Tracking sensors could hit school uniforms

Just a day after getting wind of those Kevlar-lined uniforms, it seems that English parents may want to monitor their kid's location throughout the day just to be cautious. Reportedly, a uniform manufacturer in England is "considering adding satellite tracking devices to its clothing range so parents will always know where their children are" -- a move encouraged by a recent survey that found some 44-percent of mums and dads to be "worried about the safety of their children." As expected, youngsters under the age of 12 didn't seem to mind the idea all that much, but teenagers were purportedly "more wary." C'mon, we all know the grown-ups just want to make sure they catch us skipping, right?

[Via CNET, image courtesy of GreatForSchool]

[Rev. Matt oxley @ Aug 23rd 2007 8:59AM]

Big brother police state anyone?

count me out

[Jeff @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:00AM]

"No mom, I don't want to wear Child Tracker!"
- Stan, South Park Ep "Child Abduction Is Not Fully"

[tchiseen @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:05AM]

british kid - ' i say old chap, would you mind holding my blazer for me while i nip off and snog the ol lorrie down the apples and oranges.... somthin somthin... shat on a turtle! '

[fh @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:32AM]

Not like teenagers aren't already anxious enough to get out of their clothes.

[Revrant2394 @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:33AM]

Teenagers opposed eh?

"Sure spends a lot of time in that particular boy's bathroom, doesn't he?"
"Bloody well does, Mrs. Henderson says her son is always...in that one...too."

Ooo.

[Bruce A @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:36AM]

Wouldn't obsessive parents sit at home watching the location of their child all day? Children going to school is as good for the parents as it is for the child, after looking after it for years they need to deal with letting the kid step out into the world on it's own.

There's some vital lessons to be learnt for both sides that would be negated by parents being able to track their kid everywhere. =\

[TheWakeUpCall @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:54AM]

So... whatever happened to privacy then?

[Mark @ Aug 23rd 2007 9:54AM]

Why don't you just hire 5 personal bodyguards armed with AR 15's for each kid. One of them can wipe their arse when they take a shi* too.

These uniforms will end up having more gadgets than Batman's suit. Kevlar, gps tracking devices, shiiiieet, I can't wait till they make them full bullet proof.

[Aural-Sets @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:04AM]

NO, NO, NO! Holy Crap. This is unnecessary, intrusive and will be abused.
Have we learned nothing from the "it's for the kids." line?
This will lead to mum's freaking out every time timmy deviates from a normal path. "Oh my gosh, he's been kidnapped!" How long till the (according to the news) Gigantic network of pedophiles, figures out how to use the tracking system or if they are really smart, figure out how to remove the blazer and leave it in one spot!!!
I never understand why people don't believe that systems will be abused.

[Mike @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:11AM]

"a recent survey that found some 44-percent of mums and dads to be 'worried about the safety of their children.'"

I'll bet they had to do some pretty heavy research to dig up the fact that parents are worried about the safety of their children (nevermind the fact that apparantly less than half of parents are concerned about their children's safety).

It takes a pretty crazy jump of reasoning to go from parents caring about their kids' safety to assuming those parents want tracking devices installed in their children's clothing.

[matt @ Aug 23rd 2007 11:38AM]

i'm more worried about the 56% who seem not to give a damn...

[ChronoZaga @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:59AM]

Microwave your clothes, kids.

[elitekey @ Aug 23rd 2007 11:07AM]

why would parents spend $44 on school uniform tracking when
all they have to do is track the cell phone
(every teenager has one)

[YouFaceTheTick @ Aug 23rd 2007 11:28AM]

If their uni has RFID it's discreet. Even in a bag, the RFID is still available. A cell phone can be turned off or handed over to someone else. A kid could leave the uni behind too but that's more far fetched, especially with younger - pre-high school kids.

[YouFaceTheTick @ Aug 23rd 2007 11:26AM]

There is some good to this idea.

1. Track only on school property.
2. Record data when RFID passes out a door.
3. Tie-in data to security cams that take a pic of doors - both sides every 1 second.

Why? Simple - proof. You want a way to prove Jimmy was/wasn't skipping, it's there. Want to prove Jenny was escorted our of the school by the gym coach - check the data. Your kid goes missing, the school will have data showing when the kid left (or didn't) and an image of the kid leaving.

[Richard @ Aug 23rd 2007 12:02PM]

Any one ever watch a short lived show called Century City, it was about legal problems 25 years from now. In one episode, it delth with how over the top the tracking had gotten. The tracking device was subdermal, and the position was cross-referenced with cameras all around the city/school/... so parents could watch their kid 24/7. How long before it comes to that?

[KC @ Aug 23rd 2007 6:50PM]

fewer then 25 years I'd wager. Start training 'em for the future young I say. That way in 8-10 years when todays 4th grade kids who have been subjected to constant monitoring all the way through school enter the adult world, they are already so used to it they merely hand there babies over to the doctor for the tracking implants without even thinking twice.

Train now, control tomorrow!

[wrabbit @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:00PM]

Why are the Brits just sitting on their asses and doing nothing about it?! Their country is turning into something straight out of "1984" right before of their eyes and they're just taking it!

[KC @ Aug 23rd 2007 7:00PM]

The whole of the western world is moving in that direction and no one seem to give a crap. The USA or Canada are hardly any better. Between the two they've got DNA data banks, off shore prison camps, registries more dehumanizing then histories scarlet letters or Star of David Arm Bands (what's the next step - the final solution for people on the sex offender registries - worked out well for the Nazi's), No fly lists, watch lists , warrant less phone tapping, the most idiotically ineffective and invasive approach to airport security ever conceived, CCTV in downtowns of most major cities, mandatory passport to get BACK INTO your own country, more and more and more police every month, and the list goes on....

We've got discreet surveillance technologies and 24/7 monitoring that Mr. Orwell never dreamed of in 1948. It took a bit longer then he thought - maybe the book should have been called 2004 - but none the less this worst nightmare has already come to pass. We're in unimagined territory these days.

[KT @ Aug 24th 2007 10:44AM]

I'd charge my mates $10 to carry thier uniforms around in my schoolbag all day.
That way they go to all their classes on the tracking system...

[Darkhavans @ Aug 24th 2007 1:48PM]

I'd love to see how long it would take to find a small bump in the uniform, and rip the tracking device right out. Problem solved.