4 ms·

> I don't begrudge anyone the right to practice their religion, but I do wish it had been based on her right to privacy. As much as I dislike it, most of the

by irahul 14y ago

> I don't begrudge anyone the right to practice their religion, but I do wish it had been based on her right to privacy. As much as I dislike it, most of the times when you are on someone else's playground, you have to play by their rules. When the govt. comes at you saying "internet needs to be censored because who will think of the children", making up another "think of the children" argument has more mass appeal than talking about how free and open is good. > Like most state-financed schools, the district’s budget is tied to average daily attendance. If a student is not in his seat during morning roll call, the district doesn’t receive daily funding for that pupil because the school has no way of knowing for sure if the student is there. So if this is all there is to it, why not just have a swipe-in and swipe-out at the main gate? If a student has swiped-in, he has entered the campus. Swipe-out will be just an assurance that the student didn't swipe-in and leave immediately. And is some students are concerned that it's still a smart card and can be used for tracking, or they really don't want it on religious grounds, have a biometric system(thumbprint or retina). That will be cheaper than giving everyone an RFID card.

clavalle 14y ago
A biometric system is cheaper than RFID readers? Not by a long shot. The simple reason they don't have kids swipe in and out is because they simply won't do it. You can get employees to do it because they are paid. Not only that, but it would create foot-traffic jams at exits. RFID is just a better solution that is equivalent, from a data gathering standpoint, to the solutions you put forward.
- ZoFreX 14y ago
  Why not use the RFID tags to "swipe" in and out (e.g. just have a reader at the entrance), rather than tracking their exact location across the whole campus?
  - nodata 14y ago
    Upvoted. Readers at the entrances sounds like a good compromise.
    - clavalle 14y ago
      That is exactly what this is. It is not tracking exact location. They are talking about readers at entrances and exits.
  - clavalle 14y ago
    That is exactly what this is. It is not tracking exact location. They are talking about readers at entrances and exits.
    - warmwaffles 14y ago
      Sadly reporters and all the privacy people forget to mention this. They make it seems like they are tracking their EXACT location.
- irahul 14y ago
  > A biometric system is cheaper than RFID readers? Not by a long shot. Aren't thumbprint scanners commodity hardware now-a-days? Say a school has 700 students. It's 700 RFIDs vs may be 20 thumbprint scanners. > The simple reason they don't have kids swipe in and out is because they simply won't do it. You can get employees to do it because they are paid. Not only that, but it would create foot-traffic jams at exits. As for kids not doing it, doesn't US schools have any attendance norms? Schools in India have generally a 75% attendance norm. I used to work in an office with a headcount of 20000. Though people came in at different times, I am pretty sure the number of people who came in at 9 is greater than number of students in an average school. Swiping in and out didn't create any jams. > RFID is just a better solution that is equivalent, from a data gathering standpoint, to the solutions you put forward. Data gathering is what I am, and looks like the student is opposed to. I see anything more than ensuring that the student came in is a serious violation of privacy. The solution I proposed was in response to school's excuse of ensuring attendance to get funding. Ensuring attendance and tracking at all times are two very different things.
  - boxein 14y ago
    Thumbprint scanners are inaccurate unless you get into the high-end range. If there is a commodity fingerprint scanner for that many students, they could install a single button and get equivalent data.
readme 14y ago
>As much as I dislike it, most of the times when you are on someone else's playground, you have to play by their rules. It's too bad they aren't my kids -- I'd just let them homeschool on the computer all day.
- TallGuyShort 14y ago
  I do hope you realize there's a ton more to successfully homeschooling your kids than just letting them on the computer all day...
  - baddox 14y ago
    Is there? I definitely learned a lot more from sitting on my computer at home than I did from public schools.
    - mcpie 14y ago
      Perhaps your idea of knowledge is limited.Communication skills? Dealing with people different from yourself? Dealing with people you actively dislike? Conflict resolution? Dealing with a power hierarchy? Learning how to navigate complex administrative systems and bureaucracies? Learning how to learn? Learning self-discipline? And then there's the fact that self-schooling really is quite ineffective when compared to being tutored properly, and utterly dependent on the student being able to grasp difficult concepts without outside help...
      - zanny 14y ago
        Not going out of my way to defend the superposter since he worded himself into a cornere, but if someone were to be teaching oneself online that is learning to learn and learning self discipline. Also, I don't think kids "learn" anything about communication, dealing with people, etc in public school settings. They all devolve into tribal hatemachines filled with bitterness and animosity for one another. They aren't learning how to be good people in that situation. I acquired all of my social skills after school hours with friends that lived near me, because in school every child is a vile vindictive monster if they can get away with it. That should be clear! They don't want to be there, and the vast majority were like me in hating the process.
Osiris 14y ago
If you read the article, what the school is trying to accomplish is to locate students that are on campus but not in class for first period to force them to show up in first period. The reason is that the school's funding is based on the number of kids marked as in attendance in first period. So your suggestions wouldn't work for what they want to accomplish because they need to locate a student anywhere on campus at any time so they can send someone to that location to find them.
- irahul 14y ago
  > If you read the article, what the school is trying to accomplish is to locate students that are on campus but not in class for first period to force them to show up in first period. The article reads: But with the RFID tracking, students not at their desk but tracked on campus are counted as being in school that day, and the district receives its daily allotment for that student. They are counted as being in school; they don't have to be at their seats per the article. Won't swiping in serve the same purpose? If somebody is swiped in, he is counted in.
- rwmj 14y ago
  When I was at school we had a paper register which was ticked off by the teacher every morning. Anyone found wandering around school during registration would have been punished. Low tech, but it worked.

by irahul 14y ago

clavalle 14y ago

A biometric system is cheaper than RFID readers? Not by a long shot. The simple reason they don't have kids swipe in and out is because they simply won't do it. You can get employees to do it because they are paid. Not only that, but it would create foot-traffic jams at exits. RFID is just a better solution that is equivalent, from a data gathering standpoint, to the solutions you put forward.

ZoFreX 14y ago
Why not use the RFID tags to "swipe" in and out (e.g. just have a reader at the entrance), rather than tracking their exact location across the whole campus?
- nodata 14y ago
  Upvoted. Readers at the entrances sounds like a good compromise.
  - clavalle 14y ago
    That is exactly what this is. It is not tracking exact location. They are talking about readers at entrances and exits.
- clavalle 14y ago
  That is exactly what this is. It is not tracking exact location. They are talking about readers at entrances and exits.
  - warmwaffles 14y ago
    Sadly reporters and all the privacy people forget to mention this. They make it seems like they are tracking their EXACT location.
irahul 14y ago
> A biometric system is cheaper than RFID readers? Not by a long shot. Aren't thumbprint scanners commodity hardware now-a-days? Say a school has 700 students. It's 700 RFIDs vs may be 20 thumbprint scanners. > The simple reason they don't have kids swipe in and out is because they simply won't do it. You can get employees to do it because they are paid. Not only that, but it would create foot-traffic jams at exits. As for kids not doing it, doesn't US schools have any attendance norms? Schools in India have generally a 75% attendance norm. I used to work in an office with a headcount of 20000. Though people came in at different times, I am pretty sure the number of people who came in at 9 is greater than number of students in an average school. Swiping in and out didn't create any jams. > RFID is just a better solution that is equivalent, from a data gathering standpoint, to the solutions you put forward. Data gathering is what I am, and looks like the student is opposed to. I see anything more than ensuring that the student came in is a serious violation of privacy. The solution I proposed was in response to school's excuse of ensuring attendance to get funding. Ensuring attendance and tracking at all times are two very different things.
- boxein 14y ago
  Thumbprint scanners are inaccurate unless you get into the high-end range. If there is a commodity fingerprint scanner for that many students, they could install a single button and get equivalent data.

readme 14y ago

>As much as I dislike it, most of the times when you are on someone else's playground, you have to play by their rules. It's too bad they aren't my kids -- I'd just let them homeschool on the computer all day.

TallGuyShort 14y ago
I do hope you realize there's a ton more to successfully homeschooling your kids than just letting them on the computer all day...
- baddox 14y ago
  Is there? I definitely learned a lot more from sitting on my computer at home than I did from public schools.
  - mcpie 14y ago
    Perhaps your idea of knowledge is limited.Communication skills? Dealing with people different from yourself? Dealing with people you actively dislike? Conflict resolution? Dealing with a power hierarchy? Learning how to navigate complex administrative systems and bureaucracies? Learning how to learn? Learning self-discipline? And then there's the fact that self-schooling really is quite ineffective when compared to being tutored properly, and utterly dependent on the student being able to grasp difficult concepts without outside help...
    - zanny 14y ago
      Not going out of my way to defend the superposter since he worded himself into a cornere, but if someone were to be teaching oneself online that is learning to learn and learning self discipline. Also, I don't think kids "learn" anything about communication, dealing with people, etc in public school settings. They all devolve into tribal hatemachines filled with bitterness and animosity for one another. They aren't learning how to be good people in that situation. I acquired all of my social skills after school hours with friends that lived near me, because in school every child is a vile vindictive monster if they can get away with it. That should be clear! They don't want to be there, and the vast majority were like me in hating the process.

Osiris 14y ago

If you read the article, what the school is trying to accomplish is to locate students that are on campus but not in class for first period to force them to show up in first period. The reason is that the school's funding is based on the number of kids marked as in attendance in first period. So your suggestions wouldn't work for what they want to accomplish because they need to locate a student anywhere on campus at any time so they can send someone to that location to find them.

irahul 14y ago
> If you read the article, what the school is trying to accomplish is to locate students that are on campus but not in class for first period to force them to show up in first period. The article reads: But with the RFID tracking, students not at their desk but tracked on campus are counted as being in school that day, and the district receives its daily allotment for that student. They are counted as being in school; they don't have to be at their seats per the article. Won't swiping in serve the same purpose? If somebody is swiped in, he is counted in.
rwmj 14y ago
When I was at school we had a paper register which was ticked off by the teacher every morning. Anyone found wandering around school during registration would have been punished. Low tech, but it worked.