{"id":9935,"date":"2012-03-29T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2012-03-29T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/?p=9935"},"modified":"2020-02-02T15:53:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T20:53:46","slug":"tracking-students-with-gps-microchips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/tracking-students-with-gps-microchips\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking students with GPS microchips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>According to a story that appeared on Mashable<\/a> earlier this week, 20,000 grade school students in Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil \u201chave recently started wearing uniforms embedded with GPS chips similar to those used in pet trackers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here’s how it works. Parents receive a text message when their child arrives at school, or if they are late for a class. If the child still doesn\u2019t show up after 20 minutes, the parent receives a subsequent text stating, “Your child has still not arrived at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

We asked our team to share their thoughts about this controversial use of technology. Here’s what they had to say:<\/p>\n

Charles Sue-Wah-Sing<\/strong>, Director, Design & Innovation
\n\u201cInnovative. But I\u2019m not certain this is the best example of how to use this kind of wearable technology. I think this use will inspire other ideas that may infringe upon our privacy and bring up the debate of big brother. I would rather it be used where the safety of an individual or community is a greater concern than one\u2019s privacy. I can see the benefit if used for individuals under probation or for those who pose a threat to public safety. I can see it used with the military or for Alzheimer patients or seniors with dementia. In these situations knowing someone\u2019s whereabouts is a much greater concern than if my child was 25 minutes late for school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric Dymond<\/strong>, Data Specialist, AskingCanadians\u2122
\n\u201cThe article references GPS chips similar to those used in pet trackers. Good enough for a cat – good enough for a child. Go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yameen Tejpar<\/strong>, Director of Production
\n\u201cThe parent\u2019s right to know outweighs the child\u2019s right to privacy. And if these are private school kids one can assume the parents have paid some expensive fees for their child\u2019s education. So, they need to ensure they are getting their money\u2019s worth…and that means the kids have to do their part too. Of course, this all changes as soon as the kid turns 18.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy Sullivan<\/strong>, Vice President, Customer Insights
\n\u201cI\u2019d say yes, there is a benefit, but only with explicit parental consent. Furthermore, I would suggest that after a certain age, the student themselves should have to consent. Not sure what that age is, 13-ish, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amber Bartlett<\/strong>, Senior Sales Manager, AskingCanadians\u2122
\n\u201cWhy is the chip only in the clothing of four to 14 year olds? I didn\u2019t start skipping school until I was at least 14, and I skipped a lot more once I had a car. Also, what parents aren\u2019t walking their four year olds to school? If a four year old is skipping school, you have a much bigger problem on your hands. The actual idea isn\u2019t horrible but kids that want to skip school are smart and will just pack a change of clothes and leave their clothes in their lockers. In my day and age the schools took attendance and called parents when their kids were MIA, I\u2019m fairly certain my dad got the message and then so did I!\u201d<\/p>\n

Typhaine Le Corvec<\/strong>, Director of Acquisition and Engagement, AskingCanadians\u2122
\n\u201cThe security and reassurance aspect of the GPS chip is appealing. However, children who are confident (and old) enough to skip school, will figure out a way to either (a) temporarily remove the chip from their uniform, or (b) leave their chip-embedded uniform on the school premises during school hours. Also, this is a very costly initiative, and that money could be better spent by keeping children interested in attending classes, or in explaining what challenges await them if they disregard the privilege of education that is given to them. Examples (of such misfortune) outside their schoolyards are endless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley O\u2019Connor<\/strong>, Client & Program Strategist
\n\u201cI like this concept and the forward thinking. The only question that pops into my head is if this is a preventative measure to decrease the amount of delinquency, what is keeping the students who insist on skipping school or class from simply taking the chip out of the clothing? The article lets us know where it\u2019s hidden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy Gonsalves<\/strong>, Director of Sales, AskingCanadians
\n\u201cAs a parent, I would want to know this information about my child. Knowing where they are at all times JUST IN CASE something goes wrong gives me a sense of security. I guess you can say that is why most parents give their kids cell phones, to know where their child is. My concern is; what if this information gets in the wrong hands? That\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a story that appeared on Mashable earlier this week, 20,000 grade school students in Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil \u201chave recently started wearing uniforms embedded with GPS chips similar to those used in pet trackers.\u201d Here’s how it works. Parents receive a text message when their child arrives at school, or if they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":17233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[947],"tags":[119,547,548],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22502,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9935\/revisions\/22502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delvinia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}