house-arrest bracelets for elementary school kids

[topaz]

Courtesy of tfarrell:

California elementary school tracks students with RFID badges

Earlier today I sent the following letter to the school principal, whose e-mail address can be found on the school's web site. An abridged version went to a couple of newspapers.

Mr. Graham -

I have recently read with great interest Brittan Elementary School's experiment with active badges to monitor students' location during the school day. I am writing to commend the school for its forward-looking stance on these sensitive matters, and to suggest some improvements.

We live, unfortunately, in a dangerous and difficult world — a world where our children may at any moment turn into vicious killers, or where trusted family friends may turn out to be dangerous molesters. It is regrettable that not everyone recognizes the urgency of ensuring our security in these distressing times.

With that in mind, I suggest that, while distasteful, it would be advisable for not only the school students but also faculty and staff to wear badges to monitor their position, so that parents can be sure of the continued physical safety of their children. In the unlikely but tragically possible event that a school employee were to take advantage of a child, school administrators and parents should have the opportunity to know right away and be able to intervene instantly. Monitoring faculty and staff locations would also keep administrators apprised of teachers who, for example, neglect their responsibilities to the school by skipping department meetings or taking extended cigarette or coffee breaks.

I believe that extending the system to school employees as well as students would do a great deal to ensure student safety. I cannot imagine that anyone who does not have something to hide could object to such a program, so I have great confidence that the school board would approve it promptly.

Thank you for your consideration —

Tim Pierce

Comments

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

i like the idea, but... there's an even chance that not only will your sarcasm be lost on him, but he'll implement it. this will not actually improve matters.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Oh, I disagree! On several counts:

* In order to implement it, I'm pretty sure it would have to go before the school board. The principal can't do it all by himself. I think it's a lot less likely that it would get approved by the full board.

* I would be totally amazed if the school implemented it in such a way that it would actually allow parents to monitor the faculty's whereabouts at all times.

* For the faculty and staff to go under the same scrutiny that they place on the students would inevitably change their own perceptions of the system and whether it's an overall good.

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

I would be totally amazed if the school implemented it in such a way that it would actually allow parents to monitor the faculty's whereabouts at all times.

indeed. so, suppose it gets implemented in the following way: any badge's location can be monitored by the administration at all times, but by no-one else.

then the teachers will be rightly pissed as well, but no-one's position will be improved.

For the faculty and staff to go under the same scrutiny that they place on the students would inevitably change their own perceptions of the system and whether it's an overall good.

that's only useful if they're the ones determining the policy.

[psongster.livejournal.com]

indeed. so, suppose it gets implemented in the following way: any badge's location can be monitored by the administration at all times, but by no-one else.

That, alas, seems to me a plausible scenario...

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't think that it's true that no one's position would be improved if the teachers were pissed off as well. It would be no immediate improvement, that's for sure, but I believe it would be more likely to spur a long-term solution.

The teachers, while not setting the policy, arguably have more clout than the students do. They have access to channels for raising objections that the kids do not. The board is arguably more likely to listen to the teachers than to the children on this topic. And, if all else fails, the teachers have the option of going on strike.

I realize that I'm being kind of a Pollyanna, but I really think that pushing this idea would almost surely be a political win. If the board rejected it, it would present a whole new angle for unwelcome media attention. If the board -- against all odds -- went ahead with it, it would create far too much friction within the school to remain a stable situation.

The only way I could see it backfiring, really, would be if the board accepted the proposal, the school implemented it, and the staff said, "duh, okay," and didn't raise a stink.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

suppose it gets implemented in the following way: any badge's location can be monitored by the administration at all times, but by no-one else. then the teachers will be rightly pissed as well, but no-one's position will be improved.

I learned the hard way in high school that the teachers union has enough power to make most schools, at most times, jump to do their bidding on practically anything. And when they don't succeed, they make a big stink about it. So, subjecting teachers to the policy would probably bring a very interesting response.

[opadit.livejournal.com]

Wow! What a fantastic story! Thanks for finding it and sharing.

[gosling.livejournal.com]

I don't think they are bright enough to recognize sarcasm.

[psongster.livejournal.com]

Great letter!

I must admit -- I do believe there are people out there who would miss the sarcasm. Maybe even this particular principal (I hope not!). But certainly not a whole school board's worth of people at once.

"I cannot imagine that anyone who does not have something to hide could object to such a program ... "

Spot on. I have actually seen that argument made, for real, in letters to the editor in the Globe. It always chills me.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

"I cannot imagine that anyone who does not have something to hide could object to such a program ... "

Spot on. I have actually seen that argument made, for real, in letters to the editor in the Globe. It always chills me.

It's so infrequent that we have an opportunity to turn the tables on that argument so neatly. I couldn't resist.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

Completely off topic, but I just keep meaning to tell you what a really great icon that is.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks. That was me practicing my self-portrait. It's me and Quinn from Great Brook State Park (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/gbfm.htm) last October. When the weather's good and there's no snow on the ground I try to get out there with the boys as often as I can. I'm very fond of that particular shot too. :-)

I'm surprised...

[qnetter]

...that people haven't started microshipping their kids yet -- we've done it to the dogs and cats...

Re: I'm surprised...

[khedron.livejournal.com]

Eh, with kids, it's easier to give them a cell phone which secretly has GPS tracking turned on. I talked to a woman who could find out where her daughter was over the web at any time, and she truly enjoyed the fact that her daughter thought turning off the cell phone turned off the GPS, but she was wrong.

Re: I'm surprised...

[khedron.livejournal.com]

I should say "enabled" rather than "turned on" -- most cell phones, of course, don't have this at all.

Re: I'm surprised...

[qnetter]

What they really need for kids is cell phones that can only call the numbers their parents program into them.

Re: I'm surprised...

[fj.livejournal.com]

They exist in certain markets like Sweden or South Korea. Usually meant for the kindergarden set. 3 big buttons on them or so. Made by small companies and the product usually ends up going nowhere.

Re: I'm surprised...

[qnetter]

Given who you work for...!

The idea that kids need to talk on the phone at whim is simply a social change I don't accept.

Re: I'm surprised...

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

Uhm... it was a programmable mode on all the Ericsson phones I had. It wasn't default behavior of course, but you could program the numbers you want into the dialing directory, set the phone to only be able to call numbers that were in the directory, and then set a lockout code to prevent changes to the configuration. The manuals explained it in detail.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

The world needs more motivated letter-writers like you. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

That was fabulous. You go, boy. ;-D

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

fantastic letter. i also worry about the guy "not noticing" the tongue in your cheek, but hey.

in all truth, i hope that the kids immediately begin to swap badges around. oh, but the badges probably have their photos and names on them as well as a bar code (i haven't read the article yet, it's late). drat.