GPS (Girth Prevention System)

Schools in Long Island, NY will soon be tracking some students’ physical activities in a very careful and literal way; according to EducationNews.org, “the athletics chair for Bay Shore schools will hand out 10 Polar Active monitors to selected overweight students. The $90 wristwatch-like devices count heartbeats, detect motion and even track students’ sleeping habits in a bid to combat obesity.” Yes, that means 24/7 tracking.

This plot is so over-the-line invasive that even the ultra liberal ACLU objects to it. The tracking-device scheme goes even further than the elementary school in San Antonio, TX that installed high-tech cameras in its lunchroom last year as part of a $2 million project (and you wonder where all your tax money goes).

Meanwhile, a new academic study has found no connection between middle-school students’ weight and the availability of soda and “junk food” at their schools. The interesting thing about the Pennsylvania State University study is not its findings but the fact that its authors waited two years to publish it because they thought it would be “controversial.” These findings are common sense to ordinary people. They are only controversial to the kind of people who want to monitor your child’s every movement.