U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students

[Kat Kanning]

U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students


David Gutierrez
Natural News
June 17, 2008

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.

[dalebert]

Has everyone read Little Brother as recommended by error?

[Kat Kanning]

No.

[Pat McCotter]

In case you want to and didn't know where or what it is:
http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=14212.0

[Kat Kanning]

Downloaded it a while back, hadn't read it yet.

[Free libertarian]

 
Not that I would have done this when I was a kid buuuut...what happens when some wise guy puts his micro chipped bag on the wrong bus or hides it in the back of a random vehicle or shopping cart at a mall just to see how long it takes for the cops to catch the surprised "kidnappers"? Or simply decides to trade bags with a friend?  What if several kids collaborate and send their bags going in the wrong direction at once?...sounds like a lot of fun if the kids know how to take advantage of it.

Another chapter in the book of "Freedom isn't free" ?

[error]

Has everyone read Little Brother as recommended by error?

Our resident federal agents read it.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Not that I would have done this when I was a kid buuuut...what happens when some wise guy puts his micro chipped bag on the wrong bus or hides it in the back of a random vehicle or shopping cart at a mall just to see how long it takes for the cops to catch the surprised "kidnappers"? Or simply decides to trade bags with a friend?  What if several kids collaborate and send their bags going in the wrong direction at once?...sounds like a lot of fun if the kids know how to take advantage of it.

Another chapter in the book of "Freedom isn't free" ?

This could work well with cell phones and Onstar. People from different corners of the state could just trade.   

[margomaps]

Undoubtedly this is creepy and uncalled for.

But let me play devil's advocate for a moment.  With the exception of when they're playing hide-and-go-seek, should children have an expectation of privacy with respect to their physical location?  Certainly most parents I've met want to know the whereabouts of their children at all times, not just the fact that their bookbag entered and exited a bus twice a day.

A few things about this article stand out to me:

1a) The program was allowed to proceed "without approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission" (whatever that is).  So is it the case that, in RI at least, schools can do whatever they want so long as no public funds are being used for it?  Just because MAP Information Technology Corp. was willing to foot the bill for some guinea pigs doesn't mean the school should automatically be given cart blanche to allow it to happen.  Though it sounds like the school was more than happy to participate in this scheme.

1b) Was there some epidemic of children who were not getting on and off buses at the Aquidneck School?  If not, then the only reason this program is taking place is because MAP Information Technology Corp. needed guinea pigs and the school bureaucrats like doing weird and creepy things just for kicks.

2a) The article mentions that "80 students" will have their bookbags equipped.  There's no mention whether those 80 are volunteers, randomly chosen, etc.  This is critical information that is missing.  If the parents of 80 children consented to the RFID scheme, then this story leans more toward the creepy side than the outrageous side.  But if the school just sent letters home with 80 kids saying, "Next Monday we will be installing RFID chips in your kid's bookbags.  Enjoy!" -- well then that's another story entirely.

2b) In the case that the 80 students were not volunteers (or had their parents volunteer them), the school is way out of bounds if they install RFID in private property (the bookbags).

[KBCraig]

Has everyone read Little Brother as recommended by error?

My first thought. 

[Raineyrocks]

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


U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students
Monday, June 16, 2008 by: David Gutierrez | Key concepts: microchipping, parents and RFID

(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.

[Kat Kanning]

Merged the two threads on this.

[Raineyrocks]

Merged the two threads on this.

Sorry Kat, I didn't see your post before I posted a similar article.  Thanks for merging them!