School trials fingertip clock-in

[theearthisround]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/4056829.stm

"A secondary school is testing a new fingertip-recognition registration system for pupils."

"Staff say the technology - supplied free for the trial - should help them tackle truancy and make children safer."

"An education authority spokesman said: "The scheme should help the school combat truancy more effectively and improve children's safety."

The system will also be used to introduce a cashless-catering system to help remove the stigma of free school meals and to prevent students from having to carry money, which in turn reduces bullying, he added."

[senegal1]

1. wow what BS -- keep track of kids??? How about a roll call?

Then a parent call if the kid isn't there. If there is bullying at the school its a failure of the school authority not because the kid is carrying cash!

[Rumba]

2. The fingerprint scan is troubling

but I think blaming the school administration for not eliminating bullying goes a little far. They can't be everywhere at once.

That said... taking someone's money is just one way a bully humiliates the victim. Remove that and they'll find another way. Bullying isn't about the money, it's about the power and control.

[WildClarySage]

3. Schools can take a much more proactive role and reducing

the numbers and severity of bullying and relational aggression. I worked with a girl last year who was being harassed by her peers for having the unmitigated gall of being asked out by a popular girl's ex-boyfriend. She received hate-emails with "I'm gonna beat you up" threats, and ended up on wrong side of a number of cruel jokes. When she came to me, I encouraged her to talk to the school's counselor. The counselor told us that she needed "to learn to deal with it. It's part of growing up."

There's a lot of room for improvement in most schools (at least around here)