05-12-2003, 04:00 AM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
|
|
Text Messages Target Truants
Ooh... I love technology. I was always the kid that was on time at school, and it always annoyed me when others would waltz in during 2nd or 3rd period. Looks like this might not last much longer.
"The favourite pastime of teenager mobile phone-holders is being used to take the temptation out of playing truant. Two schools in Dublin are testing a scheme that will inform parents about absent pupils - through a text alert. From the start of the school year in September, all students who skip lessons at Portmarnock Community School or Manor House in the Irish capital's Raheny suburb will appear on a computerised database of absentees who qualify for an automatic standardised text message."
There are some scary implications, though. If there are eventually locator services on wireless devices, does it mean that the school will be able to track down where the kid is hanging out?
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 05:10 AM
|
|
Theorist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 275
|
|
Re: Text Messages Target Truants
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
There are some scary implications, though. If there are eventually locator services on wireless devices, does it mean that the school will be able to track down were the kid is hanging out?
|
Bad news for teenagers, good news for parents! I don't know why in the world anyone would hate that idea. Well, maybe if you're the the teenager who skips class alot and you're one of those who owns stablishment where they usually hangs out.
__________________
John Cruz
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 05:21 AM
|
|
Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,162
|
|
Re: Text Messages Target Truants
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by johncruise
Bad news for teenagers, good news for parents! I don't know why in the world anyone would hate that idea. Well, maybe if you're the the teenager who skips class alot and you're one of those who owns stablishment where they usually hangs out.
|
For parents, yeah it's good.
The question is the security of who can track it. I can imagine this would be a dream for stalkers everywhere too.
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 05:55 AM
|
|
Philosopher
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 544
|
|
AT&T offers a tracking service today. School sends message to parent via text message. Parent activates feature on their cell phone to find location of truant teen. Don't see any harm in this.
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 10:34 AM
|
|
Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 178
|
|
If I was smart and wanted to skip school I would make the nerdy kid carry my cell phone into class so when they try and track me it looks like I am in class. Then I am free to hang out in Mcdonalds and have a McFlurry.
This technology reminds me of the big red round location device Arnie had in his nose in Total Recall. It is great until you pull it out and put it inside a rat.
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 01:08 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 100
|
|
"oi u littl sh*t. get bck to skool nw"
__________________
David HornPocketGamer.org - For Gamers on the Go...Pocket PC games news (latest releases), reviews (newest), downloads, discussion, giveaways & special offers, and plenty more besides!
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 01:27 PM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
|
|
I'm not sure that this system is actually used to detect the truancy, but it sends the notification to the parents via text message, right? In the U.S. I know that schools are requiring students to turn their phones off, so locating student wouldn't work anyway.
For many years, though, similar systems have been available for automatically notifying people via telephone; I automatically get a call whenever one of my kids stays home sick. Will this text thing take the place of that?
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 01:34 PM
|
|
Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 209
|
|
Great idea, just taken too far too fast.
First, you have to teach the parents how to retreive the text message....
Honestly, it would be fairly simple to start with an E-Mail. If the school systems were to put something in place like the Exchange Mobile Information Server, they could E-Mail, etc. Give the parents the option. When the kid gets registered at school, the parents (the ones that care) log into a website and enter their relavant contact info and preferences. Then when little Billy is late to school, or to class, or skips, the parents get a message and can use the information to PARENT.
Provide the initial info first. That would be fairly easy to implement and would likley be accepted, even encouraged, by the populous. Once that is in place and working, then you move to lojacking your kids.
I really do think this is an excellent idea, up to the lojacking part. 
__________________
And there you are.
I was just thinking, "What could take this headache I have over that edge to a full blown migrane?"
And there you are.
- Dr. Cox, Scrubs
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 02:16 PM
|
|
Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 69
|
|
Pie in the Sky
Omigosh, a good idea based on a very flawed assumption. That assumption being the parents of the truant malcontents CARE that their kid is truant. I've seen it over and over and over, parents are notified and their reaction is "What can I do? I can't control him/her anymore"....or some other excuse for not asserting their parental authority. Of course, there's the additional assumption on how many parents actually have cell phones or other similar instant message enable devices. You'd be surprise how many people have not jumped on the bandwagon even in this day.
|
| |
|
|
|
05-12-2003, 05:05 PM
|
|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
|
|
Re: Pie in the Sky
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by RobertCF
Omigosh, a good idea based on a very flawed assumption. That assumption being the parents of the truant malcontents CARE that their kid is truant. I've seen it over and over and over, parents are notified and their reaction is "What can I do? I can't control him/her anymore"....or some other excuse for not asserting their parental authority.
|
This is very true, and is a major social problem (at least, in my opinion). But at least this might help in the "oh, let's skip first period" kids. I knew a bunch that would get grounded by their parents for that.
--janak
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
