Hotmail
Japan schools tracking students by radio
Computer chips cut deliquency, improve safety
Tech Holiday Gift Guide |
 10 best Xbox 360 games of 2009 With all the incredible games that have been released for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 this year, trying to write a “Best of 2009” list feels an awful lot like trying to stick 20 pounds of sand into a 2-pound sack. |
Real Women’s Guide to Technology |
An MSN special that focuses on consumer technologies that can benefit women. |
 | Tech and gadgets videos |
 Tool lets insurance firms monitor driver habits Insurance company monitors driver habits with special device. WKYC's Michael O'Mara reports. |
 | Video |
 |
Auto Tech |
A better economy may lure buyers, but these trends could seal the deal. |
TOKYO - Cutting class just got harder but schools are safer thanks to computer chips that help track students, Japanese officials say.
Some schools here this month began trial runs in which students carry chips that have tiny antennae and can be traced by radio, with some of the kids attaching the tags to their backpacks.
The chips send signals to receivers at school gates. A computer in the system shows when a student enters or leaves.
School officials say rising concerns about student safety prompted the idea.
"More than 70 percent of parents supported the trials, indicating there is wide appreciation for this kind of effort," said Ichiro Ishihara, a teacher at a public elementary school in Iwamura town, Gifu prefecture, about 170 miles west of Tokyo.
"And the kids love it — they think it's cool," he added.
Violent crimes such as murder, assault and robbery are still relatively rare in Japan. But minor crimes and juvenile delinquency have pushed total crime numbers to record highs amid a long economic slowdown. A recent survey showed that more than half of Japanese believe their country has become unsafe.
Ishihara said 72 of his school's 334 students have been carrying the tags since the trials were launched in early September.
On Monday, electronic giant Fujitsu teamed up with suburban Tokyo's private Rikkyo Elementary School to launch a trial in which the tracking chips were attached to 40 students' backpacks, a school official said.
In Rikkyo's system, messages can be sent to parents' cell phones so they know what time their children left the school, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Tuesday.
The school hopes to have all 717 of its students using the system by next April, the newspaper said.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS |
 Tech and gadgets Section Front |
| Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: |
Resource guide