Parents of some children required by their school district
to wear RFID monitoring devices have issued protests
against the policy. The parents are upset by what they see
as the Brittan School District in Sutter County, Calif.,
inhibiting their childrens’ right to privacy.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the
district recently implemented a test run of the devices,
worn around the necks of 7th and 8th graders, to see if
electronically monitoring students’ attendance will deter
truancy, fortify security and increase instruction time for
teachers. The California district of 587 kindergarten
through 8th grade students is the first in the nation to
test the tracking devices. The system is more commonly used
to track inventory or placed on cattle to monitor their
movements.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have
stepped in on behalf of many of the parents who claim that
they were not given a choice of whether their child would
participate in the program or not.
The school district’s board has not responded to the
parents’ complaints directly. However, they have allowed
students whose parents send a note keep the monitoring
device somewhere on their person instead of being required
to wear it around their neck. This policy will continue
until a final decision is reached during a special meeting
to take place in the coming weeks.
UPDATE: The Brittain School District has now lifted the requirement that students wear the RFID tags. Click here for the story.
