Tagged Teens

Brazil's RFID School Uniforms

Just Weird – A city in the north-east part of Brazil has found a way to keep track of its students without the constant nit-picking and fussing that is usually required of teachers. The school has embedded RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips in the student’s uniforms. If wearing a uniform wasn’t bad enough, having one that tracks you like a dog (literally) can’t be terribly encouraging.

The chips have been embedded to alert parents and teachers if the students are skipping school. It does so by triggering a message sent to a parent’s phone when the student enters school. If, 20 minutes after the bell, the student has not arrived at school, the parent will then be notified that with the message, “Your child has still not arrived at school.”

The chip is placed below the school’s coat-of-arms or on the sleeves of the shirt, and is impervious to tampering, washing, and ironing. It came fairly cheaply, too, costing the city less than a million dollars to design and implement.

Whether or not it is “right” to tag children (even if it isn’t underneath the skin) is a question that would most certainly stir debate here in the States. Hopefully no shadowy cabal of world leaders lends this idea any serious thought.

Of course, students will get wise to this and switch their clothes when they arrive, sending their chipped shirts along with more studious friends. Actually, I’ve no doubt that’s been happening since day two of the shirts.

Read more at the Huffington Post.