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Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

theguardian.com

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Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#61
post #31
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the reality is that schools are a lot more dangerous than they were just 10 years ago. Do you have a source for this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_th... Compare 2000's to 2010–2014 to 2015 to 2019.

Wikipedia suffers very much from recency bias in reporting.

Keep in mind that the site was founded in 2001, was growing rapidly through the 2000s, and (along with much the rest of the Internet) saw a huge boost in use and access with the spread of mobile devices.

Inconsistency in reporting is a general problem with crime (and other human activities), with reporting rates rising and falling for numerous reasons. But a standardised crime reporting database would be preferable.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very unpopular opinion w.r.t. to America. Gallup conducts a firearms poll every year, and the closest thing to a total ban question is a total ban on handguns. "Do you think there should or should not be a law that would ban the possession of handguns, except by the police and other authorized persons?" should be: 29 should not be: 70 no opinion: 1

Isn't that the law in most (all?) states now in USA, that you need a license to possess a gun legally (ie need to be an authorised person)? This sounds more like, in common with most polls, it shows how the manner of asking a question alters the answers given? I'd be really interested in how the poll would go without "the police and other", and with using a construction based on "allow ..." instead of "ban ...".

You don't need a license to posses a gun in many (most?) states. You do need a federal background check to purchase a gun from a vendor. And a license to carry a concealed gun. But as far as owning a gun, no license needed in any state I've lived in.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#64
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather just shut down the schools than give up any more rights. If you haven't noticed, our Federal government is totally out of control and has gone rogue and I don't think it's a very good idea to cede any further power or individual rights to that monster. The right to bear arms was paid for in blood and not just once. Good men laid down their lives so we could have these rights. That a few kooks will shoot up…

> The right to bear arms was paid for in blood and not just once. And worse, gun restrictions only benefit criminals. There's plenty of people who legally own firearms and protect their homes and their property legally. They also avoid plenty of crime since criminals tend to run when a gun is pulled on them especially in stand your ground states. They've tried banning everything in England and criminals will still ki…

>They've tried banning everything in England and criminals will still kill people with just about anything anything. First it's the guns, then knives, then machetes.

If these alternatives are just as effective as guns, why do you feel that you need a gun?

Of course, you know that guns are more effective at killing people - especially large numbers of people. That's why we in the UK have not had a mass killing in a school since private ownership of handguns was banned over two decades ago.

>it's a lot safer to have a gun than to wait for cops to come to draw the chalk lines on you and your family.

You're more likely to use the gun to kill yourself or a family member than you are to use it to kill an intruder.

Killing someone who breaks into your home is most likely an overreaction in any case. The chances are very low that they've broken in with the intention of harming you rather than merely stealing something.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#65
post #48
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unpopular opinion: basically no one dies by guns in schools so don't even bother with clear backpacks.

ummm, please explain? Surely the US has by far the highest gun murder rate in schools among developed countries. EDIT: The down votes are interesting - are you down voting because what I said is not true, or because you just don't like that it is true?

Look up how many kids are killed by cars. Then go see how many are killed by guns outside school. Then check how many are killed by guns in school.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#66

> Water bottles must also be clear, so school officials can see the color of the liquid inside. Given the huge range of drinks available in the USA, especially soft drinks, I'm curious to know what colour isn't acceptable.

This was in the 80s, but I do recall when soda machines were first installed at my high school. One side effect was it became OK to roam the halls with cans, which meant you could pour vodka into them in your locker.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#67

THIS IS NOT OKAY. We can't have children being used to constant surveillance and accepting this as a part of life. It sets them up for so many problems in the future, where they won't understand the serious implications of constant tracking and surveillance. And sure, nothing too bad comes out of this stuff right now in most of the world, but have you seen China? The minute a government decides to do so, all that dat…

You have people teaching nihilism. This is the result of nihilism. If you want to eliminate this problem, then eliminate nihilism.

The solution to keep people from killing should focus on teaching others that life is not meaningless or worthless. Also, teaching kids humility wouldn't hurt either.

Edit: Perhaps this should be obvious, but teaching about nihilism is not teaching nihilism. People teach nihilism more, if anything, through their actions.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#68
post #59

My Aunt has a child in early middle school - years 6 through 9 or so, for people outside the US. Not only does the poor kid have a school-issued laptop with heavy monitoring tools installed on it, but they are also required to bring a smartphone to school! My Aunt had made them tape over the laptop's webcam and explained that everything the kid typed could probably be seen by the school, but she was still concerned a…

Have they considered home schooling? Often modern home schooling looks more like private school (because almost no one actually does it home, they send their kids to parent run “co-ops”) and you won’t have to deal with most of this stupidity. The Co-op my sister went to banned smartphones inside the building. IMO that was a little extreme and made logistics more difficult than they needed to be but it meant they just…

[deleted]

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#69

Unpopular opinion: make private gun ownership illegal instead of forcing kids to be monitored to make sure they're not carrying

This is actually a popular opinion in almost every developed nation except the US.

Re: Clear backpacks, monitored emails: U.S. students under constant surveillance

#70
post #14
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Force schools to quantify this risk against others. More kids die cycling to school than by guns.

Do clear backpacks increase the risk of dying from cycling?

No. But clear backpacks do nothing at all to make them safer. And everyone with half a brain knows this. It conditions the entire population to accept security theater and government surveillance as part of everyday life.

This sets the entire society up to be unable to resist government overreach in the future.

Clear backpacks increase the risk of death from tyranny.

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