And it's just kept becoming more invasive since that time. Compulsory schooling began with very few years being "required" (4 or 6, I can't remember which right now) and then progressed to 8, then to 12 and now to 13 in most states. The educrate power-elite are now attempting to make 14 compulsory and I have no doubts that they will succeed because the sheople are buying all the progaganda hook, line and sinker!!
As far as Internet access goes, you are absolutely correct! It is just another way for OUR children to be monitored by the state. The education establishment/state use the data compliled from the computers to catalog the beliefs and attitudes of the school children according to what they type and what web sites they visit and how long they spend on each. It's not just the school children either!! Comcast and AOL (I'm not sure about the other public ISPs) monitor not only which web sites are visited by their customers (supposedly in the name of marketing!), Comcast also "captures" many things that customers TYPE while on web sites (again, for "marketing" purposes!!). We have very little privacy now and if the current trends in education continue, the population won't even be concerned about it within two generations. They will have already grown accustomed to having their every move and thought monitored and will be afraid to "make waves" even if they DO care!
And best of all, it's free! Get it here: Zone Labs website:
Another free spyware detector is called AdAware, and it lets you scan your system for spyware that has been installed and removes it. Get it here: Lavasoft AdAware