The Toughest Job

Fingerprinting In Schools - Practical Considerations.

Last week my eldest daughter came home with a letter stating that her school was intending to introduce a biometric system (fingerprint scanner) to replace the existing swipe cards in their cashless catering system. Now, the advances that have been made in technology recently are really quite astounding, some of them scarily so, but I do question whether the use of such technology in schools is necessary.

Apparently the introduction of the biometric system will give the school "a more modern, streamlined and efficient service and make the catering experience an even better one for everyone using it.". Personally, I don't see how introducing a finger print scanner can better the catering experience. It can't improve the quality of the food, it won't ensure that my child will eat healthily, nor can it reduce the cooking times or do the washing up for the catering staff. The letter states that it "will solve the problems of lost, forgotten or damaged cards which can cause a lot of inconvenience, including longer queueing times". To me, reducing inconvenience seems a bizarre reason to justify fingerprinting every child in the school, especially as there will also be inconveniences with a biometric system. Okay, I agree that children are not likely to lose or forget their fingers, but they are prone to damage them! A finger print scanner is not going to work on a child with a bandaged hand. Also, according to Mitch Johns (President and Founder of Food Service Solutions) when a child has a growth spurt, this can distort their fingerprints to an extent where the scanners do not recognise the finger being scanned! There will also be instances when the glass plate, that the children are expected to put their thumb on, becomes dirty or scratched. This renders the scanner inoperable until the glass plate is cleaned or replaced.

Another consideration is the matter of hygiene. The pupils are expected to scan their finger print before they may take and eat their food. I think it is a certainty that the children will not be supervised to ensure that they all wash their hands thoroughly before touching the scanner. How many children will end up sick with stomach bugs because some lad in Year 7 didn't bother washing his hands after using the urinal?

These are just practical considerations. When you then consider the sensitivity of the data of held, the questionable act of fingerprinting children in the first place, data security issues and the government's commitment to widespread data sharing, the whole practise takes on a much more sinister overtone.