The Pupil Panopticon
Reason magazine|May 2024
BIG BROTHER—and Parent, and Teacher— are watching.
Lenore Skenazy
The Pupil Panopticon

Across America, teachers are uploading students’ grades to digital portals on a weekly, daily, or sometimes hourly basis. They are posting not just grades on big tests, but quizzes, homework, and in-class work too. Sometimes teachers give points for day-to-day behavior in real time: Did he raise his hand before asking his question? No? Points are docked. Parents are notified. So are the kids.

The pupil panopticon starts in elementary school and just doesn’t stop.

In one high school, I am told, the grading portal changes color when the grade, even on a single assignment, pushes the kid’s average up (green) or down (red). This can fluctuate by the hour, which means so can a kid’s feelings of joy or despair. Parents can enjoy the same stomach-churning experience because they, too, have access to the portals, for better or worse.

“If I have to hear one more time from my wife about how our son isn’t going to college because he forgot to hand in a single homework assignment or did bad on ONE test I’m gonna fucking lose my mind!” is how one father expressed it on Reddit. “All it does is annoy the shit out of him, annoy the shit out of me, and damage his relationship with her. That’s it.”

That really is it. Even many of the parents who say the portal helps them keep their kids on track still admit it’s a source of stress. They get an extra helping of angst when they watch their kids nervously await the exposure of their grades.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2024 من Reason magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2024 من Reason magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من REASON MAGAZINE مشاهدة الكل
THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA
Reason magazine

THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA

DECOUPLING FROM TRADE WILL MAKE THE U.S. POORER AND CHINA MORE TOTALITARIAN.

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025
'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'
Reason magazine

'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'

HOW A CHRISTIAN CHARITY IN EL PASO ENDED UP AT WAR WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT FOR HELPING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025
MATERIEL LOSS
Reason magazine

MATERIEL LOSS

HOW THE U.S. MILITARY BUSTS ITS BUDGET ON WASTEFUL, CARELESS, AND UNNECESSARY 'SELF-LICKING ICE CREAM CONES'

time-read
10+ mins  |
February 2025
The SEC's War on NFTS
Reason magazine

The SEC's War on NFTS

SHOULD ARTISTS HAVE to file paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just to sell their own creations? Should they be required to warn buyers that art values might fluctuate?

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2025
The Case of Robert Roberson
Reason magazine

The Case of Robert Roberson

LAST FALL, AN extraordinary legal drama played out in Texas that shook the foun-dations of the death penalty in a state that still stands for hang-'em-high justice.Hours before he was scheduled to become the first person in the country to be executed based on evidence of what used to be called \"shaken baby syndrome,\" Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson was granted an unprecedented reprieve when a state House committee subpoenaed him to testify before it.

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2025
Election Reforms Blocked by Elections
Reason magazine

Election Reforms Blocked by Elections

SEVERAL PROPOSED ELECTION reforms on the 2024 ballot offered promising solutions: Reduce the power of partisan primaries, ensure more robust competition in general elections, and increase the likelihood that winning campaigns represent the median voter rather than a lesser-of-two-evils result.

time-read
3 mins  |
February 2025
Libertarianism From the Ground Up
Reason magazine

Libertarianism From the Ground Up

ARGUMENTS FOR LIBERTARIANISM typically take two forms. Some libertarians base their creed on natural rights-the idea that each individual has an inborn right to self-ownership, or freedom from aggression, or whatever-and proceed to argue that only a libertarian political regime is compatible with those rights.

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
Politics Without Journalism
Reason magazine

Politics Without Journalism

THE 2024 CAMPAIGN WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR THE WAY WE PROCESS PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

time-read
10+ mins  |
January 2025
EVERY BODY HATES PRICES
Reason magazine

EVERY BODY HATES PRICES

BUT THEY HELP US DECIDE BETWEEN BOURBON AND BACONATORS.

time-read
10+ mins  |
January 2025
The Great American City Upon a Hill Is Always Under Construction
Reason magazine

The Great American City Upon a Hill Is Always Under Construction

AMERICA'S UTOPIAN DREAMS LEAD TO URBAN EXPERIMENTATION.

time-read
10 mins  |
January 2025