Comments on: parents sue school over sex offender check system

By: violet

violet — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:24:35 +0000

@bd agreed. I just can’t help that these companies are a kind of data phishing scam, playing on the politics of fear surrounding sex offenders. who are these companies? who’s motoring *them*?

By: bd

bd — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:50:04 +0000

@Erin – Good point. I hadn’t considered that as my head’s too much into what large businesses do with such things, particularly my employer.

Violet brings up another good point about data sharing amongst large companies. Part of their business model is typically, to sell their data to other buyers. Bad data in the system can bring a great burden on the individual(s) involved. Look at how states purged people from voter polls using bad data. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when you’re talking about sex offender data, which, like terrorist flags, has got to be awful to try and clear up.

By: violet

violet — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:43:41 +0000

I think identity theft and violation of personal information sharing via these private, unregulated companies is more serious than anyone understands.

By: Simon

Simon — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:20:15 +0000

What happens if a child’s parent is a registered sex offender?

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:25:00 +0000

When I began the process of becoming a teacher in a small city school district in Texas, we were informed of this system. To take part in my observations as a visitor in the various classes, I had to have my license scanned. They don’t just use the license to scan for a record of sex offenses, but also will make a log and temporary ID for any visitor.
My instructor explained that in the few years they have used the system, only one license had a red flag. And if I remember correctly, it was some kind of technical glitch that eventually cleared the parent.
This waste of taxpayer money wouldn’t be necessary if schools just stuck with their basic rules of not letting any kid go with someone not on their contact/pick-up list or not letting anyone on a closed campus without a legitimate reason.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:13:33 +0000

To give an answer to bd’s question, it’s a big, expensive, whiz-bang system that the school board can point to and say “See? We’re doing something about this horrible scourge that threatens to consume our children whole!”

Just a guess, mind you. But I used to cover small school board’s for a newspaper and that’s the way they thought.

By: Tony Comstock

Tony Comstock — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Welcome to the New Searchable Age (sm). Marginalization begins 3… 2… 1… now!

By: bd

bd — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:32:02 +0000

They spent $182,000 on this system?!!? I bet that you could have spent that money on books or classes for the kids and had some to spare.

Classic case of doing something out of fear without doing a cost/benefit analysis. How often does the school system suspect that sex offenders are visiting schools? How did they come by such a figure, if it exists? How does this method protect any better than other methods?