[Infowarrior] - Pupils face tracking bugs in school blazers

[Richard Forno]

Pupils face tracking bugs in school blazers

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0%2C%2C2153054%2C00.html

James Meikle, education correspondent
Tuesday August 21, 2007
The Guardian

A school uniform maker said yesterday it was "seriously considering" adding
tracking devices to its clothes after a survey found many parents would be
interested in knowing where their offspring were.

Trutex would not say whether it was studying a spy in the waistband or a bug
in the blazer but admitted teenagers were less keen than younger children on
the "big brother" idea.

The Lancashire company, which sells 1m blouses, 1.1m shirts, 250,000 pairs
of trousers, 200,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear
each year, commissioned an online survey for 809 parents and 444 children
aged between nine and 16. It said 44% of the adults were worried about the
safety of pre-teen children and 59% would be interested in satellite
tracking systems being incorporated in schoolwear. While nearly four in 10
pupils aged 12 and under were prepared to go along with the idea, teenagers
were more wary of "spying".

Clare Rix, the marketing director, said: "As well as being a safety net for
parents, there could be real benefits for schools who could keep a closer
track on the whereabouts of their pupils, potentially reducing truancy
levels.'

The announcement follows news that an Essex firm, BladeRunner, used Kevlar,
a synthetic fibre used in body armour, to line school uniforms sent in by
parents anxious about knife culture. Barry Samms, a director, said the
company was concentrating on its line of stab-proof hooded tops, having sold
about 1,500 of the £65 garment, mainly to over-30s, since launch earlier
this year. The company was now selling £120 tops to walkers and
mountain-bikers worried about barbed-wire snags.