Posted on 09/04/2012 12:15:49 PM PDT by Altariel
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (NBC) -- Students and parents are rallying against new ID badges that track student movement on the campuses of two San Antonio, Texas schools.
Father Steven Hernandez does not agree with the district’s new pilot program called Radio Frequency Identification System, or RFID.
The new identification tags are designed to help the district improve safety by locating students at any time, while on campus, at John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School.
RFID tags are also supposed to help with attendance by counting students more accurately as the enter the building.
District spokesman Pasqual Gonzalez says the two campuses have a high rate of truancy and tardiness, and the district could gain $2 million in state funding by improving attendance at the schools.
According to Gonzalez the system will not be fully implemented until the end of September.
Hernandez considers the new ID tags a spy chip.
Katie Deolloz agrees.
She lives in Dallas and felt it was important to join the protest effort.
Deolloz is a member of CASPIAN, or Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.
The group is joined by national radio host, Dr. Katherine Albrecht, co-authored a book opposing RFID.
She is lending her support to Hernandez.
“NISD is a school district and not a government,” he said.
His daughter has decided to wear her old photo ID even though students were told the new micro-chip ID is mandatory.
“It makes me uncomfortable. It’s an invasion of my privacy,” said Andrea Hernandez.
The sophomore at John Jay High School thinks other teenagers will be rebellious against the new rule and stuff the badges in a locker or hand them to a friend to leave campus.
She doesn’t think the monitoring device will stop students from skipping classes.
She believes the tracking system isn’t necessary since the district has surveillance cameras and police officers on duty.
The teenager is also worried about who else might track students since the RFID tags continue sending a signal even when students leave school.
"With a smart phone you can use the option to use your locator but this I can't turn it off," Hernandez said.
school districts ARE government
they need privatized
We do all the time. Many businesses have ID cards that track movement. Door readers record who goes where, and prevent people going places. Criminals have tracking bracelets. I have a 'Pike Pass' to pay tolls on certain highways. All good things.
Yes, government should not track the movement of free citizens. This is vastly different than a school tracking its students, on school property only. Everything the RFID chip does could be done by NEA members, but at a much lower cost.
This is only at school. Do you have an employee ID badge?
This does nothing a platoon of hall monitors could do. But at a much lower cost.
The mark of the beast?
My badge doesn’t track me all over the hospital.....
Yet you approve of schools..( the government, btw..) tracking the movement of free citizens..( the students..)
You make no sense.........
Students 'suspend' their rights when they attend school, private or government schools. If there is a uniform dress code, they give up their 'right' to wear whatever they want. They give up their 'right' to free speech by having to be quiet during lectures. They give up their 'right' to freedom of movement by having to attend certain classes at certain times. They give up their 'right' to eat by only having food in the cafeteria. And on and on.
The student has the 'right' to attend the school, or find another if they don't like the rules.
This is not at all comparable to government tracking all citizens all the time. Nothing the RFID chip in the ID badge does anything an army of union hall monitors couldn't accomplish. I commend the school for trying to cut cost and improve attendance. They are simply using technology to enforce rules.
I’m glad you aren’t in charge.
So, if you were in charge, what procedures would put in place to check attendance in classes, monitor truancy, and ensure non-students don't get on school grounds? Be specific.
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