
Parents Are Forcing Tech Companies That Monitor Schoolkids to Delete the Data - seapunk
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/dec/05/schools-monitor-students-online-activity
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nesky
Why do we as adults presume a child of say 6 or 7 years of age understands the
context or ramifications of searching taboo terms on the Internet and
subsequently put said child in trouble for being curious?

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deogeo
> Like thousands of American public school districts, Montgomery county gives
> students laptops and has hired tech companies to track students’ activities
> on those computers

This is one of the rare occasions where I am sympathetic to libertarians - the
state takes money in the form of taxes, and returns it in the form of spyware-
infected laptops. If parents could keep that money, they could buy laptops
that would not betray them.

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brutal_chaos_
I have to kindly disagree for these reasons:

Cost: Not every parent can afford a laptop for their child, let alone
children. When a state, county, or city (not sure where the taxes do come
from) covers the cost, the many help the few and the cost burden is lower.
Yes, some end up paying for what they don't use. (In theory this is where the
balance of social programs come in).

Technical: Not every kid would end up with what they need for class. Example:
Last year my perfectly good Ubuntu Laptop from Dell worked great, now my kid
must use Windows because <insert proprietary software that doesn't work via
wine>. Oh and the class requirements changed for the next years after one was
already purchased so no planning ahead possible.

Hand-wavy Solution?: However, perhaps the People should push for anti-spying-
on-kids legislation for those that already have laptops and
states/counties/towns that are headed towards new laptops should have that
type of legislation before the kids even get them. (IMHO this is where ideas
akin to 'it takes a village to raise a child' can shine through.)

~~~
deogeo
I'd be willing to accept school-issued laptops, _if_ any monitoring software
is loudly announced, and the parents can modify/install/remove software as
they wish. I.e. with the exception of needing to return them, it's _their_
laptop - no "it's okay if they spy on you because they're not really yours"
justifications.

