Chipping the Children

Via the Arch Blog, this little piece of statist nastiness:

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 can also restrict access to areas of the school. The radio frequency identification system is being tested at Hungerhill School in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Ten pupils began wearing a chip sewn into their uniforms eight months ago.

Time and again, these stories surface and no one – apart from a few outraged bloggers seems to be concerned. The idea of tracking people like this, monitoring their whereabouts as if they were farm animals, is deeply repugnant and inhuman – yet the school thinks it’s okay, indeed, the school is doing Joe Stalin proud.

The scheme has drawn criticism from human rights campaigners. “Tagging is what we do to criminals we let out of prison early,” said David Cleater, from Leave Them Kids Alone, which campaigns against the finger-printing of pupils. “It is appalling.”

Yes, it is appalling, so why are parents letting these people get away with it? Why are they letting this generation be softened up for total surveillance (for their own safety, of course)?

Graham Wakeling, the head teacher, denied that the school was adopting a “Big Brother” mentality.

Mr Wakeling, that is exactly what it is. If you want trust, you extend trust, you do not treat the children in your care like a herd of cattle on the local farm. If you want to register pupils in class, you use a register and make a physical check to see who is present. It is a simple and cost effective system that works – or can’t supply teachers count these days?

He said: “The system is not intrusive to the pupil in the slightest…”

You have stitched an electronic tag into their uniform so that you can track their movements – of course it’s intrusive – it is a gross invasion of personal privacy and is unforgivable.

He said the children were all volunteers taking part in a science project.

Oh, I don’t doubt it – there are always those willing to do their masters’ bidding. But what happens when the trial is declared a success and everyone is forced to take part? Will you allow opt-outs for those who do not want to be tracked or will they have this system thrust upon them, like it or not? Will you do the decent thing and seek parents’ permission? Will you honour the wishes of those parents who refuse?

I’m not so old that I cannot recall my teenage years. Being something of a dab hand with a needle and thread, I would have removed the tag and destroyed it before re-stitching the relevant seam – and I would have continued to do so every time the chip was replaced because they would have worn down before me. I haven’t changed much in the intervening three decades, it’s just that in the seventies, my rebellion was about being forced to wear a tie. It seems so innocuous compared with what is happening now.