R.I. grade-schoolers to be tracked by computer chips in backpacks

R.I. grade-schoolers to be tracked by computer chips in backpacks

www.kidk.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A tech company with ties to a school district plans to test a tracking system by putting computer chips on grade-schoolers' backpacks, an experiment the ACLU ripped Monday as invasive and unnecessary.

The pilot program set to start next week in the Middletown school district would have about 80 children put tags containing radio frequency identification chips, or RFID chips, on their schoolbags. It would also equip two buses with global positioning systems, or GPS devices.

The school and parents will be able to track students on the bus, and the district hopes the program will improve busing efficiency, Superintendent Rosemarie Kraeger said. The devices are intended to record only when students enter and exit the bus, and the GPS would show where the bus was on it's route.

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Granted it's just a pilot program and parents can opt out if they so choose, but my question is how long until this becomes the norm and opting out is no longer optional.

Personally, I feel it safe to say that these types of programs will slowly yet inevitably become common place, not only in our schools but also wherever they can be "deemed" necessary "safeguards". In my opinion, it's simply matter of time. When not If.

? thoughts ?

www.kidk.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is news to me and I am a resident.
I will most definitely look into my children's schools and inquire.
I really have mixed feelings about this. "I" want to know where they are, but I also want to know who else is watching.

This is a troubling feeling.

I hate to say it but....

Alex Jones covered this in the middle of last year..

On how much I hate the guys way of handling things.. He is always spot on...

Nice. Start 'em young. In 15 years time, there will be no objections by the younger generation to having a chip tracking your movements.

As a product of the Providence Public School system, I'd recommend that the school district put it's efforts into straitening out the recent contract issues with its teachers, improving the quality of education within the schools, and dealing with superintendents who use the role as a jumping point for further political positions rather than one in which they can actually better the student's lives.

This is a waste of money and resources on a system that has many other issues facing it.

The city is a small one, with a large police force. You can walk across it in about a half hour, and the students only have so many places to go if they're not in class. I personally would skip school and watch police as they would drive by and not do anything. They may harass, but never bring the students back to school.

The city has its problems but this is certainly no solution.

Originally posted by ThichHeaded
I hate to say it but....

Alex Jones covered this in the middle of last year..

On how much I hate the guys way of handling things.. He is always spot on...

I dont like alex jones


in all honesty to me this is not a big deal, back packs get moved, lost stolen, burned torn etc

so keeping track of kids in not gonna be all that easy

for me, when i was in school, i hated using a backpack and left it in my locker mostly so i dont really see the good in it, whatever

the benefit of this "tracking device" is knowing where your brats are, however...if its just a sad attempt to pry into your child's life then you might as well shove them into a cage and feed them every once in awhile. Kids need to experience life without a monitoring system tracking their movements.