everything that got in my way. It never got me anywhere.

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:25:55 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
For Christ's sake, remove your tinfoil and sign off.

It should be strictly voluntary. The school is way out of line.
And you are, too.

You're right. I should not have been so crass. I wish I would have said it differently. However, I find the "fight the man" attitude tiresome. The man doesn't always need fighting. Not everything is part of the big Govt. conspiracy to control our lives.

Incrementalism.

"Look there, little Timmy, yeah, his dad is a Senator".

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:29:31 AM EDT

[#31]

I tend to agree that the school is most likely overstepping by imposing penalties for not publishing a home address.

The idea that it will make it a pedophile target is not spot on. Child predators do their research and wouldn't need an address listed in a school publication to find them. Safety comes from other places. This is assuming that you would be talking about a stranger perp.

Even so, it should be your choice if you want you child's address published to everyone in the school. Maybe a telephone number for contact since there have been times I wanted to talk to another parent and a number would have been nice to have.

The advice about getting multiple parents to complain is the best course of action. Advise them you are seeking legal remedy and to not penalize the child until that runs its course.

School boards are often kinda weak and back down to any pressure fairly quickly.

Joe

Posted: 10/11/2007 1:58:56 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Not everything is part of the big Govt. conspiracy to control our lives.

How do you determine that?

IMO, it is better just to live by the notion that the government IS NOT there to do anything for you.

Fuck 'em.

If you choose to live your life with your dukes up and a chip on your shoulder, perhaps you should take a long look in the mirror and think about where the problem really is.
I choose to pick my battles more carefully. Life is for living.

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:06:33 AM EDT

[#33]

Anyone who says he shouldn't fight this needs to go watch Kindergarten Cop.

The administrator bitch:

could fuck up and give op's address to villain:

who tries to kidnap op's kid, making op look like this:

be careful op, it's not a tumah!!!

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:10:43 AM EDT

[#34]

Is the directory going to include the home addresses and phone numbers of the teachers, staff and the pricipal ?

If not, then tell them to suck eggs. And show up for EVERY school function and personally walk your child into the events.

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:12:25 AM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Ask for their address and their bank account numbers.

I hope you're joking; if not, what a bad way to deal with people.

Everyone agrees that the policy is bullshit.

But the OP wants to protect his kid from a -potential- pedo threat.

And instead, he is going to mess with his kid -for sure- by dragging them into the middle of some stupid dispute.

In this scenario, just follow the herd, it's not worth it man.

ETA: When I was younger I used to fight everyone and everything that got in my way. It never got me anywhere.

Yes, it is a joke. Thanks for the life lesson though.

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:20:11 AM EDT

[#36]

Its a stupid idea and tell them so. They already have the address. It should never be printed in a book. Stick by your guns dont listen to our resident sheep.

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:29:20 AM EDT

[#37]

I think I would politely tell the school board that you do not want the information included, but will allow it since they are forcing you to do so in order for your child to participate. Then, in very strong terms, I'd let them know that should that information be improperly used by anyone for any reason, you will sue the living piss out of them with every lawyer you can get your hands on.

Posted: 10/11/2007 2:45:37 AM EDT

[#38]

Tell them no.

So your kid won't get to participate in as many extracurriculur activities at school? Big whoop.

Provide those things yourself. Take your kid out shooting and hunting. Get him involved in woodworking or metalworking. Guitar lessons. Painting. Martial Arts. Team Sports. etc...

Theres a big wide world out there outside the school. No law says he has to be involved with the school outside school hours.

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:15:01 AM EDT

[#39]

Is there a chance this is due to feel-good rules? I remember hearing that my old elementary school no longer allows birthday/whatever-party invites to be passed out during school (even if just thrown into the individual students mailboxes/cubbies), unless every student in the class is invited. If you exclude one student, you have to mail the invitations to the kids' homes.

Kharn

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:20:59 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Not everything is part of the big Govt. conspiracy to control our lives.

How do you determine that?

IMO, it is better just to live by the notion that the government IS NOT there to do anything for you.

Fuck 'em.

holy shit this place is full of TINFOIL freaks..... you need to enjoy/get a life if you are actually think that. life is too short for that. stop panicking. oh teh noes!!111!! they are watching me!! the mail man, the schwans man is .gov!!

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:22:43 AM EDT

[#41]

I'd refuse to give them the information if it's going to be distributed to anyone that doesn't have a need to know. I could see if a school employee or social worker had a need for the info, otherwise I'd refuse to give them the info for any other purpose. I'm sure the school has your address and contact number in case of an emergency, but giving your address to just anyone is not a good idea. My Wife works in the school system and legally she cannot even discuss what happens in the classroom with me. I'd give the school your cell/work/home phone number and tell them should someone need your address, you can be reached at one of the phone numbers you have given them and at that time you will decide if the situation calls for giving out your home address and that you would not advise them to publish your address in a school directory. I think they are bluffing when they told you that your child will not be able to participate in any special school events. The school is just hoping that no parent will refuse their request or in my opinion they are looking at legal action against the school district.

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:25:31 AM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:
I would have to say no. There is no reason that an address should have to be printed for everyone to see. The school has your address already if they need it for they are the only ones who really do need it. Like you said, you dont need all the CHO-MO's knowing where these kids live.

I agree.

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:27:45 AM EDT

[#43]

If they say your child can't participate in the yearbook or play because they can't publicly announce your address then you should talk to the administration about unfair treatment and singling your child out. This is against the law especially in the yearbook. They can have your name but not your address and phone number. Elementary school personnel are a joke raise some hell and they will abide.

j0hn

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:39:29 AM EDT

[#44]

Do a Google search on FERPA (Family Education Records Privacy Act, also call the Family Education Rights Privacy Act) and you will see the pertinent laws pertaining to this. FERPA requires all educational institutions to give students (or parents when the student is a minor) the right to block the release of "directory" information. Under FERPA the school cannot mandate the publishing of students' addresses.

Posted: 10/11/2007 3:54:16 AM EDT

[#45]

That is what all schools do. So that other parents can contact you for school events, birthdays, etc.

Posted: 10/11/2007 4:01:09 AM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:
Do a Google search on FERPA (Family Education Records Privacy Act, also call the Family Education Rights Privacy Act) and you will see the pertinent laws pertaining to this. FERPA requires all educational institutions to give students (or parents when the student is a minor) the right to block the release of "directory" information. Under FERPA the school cannot mandate the publishing of students' addresses.

If true, this is the route to go. Show them that they have a legal obligation to protect this information if you request that they do.

Posted: 10/11/2007 4:13:32 AM EDT

[#47]

If it's only for school use thats one thing but for every students parents to have, I say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Why do people not working at the school need it.