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Iris Scanning For New Jersey Grade School 149

Posted by samzenpus from the look-directly-at-the-laser dept.
coolphysco1010 writes "When a parent arrives to pick up their child at one of three grade schools in the Freehold Borough School District, they'll need to look into a camera that will take a digital image of their iris. That photo will establish positive identification to gain entrance into the school..The Teacher-Parent Authorization Security System (T-PASS), a software application developed by Eyemetric Identity Systems, was installed on the front office computers at each of the three schools."
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Iris Scanning For New Jersey Grade School More

Iris Scanning For New Jersey Grade School

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  • Practicality (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xXBondsXx ( 895786 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:08AM (#14548744)
    I can't imagine the countless hours photographing people into the database and asking Mrs. Robinson to remove her sunglasses would actually stop a child abductor. Besides, he could just drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there.

    But in the State-Congress after someone said exactly what I said, someone else yelled "won't anyone think of the children?" and the bill was signed. Seems that phrase overrides any kind of common sense.
    • > Seems that phrase overrides any kind of common sense.

      No, they didn't have the common sense to begin with. They use the phrase to make it look -- to other parents -- like they DO have something worthwhile to say.

    • Seems that, to think of the children, we forgot to think of the adults.

      • Not only that, but the technology is costing over $120 000 per school. So the government (National Institute of Justice) is using that money on iris scanning instead of the passing that sort of money on to the school boards for little things like the children's textbooks, teacher training, and computer access.

        Seems that, to think of the children's present, we forgot to think of the children's future.
        • Oh, textbooks shcmextsbooks! All we need are the cute shiny things that go "bing!" when we turn them on. Kids don't need to learn anything. They just need to be amused.
        • No, the way that the money is handed out comes from various programs. The money for an iris scanning system comes from a program designed to increase security in schools. Textbooks come from the general education fund. Teacher training comes from the teachers themselves (It's called college. You know, that place you go to after high school to learn what you need to know for your intended career? Future teachers get grants to help pay for college by agreeing to teach in areas where teachers are desperat
    • Just to play devil's advocate, if all the schools in the state implimented the system, then no, he would not "be able to drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there".

      • No, he would only have to drive 200 feet down the road and pick the kid up on the sidewalk while he was walking home. Besides, there's too many witnesses if you try to abduct the child at the school. They're better off just driving down the street, and getting the child there, as there would probably be a lot less people around.
        • If the kid is getting picked up then he isn't walking home, is he?

          The whole point of the program is to prevent strangers form picking up your kids. If you let your little kids walk home alone through the inner city then it has nothing to do with you (oh and PS you're a horrible parent).

          Not that I necessairily agree with the program but your arguments make no sense.

          • It really depends on the age of your kids, and whether or not they are walking home through the "Inner City". Some elementary schools go up to grade 8. I don't know about you, but i'm sure a lot of parents let their 13 year olds walk home alone. With younger kids, the parents probably should be picking up the kids. Assuming that all the parents come at 3 o'clock to pick up the kids, how long will it take to process all those parents? Assuming that 250 parents show up to pick up their kids, and at 10 se
      • That's not going to happen--NJ is strapped for cash as it is. The school systems could be run much more efficiently, dollar-wise, if they were all run at the county level (Hunterdon County does this IIRC), but there is too much racism here to make that happen.
        • If that is the current state in NJ then this is true squandering of taxpayer dollars.

          Why can't the kids' homeroom teacher just supervise the pickup point? Surely they'd recognize the parents after the first two days of pickup?

          So they have to take a half hour extra, so what. If they complain then pay them some overtime. It would still cost way less than this iris scanner.
    • Damn, I guess that means I'll have to aproach the kiddies at the park to get help finding my lost puppy....

    • It's worse than that (Score:5, Insightful)

      by EyesofWolf ( 879816 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:17AM (#14548829) Homepage
      Not only do you need to worry about actually getting all of the parents involved which can become a headache in and of itself, but what about when Uncle John is in town and volunteers to help out by going to pick up the kids? Is he going to need to check in with the school first, show some credentials, get authorization from the parents, then have his iris photographed and recorded? And if it is easier than that for him to get a temporary day pass, how will you make it harder for any child abductor playing the part?

      Also, what if the technology breaks? Or let's talk about the huge lines that will form in order to get all the parents into the parking lot - even if the technology runs perfectly smoothly (which we all know it ALWAYS does... technology NEVER fails). Since all of the kids get out of school at the same time, the majority of the parents will all arrive at the same time and cause a huge bottle neck.

      How will they keep the child abductors from going in on foot and walking out with the child to their car parked outside of the lot? Not all abductees are quickly snatched and shoved into a car. Some are convinced that the criminal is really a friend of the family and go along quite willingly. So unless they are surrounding the school with barbed wire fences and have a guard at the entrance and exit, you won't stop the criminal from entering. If you do, then you are turning our schools into prisons which can't be good for the children. But I guess that's not what they meant when they said think of the children...

      The entire thing is a logistical nightmare and if you ask me, doesn't add all that much security. I should rephrase that, it doesn't add enough security to warrant the inconvenience. And all of this is without even touching the big brother conspiracy theory argument.
      • My biggest worry with the system is what people do when they discover that it's a pain in the ass. I've been to a number of corporate offices where everybody is supposed to be badged all the time. But as long as you're wearing khakis and a button-down, you can follow people anywhere you want. And then see all their 8-random-character passwords written on post-it notes on their monitors, with their keys sitting right on the desk.
        • If people wrote their passwords down, failed to lock their PCs when they went to lunch, didnt wear their badges or left keys and passes lying around where I work, they would be in trouble (possibly fired, possibly escorted out-of-building, possibly less serious than that)

          Any company with stuff to protect should be doing the same...
      • "So unless they are surrounding the school with barbed wire fences and have a guard at the entrance and exit, you won't stop the criminal from entering."

        And there you have the solution! Barbed wire will give children and parents a sense of security and the rest of the world something to laugh about.

        But seriously, if you've watched GATTACA you'll know that DNA turnstiles are the way to go for speed and security, NOT time consuming IRIS checkers. A bump from the back and you could lose an eye! Won't anyone
      • Teaching the kids how to respond to someone trying to kidnap them is the answer. Have codewords so the kid knows whether that person is really there to pick them up or not. Teach them, that if it's a male trying to kidnap them, knee them as hard as possible between their legs. Kick and scream and make a scene. If it's in the school parking lot, yeah, they'll get noticed.

        I don't see any harm in having security cameras in the parking lot and around the school. If something happens, they can review them. Just
    • I can't imagine the countless hours photographing people into the database and asking Mrs. Robinson to remove her sunglasses would actually stop a child abductor. Besides, he could just drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there.

      You are right, it won't stop child abductors, but it will stop them there. You may think it violates your privacy, but which provides more information and which is more easily faked: An iris scan or your driver's license?

    • Re:Practicality (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Princeofcups ( 150855 )
      Sales guy from high tech security firm buys lifetime exclusive golf club membership for New Jersey representative. New Jersey representative pushes through a bill to spend lots of money with sale's guys high tech firm. Excuse for purchase, "think of the children." Exclusive golfing is enjoyed by all, well, representative and sales guy anyway.

      jfs

    • "he could just drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there."

      Uh, dude? Hello? that IS the point. If this system is a deterrent, then it has stopped an abduction at THIS school and has served it's purpose. So what you are saying, really, is that this system will probably benefit the children and that the other schools should implement this as well.

    • Besides, he could just drive another mile to any other grade school and commit his felonies there.

      You have to look at these things in terms of agenda. School officials are (probably) fully aware that they won't be able to stop child abductions, but if they can make sure they child abductions only happen at *other* schools instead of theirs, then they're fine with that - if the sh*t hits the fan, it won't be hitting their fan, at least, and none of *them* will lose their jobs or anything.

      Furthermore, e

  • Does it test for dead people? (Score:4, Funny)

    by amper ( 33785 ) * on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:13AM (#14548797) Journal
    I wonder how much testing they've done to see if you can fool the system by cutting someone's eyes out or their head off and holding it up to the camera. I suppose you would have to have iris pictures of the same person alive and dead to really test it. On a less morbid note, I wonder if you could fool it by kidnapping a parent, then taking a high resolution photo of their face. Can the system determine stress levels to see if the face it's looking at is under duress? Even easier, just force someone at gunpoint to look into the camera.

    • Re:Does it test for dead people? (Score:4, Funny)

      by hesiod ( 111176 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:20AM (#14548856)
      > I wonder how much testing they've done to see if you can fool the system by cutting someone's eyes out or their head off and holding it up to the camera.

      So you're asking if they've killed anyone to test their security system? :) I guess that depends how (and how quickly) the necessary features of an eyeball deteriorate after death. In theory, I think it would last for a little while. In practice, holding a severed head up to the scanner at an elementary school may look a bit out of place.

      Speaking of eye deterioration: I don't know much about iris scanning, but would a child's grandparent's cataracts interfere with scanning if they had to pick their grandkids up from school? I guess a better question is "should they be driving with those cataracts," but that's not the point.
      • No, what I'm asking is, "Have they even bothered to think about this before they went and spent a massive amount of my tax money (I'm a NJ resident) implementing this?"

        And the grandparent could be walking to the school, though of course, in Freehold, as in much of NJ, that's probably unlikely.

        Yes, holding a severed head up to a camera *would* be sort of out of place, but you have to ask yourself what sort of problems this system is trying to prevent. Given the demographics of the area, I'd guess the most li
        • > No, what I'm asking is, "Have they even bothered to think about this before they went and spent a massive amount of my tax money

          Assuming that it wasn't due to some "donation" from the company that makes the devices, they are simply playing to the emotions of mothers. It could be that they want to make it look like they are doing something to protect the children -- it's probably cheaper than doing something about teaching them properly.
        • School buildings are public property, and in my mind, there's a serious question as to the legality of this sort of system.

          Just because it's a government owned facility doesn't mean anybody can walk around as they please. Just try it at your local National Guard armory.

      • Oh, that's easy. The grandparents are not allowed to pick up their grandchildren from school. Only the parents.
    • I am sure no one at that grade school will notice if you hold a severed eye or photo in front of the scanning thingy. But then again this is in New Jersey.
    • Well, I imagine the person sitting at the front desk would notice someone holding a severed head or eyeballs up to the camera. This isn't something that is being used to keep the school secure without a man in the loop- it's just a method of identity verification. Now, if you could scan someone's iris (or hack into the computer and copy the stored image of their iris) and use that to make contact lenses that will pass iris verification, there might be a problem...
      • It would seem from the context of the article that the system is actually used to control the doors, as in locking or unlocking them. If it didn't, what would be the point? And even if the person at the front desk noticed the severed head (and let me tell you, in NJ the front desk is rarely staffed), could they stop the doors opening (assuming it worked) in time?
        • that's not what I gathered from the article. Most schools, especially elementary schools, restrict entry to one door, which passes by a front desk. This is where parents usually pick up/drop off kids. Schools here in Houston will scan your DL and hand you a visitor badge. Even if they could just use iris scanning and not require that person sitting at the front desk, they wouldn't do that- they have to make sure you leave ONLY with the kid(s) you're supposed to be picking up, and an iris scanner is not goin
          • Well, Houston is one thing, NJ is another.

            I should preface my comments by mentioning that I used to work for a company who provided systems integration services to NJ schools and other public agencies, and I still provide those services as a subcontractor to my former employer.

            I *personally* designed either some of or effectively *all of* the networking systems in Atlantic City, Vernon, Bridgeton, Delran, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Plainfield, Brick Township (and the Brick Township Police Department), the Mer
            • That's great for you, but that doesn't change the point- Whether we're talking about Houston or NJ, nobody runs a school where people can enter and exit the building freely, even if their identity is verified by a iris scan. Do you honestly think with this system installed you can just walk up to a scanner, hold severed head up, have it unlock a door, and then walk up to the classroom and take your kid? No- it's walk up to entry desk, greet clerk, have iris scanned/identity confirmed, "little Billy will be

    • WTF? (Score:1, Troll)

      by brunes69 ( 86786 )
      Yeah, cause a person walking up to an elementary school during an extremely busy school pickup time would not be noticed carrying a decapitated head or yanked-out eyeballs and pressing them up to the iris scanner.

      God is it just me or has the average IQ on this site actually dropped 50 points in the last two years?

      • Well, since you didn't ask, I'm a networking consultant who's done a lot of work in NJ public schools. It my *job* to think of things like this.

        Suppose it worked? The entrances to schools aren't always busy. There isn't always someone at the front desk to check in visitors. These days, the emphasis is on cost-cutting in schools. Systems like this will cause security to become even more lax, as the operators will tend to rely on the system's judgement.

    • Re:Does it test for dead people? (Score:4, Informative)

      by rtaylor ( 70602 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @12:14PM (#14549410) Homepage
      You don't need to cut off someones head to fool them. A good digital camera and printer will do the trick:

      Security Magazine Article [securitymagazine.com]: 04/10/2004

      "Many secure facilities employ iris scanners, which analyze the features that exist in the colored tissue surrounding the pupil including rings, furrows and freckles. To help prevent "fake eyes" from being used, these systems shine a light into the user's eye to monitor pupil dilation. However, they have been routinely defeated in the laboratory by several astute experimenters. To accomplish this, a high-quality digital image of an authorized person first was obtained by the experimenter, then enlarged to show the eye detail and subsequently printed out on high-quality photographic paper. Then, a small hole was cut in the photograph where the pupil was printed to expose the pupil in the experimenter's own eye. The experimenter would then place the photo up against his eye so that his pupil could be seen behind the hole. This very basic and inexpensive technique was effective in routinely fooling the iris scan readers of several manufacturers."
    • Retina scans work by scanning the back of the eyeball, something which doesn't show up in a typical photograph. There was some sort of retainal photograh used to fool the scanner in "Entrapment" but I dunno how real that was.

  • $ well spent :) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:13AM (#14548801)
    This is money well spent. Schools should spend more and more on these high-tech widgets to support the vendors and developers of such technology. Who needs books, computers, better teacher salarys. Everyone knows that the real needs are for more complex security systems and more control over the doors to our schools, especially elementary schools.
    • Well, once you've saturated the MilitaryIndustrialComplex(tm)(c)(r) market with your retinal scanning technology, what are you going to do?

      If you think about it rationally, the company selling these is quite clever for pushing the units into schools. They are capitalizing on their experience in the areas of:

      • Dealing with government bureaucracy
      • Benefitting from the creation of FUD
      • Playing the emotions of general public in such a way that they will put pressure on the government bureaucracy to purchase or
    • Exactly.
      There's no statistics quoted in TFA, and I'm not personally aware of ANY cases of abduction from within a school, so why all this idiotic spending? Most child abductions are perpetrated by family members (and there are stats on that).
      Just another example of a solution lacking a problem.

  • Iris database (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hesiod ( 111176 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:15AM (#14548813)
    And so if a parent refuses to have their privacy infringed just to pick their child up from school will the child be held indefinitely or expelled?
    • And so if a parent refuses to have their privacy infringed just to pick their child up from school will the child be held indefinitely or expelled?

      No. But we do have, shall we say, ways of persuading people. After all, we would hate to have anything happen to anyone... like an "accident", if youse know what I'm sayin'...

    • And so if a parent refuses to have their privacy infringed just to pick their child up from school will the child be held indefinitely?

      It's not a bug, it's a feature.
    • But what part of asking for identification "having their privacy infringed"?

      Go ahead and blather all the rationalizations you want, but efficacy is the main concern, and privacy is a stupid red herring.
      • Go ahead and blather all the rationalizations you want, but efficacy is the main concern, and privacy is a stupid red herring. So, I guess we can go ahead and tattoo barcodes on the little buggers' arms too, right? //Your godwinning skill has increased due to use.
        • "So, I guess we can go ahead and tattoo barcodes on the little buggers' arms too, right?"

          First of all this is the parents, not the kids, so your answer doesn't make sense.

          Second, taking a measure of something already present is a bit different from actively tattooing them.

          What a dumb attempt at an analogy, and the worst part is YOU DIDN'T EVEN ANSWER MY QUESTION.
      • > what part of asking for identification "having their privacy infringed"?

        This is NOT just "asking for identification," ID is a little plastic card with your picture on it. They are requiring intrusive "ID" to take their own child home. The parents have more right to ask for the ID of people at the school than the school does that of the parent.

        Take your same statement and apply it to "the police" asking for the ID of "random person walking down the street." Is it a privacy infringement then? Of cour
        • They are requiring intrusive "ID" to take their own child home. The parents have more right to ask for the ID of people at the school than the school does that of the parent.

          And if the parents just refuse the retinal scan and walk in and get the child anyway, are they going to arrest the parents and then the school will kidnap the child? Somehow I doubt that would go over very well with the courts... I think a system like this would only be a valid solution for the parents who approve of it as a voluntary
      • First off, privacy is not completely a red herring in this issue. It is a right, and this system potentially violates that right. That makes the privacy implications important, even if the system functions 100% in the security aspect.

        So, here is the scenario: the child is your child, and you are their legal guardian. That means, among many other things, that when you walk in, you can take that child from the school.

        You have been furnished with positive ID from the State, which proves your identity. The
      • Go ahead and blather all the rationalizations you want, but efficacy is the main concern, and privacy is a stupid red herring.

        Well, I would like to see some evidence that this program would actually be efficacious, before implementing a costly technological solution. Do child abductions happen after school, on school property? I'm sure they do. Why aren't we just checking for already-made, already-in-use, government-required identification? "Because people can forge that." How often does that happen,
    • I guess the kid could ride the school bus. Unless you have to get your iris scanned before the kid can get off the bus as well.

  • 2 words (Score:3, Interesting)

    by truthsearch ( 249536 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:18AM (#14548833) Homepage Journal
    Over... Kill...

    Ok, I have more than 2 words to say. One obvious question: is it a good idea to do everything possible to avoid the kidnapping/abuse of one child? Probably. But with that in mind let's think about the real reason such seemingly extreme precautions are being taken. I believe it's over-sized schools.

    In small neighborhoods everyone knows everyone else. In small schools every teacher recognizes every student and every parent. It's only as schools get large that adults picking up children become anonymous. Now I'm not sure making many more smaller schools is a solution. But I'd much prefer to send a child to a school where they can pay enough attention to recognize me. Then they have a natural suspicion of anyone in the area they don't recognize.
    • Is it a good idea to do everything possible to avoid the kidnapping/abuse of one child?

      No, because "blowing up the whole frigging earth" does indeed fall under the "everything possible" category and it will certainly prevent any future abductions from ever occuring.
    • While oversized (one word) schools has the issues you describe, a smaller one is not necessarily the answer to the question at hand. While an individual there may recognize the mother who picks up the child every day, they may not know the father or grandmother who rarely does but is authorized to do so.

      It also ignores the fact that teachers and administrators get sick, have subs, take leave, are terminated, and so on. Thus a potential replacement in all likelyhood would not know the parents by sight.

      Wh

  • One step away... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by faloi ( 738831 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:20AM (#14548855)
    Pretty soon the RFID implants will become mandatory, or nearly so. If we put up with fingerprinting for drivers licenses, retinal scans to get kids from school, there's only RFID left. I remember an article [canada.com] about how "liberating" it was to have an RFID chip, and how much easier it'll make our life. I figure I'll hold out as long as I can.
    • I remember an article about how "liberating" it was to have an RFID chip, and how much easier it'll make our life. I figure I'll hold out as long as I can.

      Holding out won't work. There are enough sheep that you're just delaying the day you'll get one.

      Instead, find some friends and pay for the development of a rewritable chip and then sell it at cost. I'd buy one just for the prank potential; criminals would buy one for identity theft and other antisocial reasons. Once there are enough of these on the street
    • Pretty soon the RFID implants will become mandatory, or nearly so.
      -- snip --
      I figure I'll hold out as long as I can.

      I'll hold out on this one forever.

  • The idea of using iris scanning is undoubtably cool, but is it ready for real life application?
    The system, according to the article, is four adults for each kid. Is that a great idea? Parents and one set of grandparents. What happens when the four are out and someone else needs to pick up the kid, like an aunt or uncle?
    In other ways, its a great idea; You're not going anywhere without your eyes. But the current technical limitations are bad. Also, the cost is also an issue.
    Of course, protection is nee
    • Or even better, what if it did acount for aunts and uncles? Suppose the aunt or uncle also has children attending the same school, and then someone decided not to allow them access because of an allegation of sexual abuse of a neice or nephew? Who makes the decision? How does it get made?

  • Hooray for bullshit! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by hesiod ( 111176 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:25AM (#14548910)
    Most kidnappings/molestations, etc. occur within the family/friends, so you'd probably get better protection if you only let the kids go home with strangers... No, I'm not serious, just making a point that this won't do much of anything.

    What if parents divorce and only one has custody? The school's system wouldn't know this unless it was told so by a human. Do you think it would be updated fast enough to prevent the other parent from picking up the child and abducting him/her?
    • "What if parents divorce and only one has custody?"

      Things are going to get nasty when that happens, the waiting line to pick up your kids will last for hours and the police will get called in when everyone starts to lose their temper. A lawsuit will probably ensue. So, let's see who's getting paid here:

      1. the company that made the device
      2. the school staff that must get paid overtime to manage the parental traffic jam
      3. the police who have to come in and bust heads when the parents get unruly
      4. the lawyer
    • What if parents divorce and only one has custody? The school's system wouldn't know this unless it was told so by a human. Do you think it would be updated fast enough to prevent the other parent from picking up the child and abducting him/her?

      You're missing the point. The system is for two things only:

      1) Officials now get to say they're doing something about something that worries people.
      2) Officials later will get to dodge blame by saying they spent lots of money and got the very best.

      Slashdot readers hav
  • Amazingly enough I worked on a beta for this project. The iris scanner is a simple tool. The fact is IRIS images are practically impossible to fake. The images are stored in some kind of lossless image format which makes it easily stored into any backend database. You could run the whole thing with a Windows frontend. (VB or VC are the only ones supported in the camera API as far as I know) This project has great potential and I think this will be adopted in more schools throughout the state. Its no more ex

    • I don't think that many would disagree with you in the fact that scanning irises and then recognizing that image later is "cool" and may even "work as designed". However, you're ignoring the real questions here: should we be doing this at all? What are the wider social implications to going down this brave new world?

      You blithely state that this system is a great step towards safer schools. Do you really think so? Do you even have kids? I do, I have two. It doesn't make me an authority to represent al

    • I suppose the difference is whether or not you actually wrote code or work for a PR agency. With respect to your professional ethics, I suspect that you'd be equally cheerful about and willing to tell us the benefits of pitching tobacco to schoolkids if that's where the money was today.
  • This seems to go a long way to protect children from Lifetime movie stereotypes. A quick Internet search reveals lots [childsid.com] of sites [childprote...utions.com] that indicate [williston.vt.us] a child [poynter.org] is most likely to be abducted [rochester-citynews.com] by someone they already know.

    How exactly will this system help? By providing technology that few understand, people will be tempted to lean on it and begin to ignore their instincts. If a seldom-seen uncle appears out of the blue to pick up a child a few hours early, even if they pass the scanner, it would still warrant a call

  • Schools = Prisons (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jasongetsdown ( 890117 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:39AM (#14549066)
    Y'know there was a time when people were encouraged to feel welcomed in schools. Schools are supposed to be a vital part of the community, and its getting so you can't enter your local grade school without a blood analysis and background check. Treat them like prisons and people will think of them as prisons, with all of the social malladies and baggage that come with that.

    And on another note, why is it not enough to just ask for ID and have parents sign something? Its one thing to watch the doors to keep drug dealers out, its another to ask parents to submit to retinal scans.

    • > Treat them like prisons and people will think of them as prisons

      Haven't spoken to too many teenagers recently, eh? Schools are prisons these days, and the "wardens" are oftentimes the worst people there. I'm lucky that I graduated just before my old High School went down that road.
    • Y'know there was a time when people were encouraged to feel welcomed in schools.

      I'm not really sure of this. I've been given the impression that during quite a lot of the time of modern public schools, parents were treated offhandedly and told to butt out and let the professionals do their jobs. Any welcoming schools evidenced was to serve their own needs.

      People are a lot more demanding today, but I've seen recent situations of schools treating parents offhandedly.

  • Sad Commentary (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MojoRilla ( 591502 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:49AM (#14549179)
    This is a sad commentary on what is important in the post 9/11 US.

    What terrible thing could have happened that would make a school district shell out $369,000 and hire two technicians for an eye scanner? It is not like schools don't have funding problems, with music and arts programs being cut left and right, and teacher aaleries not competitive.

    Isn't the retnal scanner overkill? Apparently not. The superintendant says, "We had a swipe-card system that operated the doors, but the technology was obsolete." What would make them think a swipe card system is obsolete? Most hotels and many businesses in the US use swipe cards for access.

    What a freaking waste.
    • What terrible thing could have happened that would make a school district shell out $369,000 and hire two technicians for an eye scanner?

      The CEO of the scanner company joined the school's board of directors. Follow the money.

  • Wrong on so many levels (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sjames ( 1099 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:53AM (#14549222) Homepage Journal

    I just can't believe how wrong this is! For one, stranger abductions are actually rather rare. A much more common case is known and trusted adults. These are people who would likely be in the database and so will have no problem.

    Now the second problem. Are they saying that the classes have gotten large and impersonal enough that the teachers have never met their students' parents before or that there are so many parents to meet that they won't remember them all? How can a school meet it's responsability to care for grade school aged children if it's so under-staffed that they don't even know who the parents are? Perhaps all that cash should be spent on reducing class size?

    Thirdly, don't their staff care enough about the kids to not deliver them into the hands of strangers? Surely if the child doesn't know the person, they'll hesitate to just go home with them. I would think that the shchool should have contact info for the parents and trusted others and would be willing to make a phone call in case of doubt?

    I suppose they'll just continue replacing adequate caring staff and a nurturing environment with m achines and databases with final arbitration power. Then they'll wonder why the kids grow up to be anti-social. These are human children, not standardized parts on an assembly line. A personal touch is called for.

    • Then they'll wonder why the kids grow up to be anti-social. These are human children, not standardized parts on an assembly line. A personal touch is called for.

      This is one reason that my wife and I homeschool our five children. Even in our small town (Pop. approx. 5,000) they have video monitoring of halways and an occaisional bomb threat. I think it is important that children feel secure and safe growing up. My children didn't when they were in public school. They do at home. (Not only that, they are le

  • Foolproof system (Score:5, Informative)

    by pilot-programmer ( 822406 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @12:02PM (#14549303)
    I guess this will make children attending the school totally safe - especially the ones standing around THE BUS STOP! From reading the article, it seems this system is only for parents who come into the school in the middle of the day. And looking at the school district website [k12.nj.us] I find so many classes at the schools that it would be impractical to have every parent picking up a kid at the end of the day to park and go inside to get their children even if they only have 15 children per classroom. I have never heard of, and searching could not find, any cases where somebody walked into a school pretending to be a parent in order to kidnap a child. Putting all of this together, it is apparent that the "security" system is primarily in place to control the parents and to restrict them from participating in the education of their children. Want to make the school safe from outsiders coming in? The schools where I live have a very low tech way of doing things - once school starts all outside doors are locked except the door to the school office. If you need or want to come to school you just come through the office, where you will be challenged if the office staff does not know you.
    • once school starts all outside doors are locked

      That place must be real fun in a fire
      • That place must be real fun in a fire The schools use an amazing door lock technology that prevents people outside from opening the doors but allows people inside to open the doors without unlocking. Since you have never heard of such a thing, may I suggest going to see a movie. When the movie is over, leave throug the exits at the front of the theater instead of walking out the back with everybody else. Once you have exited and the door shuts, try opening it again. You will be amazed to find a door so ea
    • Major fly in the ointment there with your comments. Certain cities and counties have laws in place mandating that ALL public places and businesses MUST! keep their doors unlocked during business hours. Don't get me wrong, but a school is a public place, no? Keeping doors locked like that is considered to be a major fire hazard, considering the arrogant ASSumption of the adminstration that they are relying on automated means to unlock those doors if a fire does break out is stupid to say the least. Reliabilt

  • Culture of Fear (Score:3, Informative)

    by voice_of_all_reason ( 926702 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @12:11PM (#14549390)
    From the first applicable google hit for "statistics child abductions"

    Out-of-the-home abductions occur 45-65 times annually.

    So, assuming this program is completely successful, and every child abduction in New Jersey occurs in that one school every year. You've saved just over one child.

    Heck, for 120 grand you could probably just buy off all the sex offenders and save them all.
  • It could be worse. You could have just voted a new tax levy in your district last fall only to have it spent on this...

  • Always with the magnets (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gulthek ( 12570 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @12:51PM (#14549811) Homepage Journal
    Principle Skinner: Just think--with that lottery money, we could buy history books that know how the Korean War came out, math books without that base-6 crap, and a state-of-the-art detention hall where the children are held in place with magnets.

    Teacher: Magnets. Always with the magnets.
  • Why would a potenital kidnaper (which by the way is usually someone the child knows) want to take the child from inside the school, when they can kidnap them in front of the school before boarding the bus????
  • Most drug dealers do not even dream of that business.

    A grade school makes it real by spending that amount of money
    for the illusion of security.
  • Next news item:

    One-eyed Parents Found Wandering Aimlessly Outside New Jersey School
    Kidnapper arrested with bag full of eyeballs

  • This is not about keeping kids safe. This is just another emotional appeal to make people jump in the desired direction of tighter social control. --We keep seeing these annoying, albeit effective tactics. "Ooooh, terrorists! Ooooh, shootings. Ooooh, anthrax. Oooh, pedophiles." Just pick a sore spot, press, and you can sell pretty much whatever you want by hitching your cart to the stampeding herd of frightened people. The government is good at this and they have been using the technique for ages to
  • Just think of the increase in cases of pink eye, not to mention other eye infections.

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