BIOMETRIC SCANNING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

THIS YEAR, IN SCHOOLS ACROSS THE NATION, AMERICAN STUDENTS WILL HAVE THEIR THUMBPRINTS BIOMETRICALLY SCANNED TO RECEIVE THEIR LUNCH.

"Last year, the Hazleton Area School District invested in biometric software to track the usage of the program by students who receive free or reduced-cost lunches.

Students' thumbprints were scanned each time they received a lunch. 
This data provided by the biometrics was made available to the district and federal government for tracking purposes.
This bit of news stirred controversy among parents and concerned citizens."  

WELL, OKAY, HOW ABOUT THEY ISSUE CARDS WITH TRACKING CHIPS? RFID CARDS?
THAT'S ALSO BEEN DONE.

"Do you know where your student is? 
At school? 
On the bus? 
Paying for lunch in the cafeteria?

Principals in thousands of the nation’s schools know the answer because radio frequency chips are embedded in students’ ID cards, or their schools are equipped with biometric scanners that can identify portions of a student’s fingerprint, the iris of an eye or a vein in a palm.

Such technologies have become increasingly common in schools, which use them to take attendance, alert parents where their children get off the school bus or speed up lunch lines.

But those tools, which are supposed to make schools safer and more efficient, have become a flashpoint for controversy. 

Several states are now banning or restricting the use of the technology in schools, as worries over student privacy have risen amid breaches of government and commercial computer databases.

In all, 36 states considered 110 bills this year on the collection and security of student data, according to the nonpartisan, nonprofit Data Quality Campaign, which advocates the effective use of data in education.
At least 39 bills addressed biometric data, according to the campaign’s tracking, including 14 that passed."

WOULD IT SURPRISE ANYONE TO KNOW THAT THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER A DECADE NOW, OR THAT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW MANY SCHOOLS ARE USING THIS TECHNOLOGY?

ONE COMPANY STATED IT HAS SOLD TRACKING TOOLS TO 1,000 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 40 STATES INCLUDING ALASKA AND NEW YORK.

"Other schools are embracing RFID systems. 

Students are issued badges or tags with embedded chips that either broadcast a radio signal, (battery-powered active systems) or are read when they are near a radio-frequency reader (passive systems). 

Such tags are widely used by government and the private sector for building security and for tracking packages."

STUDENT ID CARDS ARE OLD NEWS, BUT SCANNING FINGERPRINTS, EYES, PALMS FOR IDENTIFICATION?
SCHOOLS, AND COMPANIES THAT SELL THOSE DEVICES, SAY STUDENTS OFTEN LOSE THEIR CARDS OR FORGET THEIR PIN, BUT "A KID IS NOT GOING TO LOSE HIS FINGER OR EYE". 

"Passive RFID technology is more common in schools, where students’ RFID badges are read at school doors, on buses or at school events so educators know who’s where.
The technology also allows school doors to be locked and allow entry to only those with RFID badges."

THAT SOUNDS LIKE "GOOD SECURITY", RIGHT?
BUT WHAT IF A PARENT NEEDS TO GET IN TO PICK UP A CHILD, OR IF THE CHILD HAS AN EMERGENCY AT SCHOOL AND, SAY, AN AMBULANCE CREW NEEDS FAST ACCESS TO SAVE A LIFE?

WHAT IF A CHILD IS DROPPED OFF (BY BUS OR FAMILY CAR) AND THEN DISCOVERS THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR CARD TO GET IN?

ARE THEY LOCKED OUT?

AND WHAT IF EITHER A CHILD OR HIS/HER PARENTS JUST DON'T WANT TRACKING?
CAN THEY OPT OUT?

IF IT'S MANDATORY, HOW CAN THAT BE JUSTIFIED IF WE TRULY STILL HAVE A RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN AMERICA BUT AREN'T ALLOWED TO EXERCISE THAT RIGHT?

WHAT IF ONE'S RELIGIOUS BELIEF DOESN'T ALLOW FOR THE USE OF SUCH TECHNOLOGY?

I HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS ON THIS, BUT THERE ARE NO REAL ANSWERS TO THEM AS IT SEEMS TO "VARY" BY DISTRICT AND BY STATE WHETHER OR NOT ANYONE CAN OPT OUT, AND I FOUND NO ANSWERS TO WHETHER OR NOT PARENTS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS COULD GET TO A CHILD QUICKLY ENOUGH SHOULD SOMETHING GO WRONG.

SOME HAVE RAISED OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS TECHNOLOGY.

Florida state Sen. Dorothy Hukill stepped in when she got wind that the Polk County school system last year began a pilot program without parental permission to scan the retinas of students’ eyes to keep track of them on school buses.

You don’t need to collect biometric information to buy a hot dog in the school cafeteria or check out a library book,” she said.

Hukill, who’s on the Florida Senate’s commerce and government oversight committees, said she’s not opposed to technology, but she is concerned about the hacking of data held by governments and businesses. 

“There’s a ‘Big Brother’ quality to this,” said Missouri state Sen. Ed Emery, who sponsored a law, which took effect this month, that restricts how school districts can adopt RFID technology and allows parents to opt out in districts that do employ it.

Texas state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst has pushed RFID legislation similar to Missouri’s in recent years.

“The question is: Should the government be able to force a parent to have their children tracked in the same exact way that warehouse pallets, prisoners and migratory animals are monitored,” said Kolkhorst.

ONE THING IS CLEAR FROM ALL I READ...THIS GENERATION WHO ARE IN SCHOOL NOW WON'T EVER RESENT BEING WATCHED AND TRACKED AND WILL BE ACCUSTOMED TO NOT EVEN THINKING ABOUT THEIR PRIVACY.

THEY'LL BE QUITE CONTENT TO BE WATCHED AND RECORDED AND MONITORED AND TRACKED AND....

BUT WAIT...ISN'T THAT THE CORE IDEA OF SUCH A THING?

I AM OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER WHEN CERTAIN WORDS WERE CENSORED ON RADIO, TV, AND IN THE MOVIES.
WHEN RHETT BUTLER SAID THE WORD "DAMN" IN 'GONE WITH THE WIND', IT MADE HEADLINES AND PEOPLE WERE SHOCKED. 

DITTO FOR WHEN WE SAW THE FIRST ON-SCREEN COUPLE TOGETHER IN A DOUBLE BED, INSTEAD OF SEPARATE TWIN BEDS.

AND WHEN HOWARD HUGHES FIXATED ON JANE RUSSEL'S CLEAVAGE IN HER MOVIES?
THAT CAUSED A STORM!

BUT WE ALL "GOT USED TO" OBSCENITIES, AND "STEAMY SCENES" AND NUDITY ON SCREENS, DIDN'T WE?
ALL THAT IS COMMON NOW, IT'S OUR "NORMAL".

WE WHO WERE APPALLED THAT WE ARE BEING SPIED ON BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT, OUTRAGED AT THE INVASION OF OUR PRIVACY, THE READING OF OUR EMAILS, THE LISTENING-IN TO  OUR PRIVATE PHONE CALLS, OPPOSED TO BIOMETRICS AND RFID CHIPS, BEING TRACKED BY SATELLITE, INSTANTLY IDENTIFIED AND THEREFORE 'ACCESSIBLE' EVERYWHERE WE GO, WELL,WE ARE THE LAST ONES WHO WILL FEEL THAT WAY.

IT WILL JUST BECOME THE NORM FOR A CHILD IN A CROWD OF THOUSANDS TO BE INSTANTLY SINGLED OUT, IDENTIFIED, TARGETED, PERHAPS? 

ONCE AGAIN, THE YOUNGEST GENERATION GETS RECONDITIONED, BUT MORE AND MORE, IT SEEMS THEY WILL BE CONDITIONED NOT TO QUESTION, NOT TO OPPOSE, NOT TO DISAGREE WITH ...ANYTHING.

I'D LIKE TO SEE THEM TOLD INSTEAD TO QUESTION EVERYTHING!

WE REALLY NEED A GENERATION WHO DOES THAT!