I came accross this on one of my numerous update lists.
JAPANESE SCHOOLCHILDREN TO BE RFID-CHIPPED
Japanese authorities have decided that tracking children
with RFID technology is the best way to protect kids. School
authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka have decided the
benefits of using RFID chips on kids outweigh the
disadvantages and will now be chipping children in one
primary school.
http://networks.silicon.com/lans/0,39024663,39122042,00.htm
Now I confess there are times I’ve wanted to have one of these on my kid, as well as a nifty switch that would let me know when he is being a bad boy, a way to download information into him or me so we don’t have to study, oh yeah, and my values too, because while I theoretically want him to make his own decisions, in my heaart of hearts I regard myself as the pinnacle of rational thought and moral fortitude.
WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY I SHOULD NEVER EVER HAVE ACCESS TO THIS STUFF. The temptation to use this sort of technology is very very strong and once you start walking that road, the rationalizations become easier and easier.
In 1985, Lois McMaster Bujold published her first short story: Barter. It was a wishfulfillment story in which a harried mother of three with a lazy husband barters with an alien for a device that will stop time around her children and motivate her husband to productivity. While meant as humor, I found it one of the more frightening tales I’ve ever read. Because while a person would start out using them only occassionaly, it becomes very easy to rationalize every subsequent usage as needed or desirable or not so bad or deserved.
Thats why these things scare me.
Stay tuned . . . .