Do School Id Cards Breach Our Kids Privacy?

Just speak to any teacher and they tell you a host of issues confronting our schools today. Certainly radio-enabled school  ID Cards (RFID Cards), can help with some of these, such as truancy and secure access to school assets such as libraries, swimming pools etc, parents can even transmit money on to their kids cards for school lunches and excursions etc. These benefits have been tested, a trial in 2010 in the US city of Houston, found conclusively that the technology improved student attendance.

Despite the said efficiencies that id cards can bring, some parents have bulked at the suggestion of having ID Cards in schools, raising lack of privacy to be an issue. The technology also allows school authorities to track the students were about whilst at school, which was the sticking point for this group of parents.

However the benefits and efficiencies are undeniable. With about ten percent of education facilities in Australia being RFID enabled, we are wondering should all Australian schools have this technology.

What do you think, should we have id cards in our schools? Enter your feedback in the comments box below.