Today an article came out about a Texas school that is requiring student to wear locator chips while they are on school property. The school is claiming they put this measure in place so they could ensure that all kids are in their class when the bell rings. This seems like a pretty crazy measure to take just for this purpose. Imagine how much money, time and energy is being wasted when they would simply have hall monitors roaming the hallways if this is really such a big and important problem for them. Putting this rule in place of course brought a lot of controversy and media attention. Many people and groups are speaking out against it because they believe it is intrusive and a breach of privacy. The school is taking this new requirement very seriously. When a girl protested and refused to wear the chip, they said they would expel her.Where do you draw the line when it comes to a student's privacy? This article got me thinking about previous instances such as this one when schools have had access to student's Facebook accounts and other personal information.
In your opinion, where do you think the line should be drawn when it comes to schools and students' privacy? Is this situation, considering the locator chips do only work inside the school building, appropriate or not? Even if you don't think it's too much of a privacy invasion, is it really necessary? Answer in the comments below!
I don't find tracker necessary at all. As you said, hall monitors would work well for this, or perhaps a more strict attendance policy. Either way, there are better and less expensive options.
ReplyDeleteI also believe this is an invasion of the students' privacy. The article said that the trackers don't work outside of school, but RFID chips can be read by anyone with the right equipment. This could possibly give students' information to anyone.