Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

Big Brother is joining the battle of the bulge.

A group of Long Island students will soon be wearing controversial electronic monitors that allow school officials to track their physical activity around the clock.

The athletics chair for the Bay Shore schools ordered 10 Polar Active monitors, at $90 a pop, for use starting this spring. The wristwatchlike devices count heartbeats, detect motion and even track students’ sleeping habits in a bid to combat obesity.

The information is displayed on a color-coded screen and gets transmitted to a password-protected Web site that students and educators can access.



The devices are already in use in school districts in St. Louis and South Orange, NJ — and have raised privacy concerns among some parents and observers.

But Ted Nagengast, the Bay Shore athletics chair, said, “It’s a great reinforcement in fighting the obesity epidemic. It tells kids, in real time, ‘Am I active? Am I not active?’ We want to give kids the opportunity to become active.”

The monitors are distributed by Polar Electro, of Lake Success, LI, the US division of a Finland firm.

In the South Orange-Maplewood School District, where earlier versions of the devices have been used for two years, upper-grade students’ marks in phys ed are based in part on heart-rate monitors and activity sensors.

Teachers use hand-held computers to collect data from each student’s wrist monitor during class, then upload the information to the school computer system for storage and long-term tracking.

But privacy advocates and parents worry that schools are using electronic monitors in phys ed without families’ knowledge or consent.

“I didn’t even know it was going on, and I’m active in the school,” said Beth Huebner, of St. Louis.

Her son, a fourth-grader, wore a Polar Active monitor in class without her OK last fall at Ross Elementary School.

“We have gotten no information about the Web-site security or where the data will go,” Huebner said.

“When you get into monitoring people’s biological vital signs, that’s a pretty intrusive measurement,” said Jay Stanley, of the American Civil Liberties Union. “There are key privacy interests at play.”

At the very least, says Stanley, parents must have a say in how long the data will be stored and who will have access to it and schools must obtain parents’ consent.

“A program like this should only be voluntary. Nobody should be forced to reveal biological indicators,” he said.

“It’s all about secondary use,” said Virginia Rezmierski, an expert on information technology and privacy at the University of Michigan.

“Does the data pass along with the child from school to school? When will insurance companies want to get access to it? Will a school want to medicate a child that the monitor identifies as hyperactive? It’s potentially very dangerous ground.”


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/schools_spy_on_fat_kids_HpPAgsKXPYjt1EWFfaNp9K#ixzz1jn3418n6

Message edited 1/18/2012 1:52:01 AM.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

I wonder why this isn't HIPAA protected?

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

I think it's a FANTASTIC idea. I don't think most people really know how active (or inactive) they are. Helping kids learn when they are younger can really help. Having an educator help you understand what the monitor is saying and how to optimize your activities is a valuable tool for kids.

I think the way it WAS done in St. Louis was incorrect. The child should be given a choice and the parent should be actively involved. I am positive that Teddy Nagengast has every intention of making sure that the parents and the child are both fully on board with the whole process.

Message edited 1/18/2012 7:02:32 AM.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

They were going to do a similar program at my office. HR hyped it for a couple of weeks, including turning it into competitions "whoever is the most active will win XYZ!"

Not surprisingly, it never happened. The whole thing never materialized after two months of hype. Not sure why it disappeared.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

Posted by Xelindrya

Posted by NervousNell

Posted by Blazesyth

They were going to do a similar program at my office. HR hyped it for a couple of weeks, including turning it into competitions "whoever is the most active will win XYZ!"

Not surprisingly, it never happened. The whole thing never materialized after two months of hype. Not sure why it disappeared.

That is great. I'd love to do this at my job.
I'd win the prize for the laziest!
Is there a boobie prize?

We have a program like this at work. No monitors (yet) but we must log our activities etc.

Its voluntary of COURSE.

They hyped it up to be a good health tool for us. blah blah.. no affect on insurance blah blah. BS

That first year ended and at the renewal our insurance rates were paid based on our results. I didn't do diddly because I just didnt log it. So I didn't get a discount on my insurance premiums. You bet your bottom I signed up every activities, did every webinar I could, gave dates of every shot I should have had, etc. I got a 15% discount on my rates this year. And THIS year when it renewed they surprised us with - oh its not just YOUR score, its yours spouse too, since we insure them. Thankfully I sorta guessed that and pushed the hubby. Others didn't and got caught. This next year we are aiming for getting the highest scores possible (however possible ) and getting the highest discount we can.

I'll be honest, I'm not a single bit more active or healthy due to this program. AT ALL!

But, that said, I'd support it following the heavy set children. Like it was said, it was done wrong in St. Louis but I'm sure they'll get it right now. Heck, I hope its around when AJ is in school.

How many times do you hear parents say "Well they run around in school all day so I figure a few hours of down time in front of their games won't kill them" really????

Message edited 1/18/2012 10:07:11 AM.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

Message edited 1/18/2012 11:06:59 AM.

Re: Long Island school "spys" on overweight children with activity tracking device.

At DH's company if you fill out a heath questionnaire the insurance company will give you x% off your premium.

We dont fill it out, because who knows if they're going to hold it against you later.