Misguided In High School's Privacy Narrative

In the article “College Kids Have Too Much Privacy,” Michele Willins explains how FERPA, a program that means parents have no right to know how their children are doing in school, is not only hurting college students’ future but also how frightening it can be to oblivious parents who have no idea about this privacy policy. Even the best students can be academically challenged when they go to college. Parents would have no idea that their child is struggling because he or she has succeeded in school thus far. Even if college students are not the best in a school setting, the parents would have no idea if he or she is failing out of classes because officials are not allowed to let the parents know. This marks a major flaw in the FERPA organization.

In 1787, the constitution was born. The constitution has been America’s guideline to the American way of life. Our US constitution has many points in it to protect America and it’s people from an overpowered government, our economy, and ourselves. The only thing the constitution doesn’t directly give us, is our right to privacy, and our right to privacy has been a big concern lately courtesy of the National Security Agency (NSA).(#7) Although our constitution doesn’t necessarily cover the privacy topic, it does suggest that privacy is a given right. Some people say that the right to privacy was so obvious, that our founding fathers didn’t even feel the need to make a point about it.(#9) It also didn’t help

The First Earl of Chatham, William Pitt, in his Speech on the Excise Bill, claimed that “The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter,—but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!”

In his essay “Why Privacy Matters” from The Wilson Quarterly, Jeffrey Rosen offers a compelling account of the harmful effects of eradicating our privacy. Rosen ventures into several different fields affected by the ever-growing intrusion of our privacy, offering a rich compendium of illustrations from the real world. From Monica Lewinsky’s fate under her investigation, to a Charles Schwab employee, Rosen offers a prolific arsenal of incidents where the dignity of privacy is challenged. In his descriptive examples, Rosen demonstrates a broad expertise within the field by taking his time to describe a careful characterization of each case by both implying his own personal experience

Girls perch on the tables like exotic birds gossiping and giggling, a football fly’s above their heads between two jocks in varsity jackets parading their toned muscles. Groups of high schoolers sit around the room laughing. Weekend has arrived and the hallways of the school were filled with tons of kids ready to go home. Every ear filled with the sound of multiple conversations going off at once, lockers opening and closing, music blasting without. I had managed to push past the constant stream of children and to the school field. The grass was damp and covered in a thin layer of frost. As I walked my footprints were embedded, leaving a piece of me in the cold ground. I saw my friends faraway chattering and fooling around. I was stuck in the wrong crowd; they are nothing like me but somehow I am still friends with them. I slowly made my way up to my “so called friends”.

Through the example of Mae, Eggers states that the loss of privacy and freedom, through technology and through the technology companies running the government, is posing a great danger to the survival of humanity. Privacy is also something that Kaczynski worries about when talking about what he believes to be the greatest dangers to the survival of humanity. In order to talk about his ideas of this topic, his definition of what makes us fundamentally human needs to be established first. Kaczynski believes that “Human beings have a need (probably based in biology) for something that we will call the power process” (Kaczynski 47). This so called “power process” contains four separate parts: the “goal, effort and attainment of goal… The fourth element… we call it autonomy… people need a greater or lesser degree of autonomy in working toward their goals” (Kaczynski 47, 50). This autonomous effort in attaining the goal is a key component in Kaczynski’s understanding of what makes us fundamentally human.

I dreaded coming home, it was the worst thing I could imagine and as i grew the feeling didn’t change. I would get out of bed quietly not wanting to wake up my mother, my bruises are still healing from yesterday’s beatings. I go to my closet and put on a black, long-sleeved shirt to cover up the scars, a pair of jeans to cover the hurt and a pair of hand-me-down sneakers. I quickly tip-toe past my mom’s room, only to see her lying there, sound asleep with an empty wine glass slowly slipping out of her hand. I grab my book bag and walk out the door and to the bus stop. I walked through the hallways, to each class and I hear the nasty comments and the rumors, secretly believing every word they say. I walked to lunch a sit alone as people pull

Many schools across the nation now conduct targeted searches of student lockers and backpacks. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that public school officials have the right to search students’ persons and property when they have reasonable cause to suspect weapons or drugs many people feel this is a gross violation of students’ rights and privacy. And others feel that since school officials are responsible for the well being of students while they are in the building, they have the right to search for drugs or weapons at any time. Well in my opinion I can agree on both sides of the argument mostly because it makes sense and its logic shows that other people can feel much invaded of their privacy when the school searches people down for drugs or weapons.

No teens shouldn’t have privacy because if their kids have something to hide then they should not have a phone. Kids should be trusted but only to a certain extent. Parents should regularly check their child’s phone to make sure they are being responsible. Some kids might start hanging out with the wrong people so if their parents check their phones then they could stop them from making some bad choices. Kids can say very mean stuff so if parents go through their child's phone the might catch them and make then stop. Some children get bullied so if their parents find the texts then they could report the kids and then they will stop being hateful. Most kids with a phone have social media and there can be some vulgar stuff on these sites and

As I walked through my school’s then not-so-familiar halls, I couldn’t think. I felt empty. People’s inquisitive eyes were lingering on mine as if I had some hidden treasure they fiercely wanted to discover, they didn’t understand that was the day that a new me would be born. The old me, the one that felt invincible would be left behind forever.

The alarm clock buzzed loudly beside my ear. Feeling like a gong that was being hit repeatedly was placed right beside my head. I sluggishly pulled myself out of my bed and dragged myself to my closet. The words, first day of school moaned ghastly in my head. Summer was uneventful and school was just going to be hell. I picked out an old, worn out flannel and a pair of jeans to wear. Not rushing at all, I struggled to put the raggedy clothes on. They smelt like horrendous lies and rumors. Exactly what this state and my school are built on.

In today's world almost anyone can easily access people's personal information and records simply by using a home computer. Most of these people can easily view governmental records and other personal information. Some people believe that having access to people's personal information can be beneficial, while others believe it's a failure of security and an invasion of privacy. This topic has started many heated debates which both sides have very strong arguments. But, overall the negatives outweigh the positives in people accessing personal information.

Is it possible to have privacy in this day in age? Is somebody watching every move we make? These questions have been running through my mind ever since I got my iPhone. It’s terrifying to believe that someone could be watching me all the time. Although this isn’t on my mind every second of the day, it is something major to think about. Unfortunately this is an issue that we deal with today. Whenever we expose ourselves to the public, ninety percent of the time we are being watched. I do understand the need for surveillance but privacy is a must. Boundaries need to be set in order to have some sort of rights. The Circle, however, does not understand this concept. These characters don’t believe in privacy, they live life differently. In todays digital age we need to have privacy to live our lives to the fullest, keep secretes, and to have control of our actions.

Privacy laws are established because people have a right to privacy, to an extent. For many years people have argued over their privacy rights, from online videos, to people spying on them, even people stealing internet. People think that they should be completely secluded from others seeing what they’re doing, but in all reality, there’s no stopping people from seeing what you are doing. With more people using the flaws within our media and lives, we as a society must come to accept the fact that people are watching us.

We were a group of eighth graders, blind to the darkened surrounding areas. We didn’t know the difference from right and wrong, for so we are all too young. There was a week left of school, trying to get our heads around of what we were becoming. The ruling high schoolers. It felt so close, but the entire summer was beginning. So close we could nearly graze it.