To think biometric sysem sounds rank

[NotOnUrNelly]

DC's school canteen is going to be paid via a fingerprint reader - and they won't be able to leave the canteen to wash their hands after using the reader - so essentially 100's of kids will wipe their fingers on the same reader - then eat their food ...nice

Mine would be getting packed lunches at this point - not just because it is rank (and it is) but because of the creeping invasion of privacy.

Mine already get packed lunches because they don't cost the £20 a week school lunches would and I know what they are eating!

Dd2s school have been doing this for a couple of years. All the kids get fingerprinted whether or not they take pack lunches to they have the capacity to use the system.

Hadn't really thought about the contamination aspect...dd is a packed lunch anyway and tbh I seriously doubt she washes her hands before she eats anyway (not many seven year olds do without nagging do they?)

you're probably right that they don't wash their hands anyway - I need to chillax - dd (15) is refusing to use it and planning to make her own packed lunch ...we'll see how quickly she gets bored with that !

Surely they should be washing their hands before they go into the canteen anyway?

I prefere it. It stops the stigma of knowing who is on free school meals, for starters.

Dinner money cannot be bullied off the child or spent on fags/booze/drugs.

If you are under the impression that computer keyboards and everything else that the children have to touch is any cleaner,you are mistaken.

You could aviod using that finger to eat with, if you are anal about 'germs'.

You could get her one of the germ killing thingies. You know, the thingies! You rub them in...

(mental blank)

Ha ha Birds, I had free school meals and had a ticket to hand in for them. I used to sell it and go up town and buy chips!!!

I would love to know how many kids wash their hands before eating their lunch.... I bet it isnt too many!

How many people wash their hands when they get to a restaurant?

She should be able to refuse to use it and them provide the service by another means - she has every right to refuse the use of her personal information in that manner. The school could refuse to provide school dinners to her (if she's not entitled to free ones) but I suspect that would be unlikely.

I think it's unnecessary to use fingerprints for this when cards with barcodes or simple numbers are a perfectly suitable method - and cheaper.

Antibacterial hand gel!

(moment of triumph)

"cards with barcodes"

Doesn't stop the selling or losing of them, or the bullying.

I suppose it depends on the school, i suppose, the finger print method is also easy to use for children with additional problems.

My ds has been using the system for around a year now, I have vague memories of being told that the machine has silver nano particles on the contact point to reduce the germ transference but I may have dreamed that.

Haven't your children heard of cutlery?

My ds's secondary school has this, it never occurred to me that it might be unhygienic. But I suppose it is really.

Ds has packed lunches most of the time but does use the canteen to buy drinks or snacks.

You could give your dd some anti bac hand gel - it sounds like she would be more likely to use it than my ds would!

Oddboots is right, they have something to make them clean. Personally I like them, ds2 has a real issue with not eating and with this system I can see what he has eaten, or not everyday.

DS3 destroyed the whole system when they tried to introduce it in his school. but he does have 2 (yes 2) equal thumbs on the hand that they were using for the biometric system So they never knew which one he was using

We used to have a card system but since the fingerprint system was installed the uptake on FSM has increased (of course this could be down to the economic climate).

I must admit that since we have had the system it never occured to me either about the hygiene - I am going to ask the canteen tomorrow. THat will make me popular :o

The school DS1 is about to go to has this. They make a big play of it not being fingerprint readers but a finger scan whih holds a lot less information. When you scan the finger it pops up a picture of the student on the screen so the dinner lady can check it's the right child, then says how much money they have, what their daily limit is etc. parents can top it up online and view everything heir hold has bought. My SDs school has this years ago (they are now 21 and 24 and left at 16).

The only amusing thing I find is at DSs school they have to use their middle finger!

My objection would be (and is) that kids are being softened up for biometric identity systems later on in life. You'll notice that even large corporates don't use biometric systems to protect sensitive data, because they know their staff would kick off about it - yet here we are, expecting a bunch of schoolkids to use them just to pay for their school dinners, ffs.

At DD's last school, I refused permission for my DD to have her fingerprints taken, and they did it anyway.

More info about how these things work and why you should oppose them at www.leavethemkidsalone.com/facts.htm

DD2 high school has had this for a few years now so far no increase in children getting seriously ill , YABU and the privacy is just paranoid IMO ,

Better get used to it. Soon you'll be using your fingerprint for nearly everything.

::dons tinfoil hat::

Best get them all frantically hand washing before touching door knobs, bannisters, chairs - well - everything really! Who knows what danger lurks out there!
Or you could just relax and understand that the more you sanitise and sterilise everything the less exposure you will have to germs and therefore the sicker you will get when you do encounter a couple.

Exactly lentilly germs can be good they don't all need blasted with antibac