After my two blogs about the agenda of microchipping and tracking children were published the Times of Malta decides to scribble some lines about the topic.
In its October 22nd article entitled “The rising trend of child tracking”[1] TOM blames parents because they are increasingly using child-tracking apps to monitor their children as they travel home from school prompting complaints that the devices are also being used to disrupt the class.
According to Nicky Azzopardi head of early years at San Anton School the use of trackers has increased. While some are simply emergency call devices others are smartphones or watches that are only permitted in school as after-school trackers.
According to Graham Sansone of the Union of Professional Educators and Marco Bonnici of the Malta Union of Teachers there has been an increase in teachers reporting abuse of tracking devices particularly smartphones. According to Sansone because these devices have recording capabilities there have been instances of children filming in class. “The system is allowing for this abuse to happen ” he said.
Members have been bringing the issue to the attention of their employers for some time according to Bonnici because they are under pressure.
“Being dependent on a device at such a young age or else being looped to parents and guardians through the device all day is unthinkable ” he said. Children are unfortunately being zombified by technological devices. The criticism should be more directed toward technology as a whole. And yet Bonnici is not criticising the tracking system in itself but the devices.
“The school is acting in loco parentis by taking care of students during the day so the level of trust in the school needs to be upheld as well without the need of tracking systems.” Schools have been turned into day child-care centres and baby-sitters.
Yet parents have a right to see that nothing happens to their children. So why are they being negated so? If such devices as claimed are causing disruptions during schooling hours then San Anton School or any school should come up together with the unions with a specific policy to regulate such devices.
As far as I know way back when I was a teacher that is 2020 I very rarely came across students who wore such devices. Citing San Anton School as an example is only one school that represents a certain kind of social strata.
However parents argue that the issue is not one of mistrusting teachers during the school day but rather of keeping track of their children after they leave the classroom for the day. Parents who have chosen to send their children home in free school vans say the devices help them track their children on their way home.
And then TOM puts down a paragraph that says:
“A child-tracking devicethat parents were promised when the government launched the free school transport has not materialized resulting in parents searching for their own solutions.”
And a spokesperson from a Go-launched smartwatch tracker app said that the demand is increasing. So the media is marketing this app so to make sure that more parents go for it and have the demand increase so that the government then has a reason for coming up with its tracking system. And who will be blamed? The parents!
It seems that the government is slowly gearing up to start tracking the children. Can the government specify if this is still in hindsight? Since this government child-tracking device has not materialised yet is the government thinking of using the microchip instead? Or have all the plans been dropped?
So according to TOM and the unions it is fine for the government to track the children but it is not fine for parents to do so. What right does the government have that parents don’t?
Parents should not allow and accept any of this sort from the government.
So far this is voluntary. What if it is subtly introduced in all schools with all children and their parents as part of another strategic campaign so to “keep your children safe”?
The system is abusive in itself so these unions must start by trying to bring forth a radical change in the roots of the same system.
[1]https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/rising-trend-child-tracking.988469
Times of Malta responds to my blogs about the tracking and microchipping of children by blaming parents while outlining the plan of the government to track children.
After my two blogs about the agenda of microchipping and tracking children were published the Times of Malta decides to scribble some lines about the topic.
In its October 22nd article entitled “The rising trend of child tracking”[1] TOM blames parents because they are increasingly using child-tracking apps to monitor their children as they travel home from school prompting complaints that the devices are also being used to disrupt the class.
According to Nicky Azzopardi head of early years at San Anton School the use of trackers has increased. While some are simply emergency call devices others are smartphones or watches that are only permitted in school as after-school trackers.
According to Graham Sansone of the Union of Professional Educators and Marco Bonnici of the Malta Union of Teachers there has been an increase in teachers reporting abuse of tracking devices particularly smartphones. According to Sansone because these devices have recording capabilities there have been instances of children filming in class. “The system is allowing for this abuse to happen ” he said.
Members have been bringing the issue to the attention of their employers for some time according to Bonnici because they are under pressure.
“Being dependent on a device at such a young age or else being looped to parents and guardians through the device all day is unthinkable ” he said. Children are unfortunately being zombified by technological devices. The criticism should be more directed toward technology as a whole. And yet Bonnici is not criticising the tracking system in itself but the devices.
“The school is acting in loco parentis by taking care of students during the day so the level of trust in the school needs to be upheld as well without the need of tracking systems.” Schools have been turned into day child-care centres and baby-sitters.
Yet parents have a right to see that nothing happens to their children. So why are they being negated so? If such devices as claimed are causing disruptions during schooling hours then San Anton School or any school should come up together with the unions with a specific policy to regulate such devices.
As far as I know way back when I was a teacher that is 2020 I very rarely came across students who wore such devices. Citing San Anton School as an example is only one school that represents a certain kind of social strata.
However parents argue that the issue is not one of mistrusting teachers during the school day but rather of keeping track of their children after they leave the classroom for the day. Parents who have chosen to send their children home in free school vans say the devices help them track their children on their way home.
And then TOM puts down a paragraph that says:
“A child-tracking devicethat parents were promised when the government launched the free school transport has not materialized resulting in parents searching for their own solutions.”
And a spokesperson from a Go-launched smartwatch tracker app said that the demand is increasing. So the media is marketing this app so to make sure that more parents go for it and have the demand increase so that the government then has a reason for coming up with its tracking system. And who will be blamed? The parents!
It seems that the government is slowly gearing up to start tracking the children. Can the government specify if this is still in hindsight? Since this government child-tracking device has not materialised yet is the government thinking of using the microchip instead? Or have all the plans been dropped?
So according to TOM and the unions it is fine for the government to track the children but it is not fine for parents to do so. What right does the government have that parents don’t?
Parents should not allow and accept any of this sort from the government.
So far this is voluntary. What if it is subtly introduced in all schools with all children and their parents as part of another strategic campaign so to “keep your children safe”?
The system is abusive in itself so these unions must start by trying to bring forth a radical change in the roots of the same system.
[1]https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/rising-trend-child-tracking.988469