An unprecedented level of control and invasion of privacy
Sent to the Baltimore Sun, June 14.
Is there no limit to what people will tolerate in the name of “educational reform (“Biosensors to monitor students’ attentiveness,” June 12)?
Making children wear “biosensor bracelets” to see if they are paying attention in school is an outrage, an unprecedented level of control and invasion of privacy. It is hard to believe that the report on this Gates-supported project is not satire.
The issue is not whether wearing biosensor bracelets works or not. It is simply wrong.
Stephen Krashen
original article: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-rt-us-usa-education-gatesbre85c018-20120612,0,3007501.story
Posted on the Baltimore Sun website:
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: “Ravitch blogged about the biosensor bracelets a few days ago after a critic of the Gates Foundation flagged the grants on Twitter.”
The “critic” who broke the story about the biosensor bracelets to the education community is not just a critic of the Gates Foundation. She is Susan Ohanian, and her post appeared on her website, susanohanian.org. Ohanian has been the voice of teachers in the US for decades, with penetrating discussion of No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, the Common Core, Accelerated Reader and number of other issues. Her website won the NCTE Orwell award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. Her books include Why is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools (with K. Emery) and What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten?
Referring to Ohanian merely as a nameless Gates critic is like referring to Tiger Woods as a professional golfer without mentioning his name.
But they will need the bracelets to determine which students to administer the electric-attention shocks to.
Ah, you’re absolutely right. And, we can implement micro accountability measures based on real time student engagement. Fantastic.
You don’t seem to understand how this Scientific approach to education is supposed to work. We will need the bracelets so we can determine which of the children need to receive the electric shock to awaken their interest in the subject.