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October 27 2010
Kid Spyware Brings Helicopter Parenting to a Whole New Level
For those hyper parents who must know exactly what their kindergartner is doing at every moment–including how she’s interacting with her peers, and how that will ultimately affect her chances of being accepted to an Ivy League school–here’s a nifty bit of technology. Researchers in Japan are testing out a device for kids to wear that gives parents the ability to see everything that passes before their kid’s eyes.
The technology builds on existing devices that can track the location of a child, but this gadget also monitors what the child is seeing, and even their pulse. If a child’s heart rate is faster than usual, it snaps a photo of their point-of-view and alerts parents via email…. A password-protected website allows parents to access an activity log and photos taken during the day.
Seung-Hee Lee of the University of Tsukuba, who led the team that built the device, says it could help parents find out about bullying or could be used to track down a missing child, but we can think of lots of other handy uses. Parents can find out if their kid’s eyes waver from the blackboard, and punish them accordingly. They can find out who their kid has a raging crush on by keeping a close watch on that heart rate.
The gadget is currently being tested on 10 children aged 2 to 6, and further trials are planned for slightly older school children. The device’s makers also hope to add a microphone and software that will store the child’s conversations. As for privacy concerns, Lee scoffs at them. She’s a mother, she told New Scientist, and she’d choose safety over privacy for her child any day.
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October 19 2010
Ontario Parents Try to Protect School Kids From Dangerous WiFi Rays
A small town in Ontario has come down with a bad case of technophobia. The majority (88 percent) of an Ontario school’s parent group (which has 210 members) voted that they want the wireless Internet at their children’s school shut off, the group said in a press release:
“After learning the whole story about how risky WiFi is, parents voted to protect their children’s health and plug the computers back in with hardwires,” said Andrew Couper, a member of the elected School Council…. “This is something every school council across Canada should be questioning.”
After the wireless was installed, the parents of Meaford, Ontario say their children began complaining about symptoms ranging from headaches to nausea, which the children said struck while they were at school. In my day we called this illness “school-sucks-itis”. Well played, kids.
While the parent’s informal poll has made the news, the real decision lies with the Bluewater District school board. Couper said that the school trustee told him the decision process could take years, but the parents can present their views at the school board meeting next month. The board spokesperson didn’t express any opinion about the parent’s vote.
The Medford, Ontario school is only the latest in a string of schools who have considered banning wireless internet, said CBC News:
Health Canada issued an advisory in August, when the issue initially surfaced, stating that wireless internet is not harmful to anyone’s health. “Health Canada continues to reassure Canadians that the radiofrequency energy emitted from Wi-Fi equipment is extremely low and is not associated with any health problems,” the statement said. “Based on scientific evidence, Health Canada has determined that exposure to low-level radiofrequency energy, such as that from Wi-Fi equipment, is not dangerous to the public.”
If only Ferris Bueller’s school had WiFi, it could have saved him a lot of the trouble he went through (clammy hands, etc.) in order to ditch.
Related content:
Discoblog: Worst Science Article of the Week: Use a Cell Phone, Damage Your Baby
Discoblog: Pregnant Women Need Fear No Cell Phone Radiation: Belly Armor Is Here!
Discoblog: Death by Wifi? Wireless Medication Implant Could Get Hacked
80beats: Super Wi-Fi: Coming Soon to Airwaves Near You
80beats: Cancer Doctor Issues a Warning About Cell Phones, and Causes Panic
Image: Flickr/whiteafrican
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