We have to use this option (impersonating a parent to get the result of changing the status to "parent has viewed") as part of a workaround for added fees, and it's very frustrating. When we add a fee to a contract on an individual basis, and then assign/generate more of the same contract type for other students, it wipes out that fee unless it has been "locked" by a parent (or us impersonating a parent) "looking" at it.