Obliterating What’s Left of Childhood Privacy
By Anthony Gregory • Saturday December 31, 2011 10:56 AM PDT • 6 Comments
From preschool through high school and their careers, young Americans will now have all their data consolidated and shared by federal agencies. Thanks to years of the expanding surveillance state, data collection, and centralization of education, accelerated by an overlooked provision in President Obama’s stimulus program, everything about kids that is documented from the time they first set foot in class will be information freely shared among federal bureaucracies. Emmet McGroarty and Jane Robbins write:
Under regulations the Obama Department of Education released this month, these scenarios could become reality. The department has taken a giant step toward creating a de facto national student database that will track students by their personal information from preschool through career. Although current federal law prohibits this, the department decided to ignore Congress and, in effect, rewrite the law.
It appears that no data is safe—grades, absences, disciplinary incidents, health records, STD test results, and family income would all be fair game, for the federal government to share internally and with private businesses, without the students or parents knowing. It’s all for the sake of the children, of course.
Also see this clip on CNN:
Notice the anchor seems rather calm about this whole development, as though it’s a reasonable course of action for government to take. At this point, it is difficult to have arguments about such things based on facts alone. Either people support this kind of thing, or they oppose it.
HT: Gary Theroux
Tags: American History, Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Education, Fascism, Regulation, Surveillance, The State 
Anthony Gregory,
“Race to the Top”?
There is that word again – Transparency. A real tongue twister,meaning the people must become Transparent. The educational system is filled people who train,not educate. The late Jamie Escalante Gutierrez was an educator. To be fair, teachers must submit and remain circumspect to the same Draconian database that their students are subjected too. Thereby, knowing whom to allow to continue teaching – the doctrine.
Gary Theroux,
This is the point, avoid all arguments and debates – based on facts. You will find few people in opposition to this measure and millions more for it.
Thank you – Keep up the good work
James de Laurier | Jan 1, 2012 | Reply
Given the trends towards totalitarianism and love of big government as embodied by the CNN anchor in the video clip above, libertarianism needs a much more passionate and elucidated defense to remain relevant, than that which was given by Reason‘s Lisa Snell.
It felt like Ms. Snell was only quarreling over the redundancy of this recent government action, as opposed to stressing that the role of government is to protect rights, not strip them away.
Robert Fellner | Jan 1, 2012 | Reply
That is really scary, and shows that our great nation is on it’s way to Stalin-like rule. I find it ironic how on the one hand we admonish North Korea for it’s abuse of human rights, while at the same time we are chipping away at our own. Pretty soon Uncle Sam will also be known as Dear Leader.
Carolyn | Jan 4, 2012 | Reply
Opt out. Homeschool your children. American public schools don’t serve to educate; their purpose is to socialize children into accepting authority without question. If you can afford it, then leave America permanently. This place just is not worth the effort.
Jamessir Bensonmum | Jan 5, 2012 | Reply
Anything that creates a bigger more expensive bureaucracy. Anything but use perfectly predictive standardized test scores which have been around for ages. Anything but teach. Anything but promote scholarship. Anything but parents taking responsibility for their products of conception. Just let the governmetn do it! Send me the bill – due and payable, April 15th.
This clip underscores what total and complete lemmings Americans have become – because if they werent lemmings, this idea would create an outrage among millions of people. but heck; cameras spy on you EVERYWHERE and nobody says a thing – even before 911. Funny thing too, they were installed to help law enforcement – something we curiously pay 5 times as much for as we did in the day before cameras were installed everywhere.
Ron Paul is absolutely right when he demands that the Dept of Education be abolished. And I know...I’ve taught all levels of college on and off for 25 years and couldnt help but notice the progressive and inexorable dumbing down that has occurred in students that I taught during that time.
And who needs affirmative action laws when politically driven federally supported programs of choice can dig around and, in any way they want “substantiate” any case of this one first, ahead of a more qualified applicant.
That’s right Americans....shut off that internet; let’s get the betting going buy the beer, and get those snacks prepared for your most important business of the year: The Super Bowl!
JoeBejma | Jan 17, 2012 | Reply