Big brother is everywhere now…
The article makes no mention of FERPA. I’m not sure the phone tracking violates FERPA since it’s optional to even have a phone. But students without phones will be fitted with wrisremovedches, apparently by force, which I suspect violates FERPA. What will happen? I think nothing, because schools already violate FERPA with reckless disregard and when it’s reported to the US Dept. of Education, the DoE does not act. The DoE is required to cut off federal funding when FERPA is violated, but no one forces the US DoE to enforce FERPA, which renders FERPA useless.
If I were a student, I’d be tempted to carry 2 phones. The tracked phone would sit in a locker all day and the carried phone would be in airplane mode (only to be used for apps and outbound calls). I wonder how many students would be smart enough to carry a 1980’s pager for inbound calls.
Making those comparisons of schools and prisons less far-fetched every day.