U.S. School District to Microchip Students

[ultra laser]

U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students

David Gutierrez

June 16, 2008

(NaturalNews) A Rhode Island school district has announced a pilot program to monitor student movements by means of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted in their schoolbags.

The Middletown School District, in partnership with MAP Information Technology Corp., has launched a pilot program to implant RFID chips into the schoolbags of 80 children at the Aquidneck School. Each chip would be programmed with a student identification number, and would be read by an external device installed in one of two school buses. The buses would also be fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices.

Parents or school officials could log onto a school web site to see whether and when specific children had entered or exited which bus, and to look up the bus's current location as provided by the GPS device.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has criticized the plan as an invasion of children's privacy and a potential risk to their safety.

"There's absolutely no need to be tagging children," said Stephen Brown, executive director of the ACLU's Rhode Island chapter. According to Brown, the school district should already know where its students are.

"[This program is] a solution in search of a problem," Brown said.

The school district says that its current plan is no different than other programs already in place for parents to monitor their children's school experience. For example, parents can already check on their children's attendance records and what they have for lunch, said district Superintendent Rosemary Kraeger.

Brown disputed this argument. The school is perfectly entitled to track its buses, he said, but "it's a quantitative leap to monitor children themselves." He raised the question of whether unauthorized individuals could use easily available RFID readers to find out students' private information and monitor their movements.

Because the pilot program is being provided to the school district at no cost, it did not require approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission.

http://www.naturalnews.com/023445.html

Small evil steps towards full-blown microchipping.

 

[StageLeft]

Because the pilot program is being provided to the school district at no cost, it did not require approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission

WTF

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Because the pilot program is being provided to the school district at no cost, it did not require approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission

WTF

that's a good point.. who the hell is providing the service, and how the hell does the cost negate a debate on the program's ethics!?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Because the pilot program is being provided to the school district at no cost, it did not require approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission

WTF

that's a good point.. who the hell is providing the service, and how the hell does the cost negate a debate on the program's ethics!?

I think it went like this:

Company Sales: We have this product and would love to test it on your kids.
School Administrator: Hmm, I love controlling these little sh*ts, but how will I pass ethics?
CS: No worry, my attornies tell me that if we give it to you free ethics are irrelevant. All we need is your sign-off and it's good-to-go!
SA: Sweet! Stupid ethics rules. *snicker*

 

[dmcowen674]

Logan's Run

 

[SkipBaldwin]

I don't see the issue. If the parents decide they want to track the location of the kids, it far outweighs any "privacy interest" of the kids in their whereabouts.

In related news, anyone notice the new "chaperone" feature being offered on some cell phones? I think it's awesome.

 

[palehorse]

As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age; but, that's MY FUCKING RIGHT AND CHOICE AS THEIR PARENT.

The schools have no right - NONE - to do the same. I'd go through the damn roof if they ever tried this nonsense with my kids.

The issue here isn't just the children's' own privacy -- I'm more concerned about the lack of ethical oversight, and the school overstepping its authority.

 

[Ronstang]

Brick in schoolbag....schoolbag in river/lake/pond/or sewer.

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Brick in schoolbag....schoolbag in river/lake/pond/or sewer.

OK.. that's funny.. for a minute... now, imagine the emergency response when the school principal thinks the kid drowned: police, ambulances, firetrucks, boats, scuba gear, helicopters, depth finders, dogs... etc etc... meanwhile, the kid is standing off in the treeline laughing his f'n ass off, or he's at the mall playing video games.

now, who would pay for all of that? the kid? the parents? The school district!?

This could only lead to problems... after all, the only way to prevent such shenanigans would be to somehow attach the kid to the chip... :Q

 

[miketheidiot]

what a stupid idea

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: palehorse
As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age;

helicoptor parent itt

 

[palehorse]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: palehorse
As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age;

helicoptor parent itt

huh?

 

[SkipBaldwin]

Originally posted by: palehorse
As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age; but, that's MY FUCKING RIGHT AND CHOICE AS THEIR PARENT.

The schools have no right - NONE - to do the same. I'd go through the damn roof if they ever tried this nonsense with my kids.

The issue here isn't just the children's' own privacy -- I'm more concerned about the lack of ethical oversight, and the school overstepping its authority.

The schools are already charged with the responsibility for tracking the whereabouts of children during the day. This is just a technological measure that makes it more foolproof, and helps make sure kids don't get lost. There is no privacy issue, correct. The lack of ethical oversight is an issue, although I think they reached the correct result.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: palehorse

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Brick in schoolbag....schoolbag in river/lake/pond/or sewer.

OK.. that's funny.. for a minute... now, imagine the emergency response when the school principal thinks the kid drowned: police, ambulances, firetrucks, boats, scuba gear, helicopters, depth finders, dogs... etc etc... meanwhile, the kid is standing off in the treeline laughing his f'n ass off, or he's at the mall playing video games.

now, who would pay for all of that? the kid? the parents? The school district!?

This could only lead to problems... after all, the only way to prevent such shenanigans would be to somehow attach the kid to the chip... :Q

Maybe they would scrap the program because of the fear of a future of such costs? Stupid people only realize they are stupid when their decisions actually bite them in the ass. The dumber the more bites it takes. Considering these are liberals I guess we better order a truck of bricks.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Time to pull out Bessie and enforce some civil liberties.

 

[SkipBaldwin]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Time to pull out Bessie and enforce some civil liberties.

Whoohaw! Gonna commit me some JUSTICE!

 

[ultra laser]

Originally posted by: SkipBaldwin
I don't see the issue. If the parents decide they want to track the location of the kids, it far outweighs any "privacy interest" of the kids in their whereabouts.

In related news, anyone notice the new "chaperone" feature being offered on some cell phones? I think it's awesome.

Read the article. The decision has nothing to do with the parents. If you want to embed chips into your children because you doubt their ability to get on and off of a bus properly, that is your decision.

 

[Grunt03]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has criticized the plan as an invasion of children's privacy and a potential risk to their safety.

I thought that children are considered minors? I fail to see how this would be a risk to their safety. What parent wouldn't wanttto be able to check up on their kids while going or attending school.

I think we should first put them into the prison system. Anyone sent to prison would be required to have one installed under their skull, helps prevent self removal. One would think that it should have a great inpact on crime. Wait we wouldn't want to do that.... What about the criminals rights...... ACLU get a grip............

 

[DaveSimmons]

Topic: U.S. School District to Microchip Students

Misleading headline since last time I checked backpacks were not kids.

RFID chips into the schoolbags ... read by an external device installed in one of two school buses.

The GPS system is tracking the bus not the kids. The RFID chip has a range of a few feet and will just be pinged as "inventory control" when kids enter or leave a bus.

No big brother watching your kids 24/7 with satellites, no mark of the beast, no end of days, nothing to see here, move along.

 

[PokerGuy]

A very disturbing idea to say the least, and as a parent I'd be taking every step possible to make sure something like that would not happen, including taking my kid ouf of that school.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Topic: U.S. School District to Microchip Students

Misleading headline since last time I checked backpacks were not kids.

RFID chips into the schoolbags ... read by an external device installed in one of two school buses.

The GPS system is tracking the bus not the kids. The RFID chip has a range of a few feet and will just be pinged as "inventory control" when kids enter or leave a bus.

No big brother watching your kids 24/7 with satellites, no mark of the beast, no end of days, nothing to see here, move along.

Bingo, doesn't sound nearly as bad as OP's misleading titles makes it out to be. I still don't like the idea, though. And what's the deal with parents monitoring what their kids eat for lunch and crap like that? Seems kind of pointless, are some parents really so obsessed that they have to know every little thing their child does during the day?

 

[RightIsWrong]

Originally posted by: palehorse
As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age; but, that's MY FUCKING RIGHT AND CHOICE AS THEIR PARENT.

The schools have no right - NONE - to do the same. I'd go through the damn roof if they ever tried this nonsense with my kids.

The issue here isn't just the children's' own privacy -- I'm more concerned about the lack of ethical oversight, and the school overstepping its authority.

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
A very disturbing idea to say the least, and as a parent I'd be taking every step possible to make sure something like that would not happen, including taking my kid ouf of that school.

Ok....this is really freaky. I am in 100% agreement with both palehorse and PokerGuy.

I'm sure if enough parents took their kids out of the school district and their funding for the next year dropped off significantly, the board wouldn't care that they are getting the chips for free....the program would be toast.

Also, what are the school districts stats on incidents that a system like this would be necessary to be able to track the kids? Are they constantly "loosing" children? Does the district have a truancy plague?

 

[Rhaze]

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong

Originally posted by: palehorse
As a parent, I plan to use GPS devices to track my children until they're of a certain age; but, that's MY FUCKING RIGHT AND CHOICE AS THEIR PARENT.

The schools have no right - NONE - to do the same. I'd go through the damn roof if they ever tried this nonsense with my kids.

The issue here isn't just the children's' own privacy -- I'm more concerned about the lack of ethical oversight, and the school overstepping its authority.

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
A very disturbing idea to say the least, and as a parent I'd be taking every step possible to make sure something like that would not happen, including taking my kid ouf of that school.

Ok....this is really freaky. I am in 100% agreement with both palehorse and PokerGuy.

I'm sure if enough parents took their kids out of the school district and their funding for the next year dropped off significantly, the board wouldn't care that they are getting the chips for free....the program would be toast.

Also, what are the school districts stats on incidents that a system like this would be necessary to be able to track the kids? Are they constantly "loosing" children? Does the district have a truancy plague?

Schools are kinda like indoctrination centers. Social programs like this most often pilot in schools and prisons.

I graduated in 2003.. and my class was close to being forced to buy lunches using biometric identification. Those purchases were placed into a database for market trend research I suppose, but the ability to use this type of track and control grid for sinister motives is ever present. We also just missed the rolling out of mandatory ID cards to be used as identification. Paper's Please.

Basically.. for me.. I hope these things are stopped at the root. If they mature and spread.. well.. Viva La Revolution.

 

[PokerGuy]

These kinds of things always start with something that on the face of it doesn't seem completely unreasonable, but there is just too much potential for this stuff to get misused / abused in the future, so unless someone can demonstrate a very good clear need for it, I'm opposed.

Originally posted by: RightIsWrong
Ok....this is really freaky. I am in 100% agreement with both palehorse and PokerGuy.

<insert hypnosis voice> Come over to the dark side... you know you want to...

 

[lupi]

My question, and what was rather amazingly absent from the article, is what is the point?