Friday, September 03, 2004

"In Your Permanent Record"

When they threaten that something you do at school will be in your permanent record, they're not kidding. There is a permanent record for each kid at school. I know this for a fact as I put on new file folder labels, while volunteering at my daughter's school yesterday. These files, of varying thickness depending on how many time you transferred schools, have it all!!!
The information is confidential, but I did look inside a few just to see what is there -- your first school registration documents with birth certificate; a chronological photo of each year; all year-end grades; particular medical or mental health documents; some art work .... and probably every bad thing you ever did. So, if you cried in gym class to avoid gymnastics, or dug your fingernails into a student on the bus, or behaved badly, lied or whatever, it really is in your file.
Yikes! So, the question is, what happens to your permanent record when you leave school? Perhaps it is given to the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, or worse than that, your parents. That could give you that infamous "first day of school" stomach ache.