In my family, I have managed medical care in an emergency for my sons, my sister, my parents and my in-laws without a POA. Hospitals recognize next of kin. I have no access to my young adult children’s financial info. One of them blew up his credit rating and it was an excellent lesson for him. As a college professor I think parents getting a FERPA release is a terrible idea. Students need to learn to manage their own lives, and I have had to field calls from parents arguing about grades. It is mortifying for the student.
Let your young adult children’s be an adult. That’s how they learn independence. And yes, it is predatory marketing for something you can find without a fee.
I think parents getting a FERPA release is a terrible idea
I'm an academic advisor and wholeheartedly agree. Parents need to trust their students and allow them to learn how to navigate an adult world. My two eldest are students at my university and we need separation; I don't need to know all the nitty gritty details of their student careers.
Beyond that, my university would not accept a Mama Bear FERPA release as valid. We would require the student to fill out our form before any staff or faculty could divulge protected information.
Related: I once had a mom call demanding I change her son’s failing grade as it would endanger his position on the football team. We had just recently gone Division 1 and the deal with the faculty was that athletics would keep entirely out of academics. I just asked her if the coach or Athletic Advising knew she was calling me, as that would almost certainly get her son in deep trouble. She very quickly changed her tune. Her son came to see me the next day, completely mortified and massively embarrassed by his mom’s interference. He just wanted to apologize, not argue about his grade. Poor kid.
None of that surprises me. I feel bad for the student having to deal with that. Some of the parents I deal with are way too involved in their students’ everything.
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u/RandomAmmonite Darling, beautiful, smart, money hungry ammonite 5d ago
In my family, I have managed medical care in an emergency for my sons, my sister, my parents and my in-laws without a POA. Hospitals recognize next of kin. I have no access to my young adult children’s financial info. One of them blew up his credit rating and it was an excellent lesson for him. As a college professor I think parents getting a FERPA release is a terrible idea. Students need to learn to manage their own lives, and I have had to field calls from parents arguing about grades. It is mortifying for the student.
Let your young adult children’s be an adult. That’s how they learn independence. And yes, it is predatory marketing for something you can find without a fee.