From the Times this morning:
Children are being tracked by micro-chips embedded in their uniforms in a trial at a secondary school.
The devices are used to monitor pupils’ movements and register their arrival in class on the teacher’s computer. Supply teachers can also be alerted if a student is likely to misbehave.
The chip connects with teachers’ computers to show a photograph of the pupil, data about academic performance and whether he or she is in the correct classroom.
It chimes unpleasantly with a similar story a couple of months ago:
A school uniform maker said yesterday it was “seriously considering” adding tracking devices to its clothes after a survey found many parents would be interested in knowing where their offspring were.
Trutex would not say whether it was studying a spy in the waistband or a bug in the blazer but admitted teenagers were less keen than younger children on the “big brother” idea.
Initially we had dismissed this as a silly-season filler, but a phone call to Trutex’s PR company confirmed that Trutex were ‘actively exploring’ making this nightmare a reality.
We’re not surprised that older pupils weren’t so keen. Presumably they are rather more aware of how easy it is to turn a pupil into a prisoner.
October 20, 2007 at 4:04 pm |
We ar en yer cloz
Lerkin on yu
October 20, 2007 at 5:47 pm |
[...] Link [...]
October 20, 2007 at 6:39 pm |
I find the idea both bad and good. As someone that has been a teacher, I would love for an easy way to see where students that are skipping classes are located, after all, they are legally required to attend class, and failure to do so if breaking the law, but then at the same time, it would be a very creepy first step towards everyone getting a chip embedded in them with information and such…
October 20, 2007 at 7:26 pm |
@Amnistar: There isn’t a criminal offence of failing to attend lessons – or even of truancy! the only possible offence is committed by parents under s444 of the 96 Education Act of failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance.
I think a hard look at the education system to see why so many children are so turned-off is long overdue, and infinitely more helpful than this kind of coercion. You can lead a horse to water etc. and while keeping a child’s bum on a seat may meet attendance targets, it has little to do with educating them.
October 20, 2007 at 9:09 pm |
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
October 20, 2007 at 9:51 pm |
this is great, it means that you can now skip class easier
October 20, 2007 at 10:30 pm |
wait so if they track the children, the parents would have to carry some kind of device with them all day as well, isn’t that a little too…. I don’t know, stalker-ish?
October 20, 2007 at 10:45 pm |
Orwell’s 1984 comes to mind when I read stories like these very frightening to read.
October 21, 2007 at 12:33 am |
What a good way of keeping track of jackets
will they force them to wear them in the summer?
or will children just swop them for a laugh!
October 21, 2007 at 2:42 am |
Chirping children is creepy, I agree. But as an educator, or an employer, what if the tracking only extended to basically the limits of the school’s jurisdiction, — essentially that the signal was only strong enough to track the student on the “campus proper.”
While the concept of tracking humans in general disturbs the daylights out of me, once they decide to do it, — I propose the populace of those that care be ready with some thought out “limits.”
October 21, 2007 at 3:38 am |
We as humans have lived since the beginning of time without the benefit of tracking devices, and have survived very trying and violent periods in history.
To promote this and eventually make them mandatory is an affront to the Constitution of the United States and an insult to humanity and liberty.
Provide protection for the children if needed. Big brother go home.
October 21, 2007 at 5:02 am |
All right, kids, everyone swap uniforms. That’ll confuse ‘em!
October 21, 2007 at 5:09 am |
@robertroels: Welcome to the UK. Enjoy your stay…
October 21, 2007 at 5:45 am |
[...] Link (Thanks, Glyn!) [...]
October 21, 2007 at 6:00 am |
Maybe if my school did this, I could go to the bathroom and flush my clothes down the toilet, then I could run Away in my undies. Heh, heh. Tricky!
October 21, 2007 at 8:37 am |
Well, i had to give a bit of thought to the chipping idea first. On the one hand it sounds good to be able to track young children. However, at what point do we consider them old enough to be unchipped? Do we just keep them under guard until they die? Do we just have everyone chipped permanently so we can track them wherever and whenever we want? Another possibly good idea that could be overdone by governments?
October 21, 2007 at 9:27 am |
[...] on October 21st, 2007 Britain’s long slow march towards paternalistic totalitarianism continues: Children are being tracked by micro-chips embedded in their uniforms in a trial at a secondary [...]
October 21, 2007 at 10:51 am |
@Pookie: even if we leave things like children’s DP rights or their Art 8 rights to privacy to one side for a moment, there are several other problems. It sounds so plausible that you can track your child if s/he is abducted by a stranger, but the reality is that a child is several hundred times more likely to be killed or injured in a road accident. This kind of device risks lulling people into a false sense of security; if a child is too young to be out without being tracked, then s/he is probably too young to cope with the very real dangers and shouldn’t be out without competent supervision.
It’s also worth knowing that there is no regulation of those operating the tracking systems beyond a voluntary code of practice. If people are really worried about predators, it seems illogical to make a child’s whereabouts known to complete strangers who may not even have undergone the most basic checks.
October 21, 2007 at 3:05 pm |
If the teacher/parents/company can track the kid, bet your last farthing that a knowledgeable criminal can do the same thing. And after they snatch the kid they would not hesitate a minute to search and destroy the chip even if it damaged the merchandise.
October 21, 2007 at 3:08 pm |
[...] Archrights: first it was the co-option of teachers into fingerprinting every British child, whether they or [...]
October 21, 2007 at 3:39 pm |
[...] the Arch Blog, this little piece of statist [...]
October 21, 2007 at 4:30 pm |
@archrights: Of course you are right about that. It never ceases to amaze me how young the kids are that are allowed to run the streets unsupervised here in the states. And yes although most people think criminal elements are very stupid that is hardly the case. It is just the really stupid ones that get caught all the time.
October 21, 2007 at 6:56 pm |
[...] Action on Rights for Children reports that, a leading British school uniform maker, Trutex, is “actively exploring” adding chips to their product to allow parents information on their offspring’s location. [...]
October 22, 2007 at 1:09 am |
“robertroels Says:
October 21st, 2007 at 3:38 am
We as humans have lived since the beginning of time without the benefit of tracking devices, and have survived very trying and violent periods in history.
To promote this and eventually make them mandatory is an affront to the Constitution of the United States and an insult to humanity and liberty.
Provide protection for the children if needed. Big brother go home.”
Ahh, buddy. This isn’t happening in the States.
October 22, 2007 at 5:18 am |
[...] Chipping Children « The ARCH Blog Children are being tracked by micro-chips embedded in their uniforms in a trial at a secondary school. The devices are used to monitor pupils’ movements and register their arrival in class on the teacher’s computer. Supply teachers can also be alerted (tags: children control notonmywatch id) [...]
October 22, 2007 at 4:51 pm |
[...] We’ve just put up our report on two other forms of child-tracking, both of them closely related to chipping children. [...]
December 10, 2007 at 4:56 pm |
[...] cyberware, english post, rpg, style, tech by cyberpunk2020 on December 10th, 2007 The ARCH Blog informs us about a projekt in a british secondary school where pupils have chips in their uniform [...]
December 19, 2007 at 5:01 pm |
Oh, and did not know about it. Thanks for the information …
May 5, 2008 at 8:10 pm |
[...] The devices are used to monitor pupils’ movements and register their arrival in class on the teacher’s computer. Supply teachers can also be alerted if a student is likely to misbehave.”//archrights2007 [...]
May 23, 2008 at 11:03 pm |
[...] ARCH Blog informs us about a projekt in a british secondary school where pupils have RFID chips in their [...]