Truant Dat: How Some Folks Really Feel About Kids on G.P.S.

Yesterday's news concerning the pilot program at Bryan Adams High School, which involves outfitting chronic truants with Global Positioning System monitors, has sparked one hellacious conversation amongst Slashdot readers. The item was at 212 comments when I first checked at 4 p.m. yesterday; this morning, it's double that. And, yes,...

By Robert Wilonsky

May 13, 2008

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Yesterday's news concerning the pilot program at Bryan Adams High School, which involves outfitting chronic truants with Global Positioning System monitors, has sparked one hellacious conversation amongst Slashdot readers. The item was at 212 comments when I first checked at 4 p.m. yesterday; this morning, it's double that. And, yes, among the remarks you'll find such phrases as "Big Brother," "nanny state," "house arrest" and a reference to Texas as "pig-norant." Writes one aginner: "Totalitarianism comes one small step at a time, never in one giant sweep."

You'll also find folks who are absolutely for the device's use -- most along the lines of, Well, if the parent won't do anything about it ... And you will find plenty of Dallas residents proffering their opinions; writes one, "I have _never_ been more ashamed of this city than I am now." Though, really, how the death of Deep Ellum wound up on the thread is a head-scratcher. I blame truants. --Robert Wilonsky

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