Going too far? High school student suspended for refusing to wear GPS tracker

[FreakyLocz14]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...g-wear-chipped-ID-tag-fitted-GPS-tracker.html

A high school student was suspended after she refused to wear a student ID card implanted with a GPS identification chip because it is against her religious beliefs.

Andrea Hernandez, from Texas, has been fighting with officials at Northside Independent School District in San Antonio since they began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when the semester began in the fall.

The Radio Frequency Identification badge has a bar code which is able to track students movements on campus, from when they arrive until when they leave and is aimed at a way to combat truancy.

Welcome to the surveillance state!
R.I.P. Liberty

Is this going too far, or necessary?
Discuss.

 

[Mana1]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...g-wear-chipped-ID-tag-fitted-GPS-tracker.html

Welcome to the surveillance state!
R.I.P. Liberty

Is this going too far, or necessary?
Discuss.

The thing is, the card isn't really a GPS tracker, it just tells the schools whether she is in school grounds or not - they can't track her location outside of the school grounds.

It's not necessary, but actually it's quite a good idea to know if kids are leaving school in the middle of the day without permission, to skip classes or whatever else.

 

[Oryx]

I'm kind of confused about the concerns she raises with it. This obviously raises some concerns on the level you're approaching it from Freaky, but I really don't think the argument "I think it's a mark of the Devil" flies as a religious freedom argument. You're also generally not allowed to buy or sell in public places unless you're wearing pants, are pants a sign of the devil?

Edit: Didn't mean to post yet! I also wanted to add that I have a big problem with the actions of the school district in saying they would allow the girl to wear the ID without the chip if her father publicly supported the program. Seriously, what? What does her father's view on it have to do with her options in school? Unless he's going onto school grounds and trying to rally people against it there, his actions shouldn't affect her options.

 

[gimmepie]

At first I thought this was really terrible but after reading it, it seems far less of an issue. As long as it only tells the school whether she is on the school grounds or not it is fine, anything more than that is wrong on many, many levels.

As far as religion comes into play, are we talking genuine religious principals, the interpretation of religious beliefs by individuals or the beliefs of one singular person/family?

 

[TRIFORCE89]

If its just for determining their location at the school and no where else, and if its literally in the card (no weird human chip embedding), I don't think it's a big problem.

And Freaky, it doesn't have much to do with "the state". It's just the way things are now through technology. Smart phones have GPS. Heck, at Walt Disney World they're going to be issuing tickets with an RFID chip embedded in to enable location-based events at the park (an animatronic saying your name as you pass it, for instance).

Welcome to 2012, things have RFID chips in them.

Even in high school, you and your safety are the school's responsibility. So, if this is something that can assist in the execution of that task, fine. Personally, I don't see it as being terribly necessary (don't see what it'd actually go towards aside from proving you skipped class). But I don't see it as evil. It's just for attendance keeping, which they already do manually. The article makes it sound like it just raises a virtual flag at the end of the day that you weren't present. Just like if you weren't there, the teacher would mark it as such and the school would receive that information.

For the father thing... at first I thought it was about to say "if he gives permission". 'Cause its a security measure, and (I'm assuming) she's no 18, and so there would need to be consent from the family that they don't want her to wear it (that's another thing I don't like. Around their neck? Why can't they put in their wallet/pocket?). But, no. It said they have to publicly support the program and that makes absolutely no sense at all.

(Also, did anyone else think of the Marauder's Map from Harry Potter? XD)

 

[Oryx]

Around your neck is a safety measure that has nothing to do with the chips. When every student is required to wear an ID like that, it's easy to pick out a person that doesn't belong inside the school, and in this day and age that's something schools would like to be able to do quickly.

 

[Nick]

Sounds like this family is one of those crazy religious families that take the bible much more literally than more sensible religious folk. An ID card with a tracking chip of sorts in it a mark of the devil? Okay then. And because they're using religion to support that, people aren't at all concerned with their mental state. That's really disturbing. I don't really see the problem with it, because I think it makes sense. It's a huge problem for students to be out of the classroom while they're within the school walls. It happens far more than it should, and it affects the school's budget in the end, because it's defined by two things, in most cases: daily attendance, and test scores. I don't think there's anything really wrong with making sure that students are where they should be.

 

[Mr. X]

Yeah, I don't really see how a ID card, worn around the neck, is a sign of the Beast. (Which is stated to be applied to either the forhead, or the hand.)

The reason why they included him publicly supporting the program was because he was a critic of this program.

Anyway, even if he had I wouldn't have trusted to school district to give a card without the chip. The cards would be identical in appearence anyway, so they could easily give her one with the chip and say they didn't.

Also, I think that the last comment is pure idiocy.

The Rutherford Institute president John Whitehead said: 'There is something fundamentally disturbing about this school district's insistence on steamrolling students into complying with programs that have nothing whatsoever to do with academic priorities and everything to do with fattening school coffers.

This man, pure idiot. More money avaliable to the school means more money avaliable to academic priorities. I see his point, but he is ignoring the fact that a schools adademic programs need funding to maintain.

 

[Captain Gizmo]

I don't get it thought, why would they need a GPS tracker to know if they skip class or not? I mean, if they skipped class, the teacher will SURELY realize that she's not in class during that time. So a GPS tracker is kinda overboard...

 

[Nihilego]

Wow. Just wow. I know I'd not have liked my school giving me one of these chips but then, funding in my school was done differently, so I get why they didn't use them and I get why a school would use them and... I honestly find it ridiculous that this person's read so much into it that they've decided it's against their religious beliefs. That's not someone overly religious, it's someone who uses their religion as an excuse to not do things they don't want to. Gives the rest of us a bad name. |:

I don't get it thought, why would they need a GPS tracker to know if they skip class or not? I mean, if they skipped class, the teacher will SURELY realize that she's not in class during that time. So a GPS tracker is kinda overboard...

I think it's more to check that the student's not left the school. Skipping lessons is one thing but the school has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its students - something which it's unable to do should the student leave the school premises. Also, it seems that the school only receives funding for a pupil present at the school on any given day, so it's in the financial interests of the school to ensure that students are present.

 

[Captain Gizmo]

^ Oh ok. But the students can just leave their student card in their locker and they think they're still at school or something.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I think this is going too far, and the willingness to accept incremental invasions of liberty that I've seen in this thread deeply disturbs me. We're all entitled to our opinions, but this is how tyranny works. They do it in an incremental fashion to condition the masses to accept more and more tyranny in the name of security. Teenagers are human beings, not cattle. If this is what's needed to secure funding, then the manner in which school funding is distributed needs to be revisited; and besides, students are already finding ways to cheat the system.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I think this is going too far, and the willingness to accept incremental invasions of liberty that I've seen in this thread deeply disturbs me. We're all entitled to our opinions, but this is how tyranny works. They do it in an incremental to condition the masses to accept more and more tyranny in the name of security. Teenagers are human beings, not cattle. If this is what's needed to secure funding, then the manner in which school funding is distributed needs to be revisited; besides, students are already finding ways to cheat the systen.

Who is the they?

I have more issue with it, if it is truly a funding thing and not a safety thing

 

[Nick]

I think it's more to check that the student's not left the school. Skipping lessons is one thing but the school has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its students - something which it's unable to do should the student leave the school premises. Also, it seems that the school only receives funding for a pupil present at the school on any given day, so it's in the financial interests of the school to ensure that students are present.

But it's no longer the responsibility of the school to ensure the safety of it's students after they leave school grounds, so it still poses the question of why.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

But it's no longer the responsibility of the school to ensure the safety of it's students after they leave school grounds, so it still poses the question of why.

If a student "checks in" to school in the morning, the school is responsible for them during school hours. If they leave and something happens to them, likely parents will sue the school

 

[Mr. X]

If the parents don't agree with the school's policys, then they can instead choose to send their children to a private school.

 

[Nick]

If a student "checks in" to school in the morning, the school is responsible for them during school hours. If they leave and something happens to them, likely parents will sue the school

Really? I've never heard of that before. Not trying to argue it, but I'm genuinely interested in whatever source you have for that.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Really? I've never heard of that before. Not trying to argue it, but I'm genuinely interested in whatever source you have for that.

No... direct source. It's just always been my assumption.

My high school was conveniently located next to a mall. And we'd go there for lunch sometimes, or during school festival days. Staff were largely cool with it. But, on paper, officially we're supposed to stay on the premises (unless you're 18, or went home sick, etc. Some situation where your guardian is aware you're not there). And I always figured based on that that the school or staff would be libel should something happen while you weren't there.

Maybe not? But that's always how I saw it

 

[droomph]

I think this is going too far, and the willingness to accept incremental invasions of liberty that I've seen in this thread deeply disturbs me. We're all entitled to our opinions, but this is how tyranny works. They do it in an incremental fashion to condition the masses to accept more and more tyranny in the name of security. Teenagers are human beings, not cattle. If this is what's needed to secure funding, then the manner in which school funding is distributed needs to be revisited; and besides, students are already finding ways to cheat the system.

Look, this isn't the government at all. This isn't a weird cyborg-chip from The Terminator or something. She could've just left it at home if she wanted. My school requires me to carry around my student ID, but I don't, and they haven't really cared much.

Trust me, if we're okay with it, then nobody will tell if it's a tyranny. And honestly, who cares? If we can't tell, then it's fine. But once more of us can tell, we will revolt. That's the way life works, and this, really?, has nothing to do with the invasion of liberty.

 

[Mr. X]

I've never heard cases of the schools getting sued, however teachers at both of my old schools have said pretty much the same thing about that.