Ravenwood - 02/11/05 07:00 AM
Students in Sutter County elementary schools are forced to wear photo ID cards around their neck which contain an RFID chip. The radio transmitters track their movements around the school and log it in a database.
The badges contain a photo of pupils, their grade level and their name. On the back is a tube roughly the size of a roll of dimes.Some parents are obviously upset. The program is not only compulsory, but it was instituted without their input. Some students admitted to feeling like they had been bar-coded like a grocery item.Within it is a chip with an antenna attached. As the chip passes underneath a reader mounted above the classroom door, it transmits a 15-digit number, which then is translated into the student's name by software contained in a handheld device used by teachers to check attendance.
The slippery slope here is obvious. First of all, students and parents don't have a choice. Second, the current implementation of the program is inadequate. Students could simply carry their friends ID or remove the RFID tube on the back of their ID. To be truly successful, the chip would have to be non-portable. Implanting it under the skin should solve that. You can imagine where it leads from there.
That the government should institute such a program is unconscionable. School is compulsory. The tags are compulsory. There is something wrong with this equation.
Had it been me, I would have removed it immediately. If they gave me another one, I would have removed that. I would rather be expelled than be tagged like a wild animal.
Had it been my child, I would have removed the tag. If they suspended him, I'd be down there yelling at the principal every day of his suspension. A free man cannot and should not stand for such treatment. And if the outcry is as loud as the media claims, I probably wouldn't be alone in my fight.
Category: Fall of Western Civilization
Comments (13) top link me
The important part of the story was in the AP version a couple of days ago. They added a bar code to the back so that students could use it to check out library books.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at February 11, 2005 9:20 AMActually, this is about the only time I could see the reasoning in the whole RFID thing. If you take the line that children should be viewed along the same lines as personal property of the parents, I would want my property, when under someone else's care, monitored as much as possible.
Considering the frequency of kidnappings from schools, I think public schools have a right to require them, when the alternative is a possible lawsuit for negligence if a child is kidnapped. It might make me a bit more comfortable with it if the parents were let in on the decision, as well as the option to NOT tag their kids, with the signing of a waiver or something.
Posted by: Dan Newbanks at February 11, 2005 12:11 PMDan,
Are you saying that you actually believe something you wear around your neck will prevent kidnappings?
Posted by: Ravenwood at February 11, 2005 1:00 PMRave:
When the child is kidnapped, the "shock collar" feature of the badge is activated. Who wants some squirmy, screaming kid on their hands?
;^)
Posted by: Steve Scudder at February 11, 2005 1:07 PMhehe... no, I'm not saying the devices will prevent kidnapping. If a kidnapper wants a kid that bad, they'll get the kid. But at the same time, if a kid HAS been kidnapped, it's a possibility that these devices could serve as an early warning system if the child is taken from the school grounds. Of course, admittedly, any moron would know to remove the thing and toss it in a garbage can before taking the kid.
So then, it would seem that the real function of these things is simply to track the whereabouts of the children when they are in the school. Can't say I have a real problem with THAT either. Keep in mind that children do not have the same rights to privacy as adults. They are under the authority of the parents, and as a parent, I would expect my child, while under the school's supervision, to be where they are supposed to be, and if they are not, I would expect the school to know about it.
Posted by: Dan Newbanks at February 11, 2005 1:34 PMAbout 20 seconds in a microwave should take care of the problem. After a couple of hundred replacements they might have to re-think the idea. The principal that instituted this litttle Owellian idea is being paid by the company that manufactures the system. Wouldn't it be more effective to implant the chip and maybe a small tattoo to go with it? 666 has an interesting ring to it. /sarcasm off
Posted by: Rey at February 11, 2005 7:59 PMDan, it doesn't track the whereabouts of the kid. It tracks the whereabouts of the badge. And now teachers will be trusting the system to take roll, so if you want to play hooky, all you need is a pal willing to take your badge along to class. At least until some teacher notices that he's only got 15 students while the scanner says all 30 are present...
Posted by: markm at February 13, 2005 11:11 AMThis is Orwell to the max! Pop one of those chips underneath the chilrens skin! That would REALLY prevent 'nappings! While they're at it Dan, would you like one too?
Maybe with a GPS monitor?
How long before our wonderful Uncle wants to "give" everyone one?
I would yank my kids out of that school yesterday!
Oh, markm, you are assuming all teachers can count?
"The slippery slope here is obvious"...I think it is a cliff. And aren't the powers that be considering a universal drivers license with a chip also? That should give everyone a warm fuzzy feeling.
Posted by: Sharon at February 14, 2005 9:14 AMMurry, I didn't have time to get into that. A couple of my math teachers could count. Many of the others might notice when half the chairs were empty. OTOH, I can think of some that would be even happier if just one kid walked in, dumped a bag of tags, and left. ;-)
Posted by: markm at February 14, 2005 12:24 PMMarkm, I think we are on the same page, just different paragraphs.. I used to know how to spell, I forget now..
Damn teachers!
I regress,
I liked my math teacher, he was great.... That was when I figured out the directions to school.
Test the teachers!
"If you take the line that children should be viewed along the same lines as personal property of the parents"
How about we view children as HUMAN BEINGS, not "property."
Throwing technology at problems does not solve them. If the school needs to resort to this sort of crutch to help them 'manage' their students, I think the school ought to be abolished because it is a dismal failure.
"do this to avoid a possible lawsuit" because of a possible kidnapping is nonsense.
Posted by: Dz at February 16, 2005 2:13 AMUMMMM, DZ,?
Might you be a child as well?
You might go to your Funk and Wagnals and look it up.
Should we let the little "human beings" dictate?
So So sorry your mind has been poluted by liberal professors.....
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