Local St. Louis Schools Use Bracelets to Monitor Children at School …And at Home

Gateway Pundit ^ | January 5,2012 | Jim Hoft

[Hojczyk]

St. Louis Today reported:

When is the line crossed between better health and surveillance?

In early 2012, wristwatch-like devices called Polar active monitors will be used by older students in PE classes at all 18 Parkway elementary schools. District officials say the devices should help improve the students’ fitness and academic achievement.

Later this school year, the district plans to collect data about activity levels and even sleep patterns for a week at a time. It will have the students wear the devices round the clock.

Some parents and legal experts are raising privacy concerns about at least that aspect of the program.

The project

Ron Ramspott, coordinator of health, outdoor and physical education for Parkway, said a pilot project started in April provided the monitors during physical education classes to students at Henry and Ross elementary schools. Shenandoah Valley Elementary School in Chesterfield joined the pilot in August.

At the district’s Dec. 7 Board of Education meeting, the board approved expanding the project beyond the pilot phase. For the program starting this year at all elementary schools, the district will target grades four and five initially, Ramspott said.

The monitors measure activity by tracking every movement of the person wearing them. They display steps taken, calories spent and time spent at various levels of activity. An animated figure on the monitor indicates the activity level. A bar shows the target time for doing moderate to vigorous activity and the amount of time achieved at that level.

[clee1]

Or mine.

[SaraJohnson]

Is this before or after they put the schoolprison on “lockdown”?

These elitists are sickening and I can not beleive Americans cooperate with them! No way would they be monitoring my children! Way over the line!

[steve86]

A future version will deliver an unpleasant electric shock when the child ingests more than the daily quota of carbohydrates or tunes to conservative talk radio.

My school district would never send my kids home with these. They know the bracelet would be returned attached to a brick.

[WOBBLY BOB]

how long before the parents who have kids who “fail” are required to meet in the town square and participate in mandatory calesthenics , tossing the medicine ball and wearing Dear Leader's official diaper?

[FreedomPoster]

Ping

[metmom]

Nanny State and Another Reason to Homeschool ping.

[FreedomPoster]

You’re quick!

[metmom]

Read the comments at the end of the article. They are scathing.

Most of them.

There are a few clueless (useful) idiots in every crowd.

[EyeGuy]

For those that don’t know, and FWIW, Parkway is one of the better School Districts in St. Louis county. The kids are largely from upper middle class families in an affluent section of the Metropolitan area.

These are not the kind of folks I would expect to be on board with this kind of Bolshevik crap.

[metmom]

You happened to catch me online.

Besides, stuff like this makes my blood boil.

[bamahead]

The monitors measure activity by tracking every movement of the person wearing them.



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!

[Still Thinking]

The monitors measure activity by tracking every movement of the person wearing them.

I wonder how proud they'd be about their meddling if you put it on your dog who likes to run around the back yard lickety split for hours on end. I also wonder if the unit has a special display down at Nanny Central that announces it's taking a trip through the city sewers.

[Still Thinking]

When is the line crossed between better health and surveillance?

When did even better health become any of their beeswax? I reluctantly concede they have the authority to teach my kid math, but that's about it.

[Still Thinking]

Why an ankle bracelet and not a dog collar?

Hell, I used to cringe every time I'd see a woman with her kid on a leash to a harness around their torso. This is completely beyond the pale.

[Still Thinking]

The responsibility of the public school system is to educate your child so that they can read, write and do math sufficiently to function as an adult in society. Not to gather data on them for other purposes. Anybody who lets their kid wear that bracelet is an idiot.

I wouldn't even sign an opt-out paper. The idea is so absurd even that gives it more legitimacy and consideration than it deserves.

[Revolting cat!]

Good ideer. If Fedex, UPS trucks can be tracked via GPS, why not the little mongrels!

[Still Thinking]

Michelle Obama is kindly and good, dontcha’ know.

Sooooopreeeme Leaduh's always are. That's why they usually tack on "Benevolent", so you don't forget or get confused, poor little prole that you are.

[tutstar]

ping

[JSteff]

That is along the lines of the heart and brain activity bracelets we all will be wearing when obams care kicks in. Forget the death panels, they want to know the absolute earliest they can pull us out of the rolls ot those covered under obama care.

I have M.S. and my wife has stage 4 thyroid cancer. Yes we are both still alive, but have already seen our care becoming much more selective. We have NO illusions we will be targets when obama wins the wh again!