General Chat

On the northern news a school has an excellent scheme whereby each child has a credit for school dinners. No carrying of money, thefts etc. They place their finger on a button and their picture is flashed on screen to the dinner lady and their account debited. The article ended 'there are many more uses for this finger technology'. Brilliant scheme but the rider sounded slightly worrying, from a big brother point of view. happy days

Lots of schools use thumb-printing as a way of issuing library books. At least the children always have their thumbs, whereas with library cards they could lose them. Don't worry. Big brother probably knows more about you already than you do yourself. nell

At my Brother's school they sign the register by scanning their thumbs.

My brothers school has has dinner cards for 2 years. Each card has the child's name on and is swiped through the till. A picture pops up on screen and the dinner lady confirms that it is the same child. To top the card up you have to either take a cheque to the school office or top up on a machine - thay introduced it to remove the stigma of dinner ticket for children on free meals.

My Big Brother is about 4 miles away...

I can see the pitfalls but there advantages to a system like this. It could for example reduce bullying - bullies often target other kids to steal their dinner money but they can't steal a finger print. Some schools have a card-based system whereby they swipe a credit style card when a child buys lunch, recording what the child has had and the price. I have even heard of a school using this technology to reward kids whose swipe cards show they have chosen lots of healthy items in that term and reporting to parents what things the child is eating at school. I'm in two minds about this from a personal perspective but with my work hat on its a good way to encourage kids to make healthy choices. Angela

Thanks folks. not heard of them before' The two things mentioned were two of the things ' they could be used for in the future' angela - that was one of the big brother things i didn,t like ' the information could be used to see what each child was eating' happy days

Hi Harry, I think 'big brother' is here for good and all. I am not sure if it is a good or bad thing! It can help to stop crime, and with CCT it can help solve crime, which are for the good of all. On the other hand we have no private life all our financial details, our illnesses, even our e-mails are no longer sacrosanct. I think the price is too high but it is far too late to do anything about it. Beryl x

Beryl/ anna, Many thanks for your interest. Happy days

Harry, I agree I'm not fully comfortable with that either - I know I would have hated it as a kid and seen it as interference in my private life. On the other had, from my work experience of trying to figure out how we make sure that kids today have a fair chance at life and don't die younger than their parents, I know that there aren't any simple answers to the problem of poor diet and obesity. At least if parents know that their kids are eating loads of chips at school they have chance to choose to provide other things at home if they wish and limit the junk food. I suspect that lots of kids are not mentioning to parents they've had them at school, and are then being given them at home too. Or else I could just be cynical and think that parents don't care either way so long as the kids aren't complaining and keep off their backs. As I said there are no easy answers. But personally I'd rather my kids get cross with me now for feeding them healthy stuff and not letting them eat junk than that they resent me later for setting them on the path to obesity or to develop diabetes/heart problems. Getting kids to understand and choose to eat healthily in the face of all the junkfood advertising/peer pressure is not an easy option. But we owe it to our kids to do our best. . Angela

The trouble is that while schools continue to serve chips, fatty pies, crisps etc at school dinners, children will eat them. Given the choice between a healthy salad and a plate of chips I'd go for the chips every time! nell

Nell I agree. And I know the Govt is trying to do something about that. But the reason that the school meals people have got away with it to date is that is where the money is cos that is what the kids are demanding. The kids are growing up being taught by example from parents, and commercial interests, that chips are normal, cool and desirable. Its very hard - lots of things have to change if we are going to make a difference to kids' life expectancies. Changing one thing, like what's available at school meals, is not going to make life better for the kids in itself. If they suddenly get told there are no chips in school they'll go to the local chippy or fast food outlet and get them there. They have to know and appreciate that chips are not good every day, and appreciate the taste of good healthy food. That's where the parents have the greatest influence. Healthy family meals at home from weaning are the best way to get kids on the right track. They're made very much harder by all the outside influences, but it is still possible - and necessary - for the parents to steer their children towards healthy lifestyles. And I'm not saying that with my work hat on but my mum hat. The reason I got into working in Govt on healthy diet/nutrition is because I am so passionate about it for my kids.And no, I'm not a paragon of virtue or a Gillian McLeith in myself if anyone's wondering - I'm a bit overweight, can't resist chocolate if its offered, and find it an effort to do what's right just like anyone else especially as junk food is quicker than proper meals to cook after a day at work. And my kids ask for crisps and sweets just like anyone else's. I don't ban any foods at home, I just try to keep a healthy balance. Angela

Very strong arguments. you may be right. Unfortunately I am more detached. My basic objection is that there is too much interference in our lives these days. I don,t claim to be right, indeed in this case I may be terribly wrong. Happy days