Scots schoolchildren to be fingerprinted in controversial

[buckthesystem]

Again, if the parents of any of these kids have any sense at all they will refuse point blank to let their kids be fingerprinted. What are the schools going to do then? One teacher holds the screaming child while another forces the kid's thumb onto the "scanner"? This surely leaves school staff open to all sorts of allegations, and they are not even the police, so imagine the resulting court cases ....... Hmmn, the mind boggles.

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http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-...78057-20690929/

Scots schoolchildren to be fingerprinted in controversial ID scheme

Aug 10 2008 By Raymond Hainey

MORE than 8000 pupils are to have their fingerprints taken so they can be tracked by teachers.

Controversial biometric fingerprinting will be introduced to eight secondary schools in the biggest experiment of its type in Scotland.

But parents yesterday attacked the scheme, saying there are few controls over who can access the fingerprint database.

Officials behind the scheme say schools can use electronically collected thumb prints to monitor attendance, the buying of school meals and borrowing of library books.

But Scottish Parent Teacher Council spokeswoman Judith Gillespie said: "I have concerns about it and it does raise the spectre of Big Brother.

"We need a new, independent mechanism to look at the use of biometric data. We recognise people's concerns that we are setting up some kind of secret record of fingerprinting."

The scheme is to be introduced in all eight secondary schools across East Dunbartonshire, where the council have already piloted it in Boclair Academy in Bearsden and Lenzie Academy.

They have announced plans to use it in the new public/private partnership Bearsden Academy, near Glasgow, when it opens next year.

But the Sunday Mail can reveal five other secondaries - Bishopbriggs Academy, Douglas Academy in Milngavie, Kirkintilloch High and Bishopbriggs schools St Ninian's High and Turnbull High - will also get the scheme.

A total of 8300 pupils will be involved. The council said: "We will be introducing this in all our secondary schools.

"Earlier this year, the system was introduced in Lenzie Academy and Boclair Academy and has been a success and positively received."

Biometric fingerprinting works by scanning the thumb with infrared light, which is absorbed by the veins in the thumb.

The information is used to create a unique code, which is stored in a database.

Scanners recognise each individual code and can identify the child from a thumb impression on a scanner.

The council have claimed one of the benefits of the scheme would be to end the stigma of free school meals by making it impossible to identify recipients.

The council added: "The number which is created after scanning cannot be re-interpreted into a fingerprint image. Pupils will also have the opportunity to opt out."

She refused to say how much the new system would cost to implement but similar systems already installed in schools in England cost up to s20,000 per school.

Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: "Biometric schemes are expensive, unreliable and utterly inappropriate for a school setting."

But Lenzie Academy parent David Steedman, who has two children at the school, said: "As a parent, I don't have any concerns about it. You have to have an element of trust in society."

[Guest]

[Bubba4J]

[Treasure]

If I remember correctly Bucks, you had this same issue with finger printing the Roma children. I said then and I'll say now, my children have both been finger printed for their own protection. Should they be abducted, their finger prints are in a registry that will give law enforcement a better chance of finding them.