Students wearing pedometers is an invasion of privacy?
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That blurb of an article didn't provide enough information. I am not inherently paranoid so I couldn't answer whether or not it was indeed an invasion of privacy. (I don't automatically believe that the government tracking data is automatically an invasion of privacy) So I tried to find out more. I found an article with more information and the commens section with some participating parents commenting.
ARTICLE
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/195899/1/Tipline-Are-Pedometers-in-School-a-Good-Idea
COMMENTS
http://www.wgrz.com/comments/195899/1/Tipline-Are-Pedometers-in-School-a-Good-Idea
I was going to look up the official websites of the participating schools, but got bored with the research.
My opinion: if the parents gave permission, I don't care. From what I read, it seems that no personal data is tracked and reported to the government. It appears that the government is giving a grant in exchange for research data. It aso appears that the pedometer does not have to be worn all the time. in some cases only pre and post data is being collected. Whether or not it s mandatory or is required for a grade is up to the school. In that case those parents cn take that up with the school. However, I don't have problem with that. It's part of the curriculum and is a homework assignment.
Honestly we give up way more info to social media sites like this one and with our Internet searches. I suspect the cellphones those kds carry provide way more information to the government, should they desire, than these pedometers will. The ony way any of ths is an invasion of privacy is if information other than what was agreed upon is being gathered and if any of this is being done without knowledge.
Just my thoughts...0 -
This is from the article...The school districts that are using the pedometers hope the program teaches students the difference between exercise and staying inside.
Really?? Kids don't know the difference now? What a joke. This is just a big waste of tax payer dollars.
Just for the fun of it I decided to check out the school menu of one of the participating school districts. If anyone wants to know why there is a childhood obesity epidemic look no further then there. Maybe this study is to figure out how much activity is needed if you eat the majority of your daily calories at lunch?
http://www.ntschools.org/cms/lib/NY19000908/Centricity/Domain/31/january elementary menu.pdf0 -
I don't know, their sides seem pretty healthy and if the main portion is appropriate serving size, it may not be so bad. Well that is assuming they only get one main item. Looks way better than when I went to school. But I will agree, school lunches definitely aren't known for health benefits.
By the way, found this regarding the districts health and wellness policy. Looks like they are trying to improve. Scroll to the end, they have tables on criteria.
http://www.buffaloschools.org/files/news/policy 7515 - district wellness policy.pdf0 -
Last I checked, medical ethics says that parents need to consent to having their child experimented on.
I can't quite see how participating in research that soleley requires the wearing of an external device that measures movement and need not even touch the skin qualifies as "being experimented on"... There's nothing invasive, no risk of any predictable harm (choking, maybe, if a child puts the pedometer in their mouth?!). I don't think medical ethics applies here. Maybe data protection and/or privacy at a push - though I'd imagine the data provided to the body doing the research is not linked to any child's name. They'd be looking at averages and patterns in the population as a whole, not whether little Timmy walks further than little Jamie on a Thursday.0 -
Pay more attention to the world. Standardized tests are a very hot topic.
I rarely hear about people complain about the tests...Maybe its the area I grew up in. Everyone is so "must do well, must do well, must do well..."0 -
My MIL is a teacher and a few of my friends are teachers at various grades and they ALL hate standerized testing.... the only ones that don't are the ones that don't have to teach grades required to take it... I was talking to one of my MIL friends (also a teacher) and I was telling her that if I were to teach (I contemplated it once) I would teach jr high/high school math (love it!) and she told me emphatically NO! because the standardized testing and the pressures it puts on teachers and students is horrible.
But back to the topic... as long as what is sent to the government isn't attached to identities or kids aren't punished for not walking more....0 -
Maybe the parents don't want to know how much of nothing their kids are doing.0
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Or maybe the parents are upset that their children are enrolled in a government study, and will be penalized if they refuse to participate.0
