Electronic Tagging of children!

[tom_bombadil]

I have recently come to the opinion that in Britain we should electronicly chip all children at their births. I have came to this opinion for sevral reasons.
1.) Parents would not need to fear where there children are as the chip would give of a signal.
2.) it would make children feel safer in their communitys.
3.) instead of it taking weeks to find the child if he she was rtaken it would take a matter of hours

[Arvedui]

On first notice, it seems to be a very good idea, but IMO it does have some downsides. Does George Orwell ring a bell?

But, of course, it would make it easier being a parent. On the other hand, who said life was supposed to be easy...

Somewhere along the same line is the idea of creating a national or even international DNA-archive. Makes it easier to identify victims of disasters. And also, would help the police to find guilty persons when investigating crime.

But again, I cannot shake the Big Brother-feeling away.

[Eledhwen]

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!

You can tag your kids all you like, but they'll still run out into the road without looking. It would give parents a false sense of security, would give the State too much opportunity to interfere, and the bad guys would soon find a way round it - people who prey on children are devious, clever and organised.

Another factor is that the kids themselves might deeply resent the monitoring and deliberately step out of bounds to see if the parents will come and get them etc.

I've had five children; they're all relatively sane for human beings, and I am good friends with the ones who have grown up. I wonder if this would have been the case if I'd tagged them at birth?

[Eledhwen]

Your post was within a minute of mine, and we both thought: Big Brother. Next, they'll be tagging the old, then people in the workplace (especially those out and about). These things happen gradually, but they need a starting point, and it's our job to say NO WAY!

[Arvedui]

It might be because we have kids...

[Proudfoots]

I say tag'em all.

This way we could have a really efficient government that doesn't just collect taxes...

Hey, lets go for brain washing too.
Lets bring 1984 and Brave New World to a reality, the Soviet Union failed because they allowed too much freedom.

We finally have the technology. Lets do it.

Of course, you could clone yourself and tag it.

Besides, doesn't everyone already carry their little tags?

CELL PHONES

'foots

[Rangerdave]

I'm not as concerned with Big Brother as I am with the thousands of little brothers who will figure out a way to turn this to some advantage.

Do we want anyone with access to radio shack to be able to track our kids?

Just a thought
RD

[FREEDOM!]

I think it is a very bad idea.

I don't have kids (i don't even have a girlfriend) but if i did i would not let anyone tag them, if somebody tried to tag me or my kids (someday) than i would kill them.

Tagging gives the government to much control and takes almost all control away from the people.

[Athelas]

Tag sex offenders and illegal aliens to track their movements. Better yet, tag and release Al-Queda agents so that the chips can be used to target missile guidance systems.:)

[FREEDOM!]

i like the your idea Athelas.

[faila]

The main problem i see to this is invasion of privacy. Its most likely not ever going to come out as one gets older, so it will be used by the government to watch you. BAD IDEA. I can see it as being an optional thing that a mother can choose to do if she so wills but other than that it would be wrong.

[DGoeij]

Apart from the horrific idea that young children are to be tagged because they will not be safe without it, I have other concerns.

Where do you leave the tag? Inside their body? I get pictures of abducters carrying sharp knifes and bandages. Or it may be even more simple to block the signal. Technological developments tend to go more than one way and criminals get their hands on practically everything.

Sounds great at first, but I don't really believe it will be beneficial.

[Nardil]

This is a horrible invasion of privacy and degredation of civil liberties if done by a government.

However I would have no problem with a bussiness offering this service if it will help some parents feel safer about their children. I doubt it will actually increase their safety though.

[Thorin]

I don't know about electronic tagging, but as a teacher, I sure wish I had electric shock gizmos attached to my kids that I could press a button and shock when necessary. ;)

[Beorn]

You're right faila...the very first thing I thought of when I saw this topic was 'Invasion of Privacy'

I can't claim to knowthe laws over in Europe, but I imagine they have laws similar to the ones that protect our privacy.

Anyway, any idiot can get his hands on the technology to track where kids are...or worse, the parents:

Joey, what were you really doing at that party Friday night over at the McEllan's, because a little birdy told me a different story than yours...

[faila]

Originally posted by Beorn
You're right faila...the very first thing I thought of when I saw this topic was 'Invasion of Privacy'

I can't claim to knowthe laws over in Europe, but I imagine they have laws similar to the ones that protect our privacy.

Anyway, any idiot can get his hands on the technology to track where kids are...or worse, the parents:

Joey, what were you really doing at that party Friday night over at the McEllan's, because a little birdy told me a different story than yours... Well also the govenment would most likely have tabs on you at all times, sounds like a bad thing. (hey someone actully agred with me