Kyle
If the headline sounds like something out of a strange sci-fi movie, well it’s not. This is actually a true story out of Brazil. Grade school students in a northeastern Brazilian city have new uniforms. Those uniforms may look like typical school uniforms but they are not.
Twenty thousand students in a northeastern Brazilian school system are wearing uniform t-shirt embedded with microchips. All 20,000 students attend one of 25 schools in the Victoria da Conquista’s public school system. There are 213 schools in the system and when it’s all said and done 43,000 students aged 4 to 14 will be wearing the chip embedded t-shirts.
The entire program, which cost the school system over $670,000 to implement, is aimed at targeting tardiness and truancy. The chip notifies the parent of the child by text message when their student has entered the school. It also lets them no if the student hasn’t entered the school after 20 minutes with a text message that says “Your child has still not arrived at school”.
More after the break
“We noticed that many parents would bring their children to school but would not see if they actually entered the building because they always left in a hurry to get to work on time,” Moraes said in a telephone interview with website newser.com. “They would always be surprised when told of the number times their children skipped class.
There was no word on whether or not the chip can notify the parent if the student leaves school grounds outside of the allotted time or if there are any other functions of the chip. The chip is embedded under the schools coat of arms on the breast of the t-shirt. They can also be embedded under a stitched slogan on the shirt. Secretary Coriolano Moraes says the chips are virtually tamper proof.
The T-shirts are machine safe and can be ironed as well. This Brazilian school district is the first to implement any technology like this.
source: Newser.com
