School starts program that will have students wear "health monitors" 24/7

Parkway's use of fitness monitors raises privacy questions

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.

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.

Schools are bankrupt and they spend money on this? Really? Wouldn't surprise me if this is funded undercover by DHS.

Each of the district's elementary schools will receive 25 monitors in January and begin using them in PE class.

However, the focus of the monitors' use will change gradually, so that by the end of the year students will continually wear the monitors for a full week at a time to assess activity levels.

"We want to be able to look at both physical activity and sleep patterns," Ramspott said. "We also want to see how various activity levels correlate to student achievement and behavior."

Training kids to be always monitored by big brother... if I were a parent at that school I would totally refuse this and request who the hell started this program and what are their connection to the company producing these and any link with DHS/feds. I bet there's bribes involved.

And only ONE of the sick things about it...

""If a university would do this study, they'd need to have lots of approval and consent from our internal review board, because this is a form of human subject research,"

But eh, since it's teens, apparently, laws don't apply... this is sick.

Also, notice how the article is long? That kind of article is NEVER long... but in there, they put lots of ``good reasons`` to back this up.... this smells... they never try to justify something that creepy THAT much.

I would flat out refuse to allow my daughter to be subjected to that. I would pull my kid out of the school if I had to, but I'd vocally try to back them down or force an "exception" at the least.

If my daughter's high school tried to pull that crap Id be filing my "intent to homeschool" papers immediatly-big brother is not monitoring my daughter. Thank the Lord she only has 2 more years of high school left

How horrible, next thing you know they will have monitors hooked up to their foreheads to see their thinking patterns. Parents everywhere should be outraged! Don't let this happen to your children!

reply to post by Vitchilo


This fitness level, I am assuming is closely correlated to a student’s weight. In today’s system its not right to record this information because we are not correctly teaching youths the correct aspects and methods of health / weight loss.
The day we teach students the reality of weight and health it is okay to record health and weight levels. But in today’s modern world of fad diets and unhealthy/ unrealistic methods of weight loss it is pointless.
Children need to learn that weight is subject to lifestyle, not the other way around.

It is a blatant invasion of privacy and an overstepping of authority. It's none of the school's business how much activity these kids are getting outside the schools. They're not the parents.

In San Antonio TX at ww.white elementary., they were monitoring what kids ate at lunch. Started end of last year, not sure they continued it.
there's a thread here on ATS somewhere

reply to post by Vitchilo


The article seems to suggest that the program is voluntary and if there are students interested in volunteering than I really don't see anything wrong with it (with parent permission of course).

Ramspott said Parkway will require parental consent to participate largely because of the responsibility of caring for the monitors.

I understand the privacy concerns but there's an easy way to get around those concerns, JUST DON'T VOLUNTEER. If the program were mandatory this would be an entirely different story of course.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by Vitchilo

 

The article seems to suggest that the program is voluntary and if there are students interested in volunteering than I really don't see anything wrong with it (with parent permission of course).

Ramspott said Parkway will require parental consent to participate largely because of the responsibility of caring for the monitors.

I understand the privacy concerns but there's an easy way to get around those concerns, JUST DON'T VOLUNTEER. If the program were mandatory this would be an entirely different story of course.

edit on 12-1-2012 by Titen-Sxull because: (no reason given)

Voluntary for NOW but how long til they make it mandatory

Polar monitors only monitor your freakin heart rate with respect to time.

They don't record your position, they are not GPS trackers. They don't record video or audio either.

While the study should under no circumstances be made mandatory, a voluntary stidy should not elicit the uberparanoid responses I've read here.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by Vitchilo

 

The article seems to suggest that the program is voluntary and if there are students interested in volunteering than I really don't see anything wrong with it (with parent permission of course).

Ramspott said Parkway will require parental consent to participate largely because of the responsibility of caring for the monitors.

I understand the privacy concerns but there's an easy way to get around those concerns, JUST DON'T VOLUNTEER. If the program were mandatory this would be an entirely different story of course.

edit on 12-1-2012 by Titen-Sxull because: (no reason given)

No. Kid's, heck even teens can be pushed into "volunteering" very easily by authority figures. The people who "came up" this idea belong in jail. Anyone who supports it should be sterilized to remove such statist thinking from the gene pool.

Yup, great way to spend educational budget resources.

Who needs better books or newer computers when you can spend money on using the kids of America as guinea pigs for social experiments and statistical data compilations instead ?

God bless Amerika.

reply to post by Vitchilo


I've noticed a lot of this kind of stuff being reported since 08. This is an expression of the Nanny State, as Jonah Goldberg explains in his book, "Liberal Fascism", that the State has to control us for our own good...the State must monitor our kids fat content now.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by Vitchilo

 

The article seems to suggest that the program is voluntary and if there are students interested in volunteering than I really don't see anything wrong with it (with parent permission of course).

Ramspott said Parkway will require parental consent to participate largely because of the responsibility of caring for the monitors.

I understand the privacy concerns but there's an easy way to get around those concerns, JUST DON'T VOLUNTEER. If the program were mandatory this would be an entirely different story of course.

edit on 12-1-2012 by Titen-Sxull because: (no reason given)

Yes, rfid chips with health data in children and dogs are also still voluntary. I am guessing that will change if Obamacare is not repealed.

reply to post by korathin


So I should be sterilized and removed from the genepool? How merciful of you. I thought conspiracy types were supposed to be compassionate and against eugenics, but I guess I was wrong, turns out TPTB are the good guys and you nutjobs are the ones who will round us all up into camps

So people can be EASILY pushed into volunteering? When I was a kid I would have turned them down in a heartbeat for this test ESPECIALLY if they tried to goad us into it. They were already, when I was young, sending out mandatory sheets to our parents detailing the weights of the students in comparison with others. We used to have to take, as MANDATORY, the Presidential fitness test.

I don't see anything sinister in this program if it's volunteer only with parental permission required. Again, if it was mandatory I would be against it, but it isn't so I'm not.