Meet The Lunch Lady's New Best Friend
Do you remember grade school when you were allowed very little time to eat and most of that time was spent waiting in line to buy food? Well, according to this CNN article, there is a new device out to speed up the lines in cafeterias from elementary school all the way to colleges.
The device works as a finger scanner, where the child puts his/her finger on the device which reads the finger and knows who the person is by the fingerprint. Parents were not so happy about this device because they were skeptical about having their child's fingerprint being saved and able to be accessed by the internet and elsewhere. Administrators sent out letters explaining that the device doesn't store the fingerprints and it only reads certain parts on the finger. Once the finger is read, the student's prepaid account is charged and the student is on their way.
The device is also used for attendance, medicine dispensing, and checking out books in school libraries. Colleges and high schools also use it to keep non-students from entering.
Doylene Burns, the cafeteria manager of a local school in Rome, Georgia said "They're moving through the lines faster and getting more time to eat. That's what we're all aiming for -- more time for them to eat." West End Elementary school's wait for lunch was cut in half by this device. Although schools are using this device, there are still lunch ladies around to make sure the students receive full lunches or took one too many deserts.
Do you think that this device is a positive addition to lunchrooms, libraries, etc.? Should all schools from elementary to colleges and universities make this addition? Is it really safe to allow school's to take a students fingerprint like this?
1 comment:
My initial thought when I read this was “how much does this device cost?” While obviously the device seems to spend up the lunch lines, in a school system with low funding, the money may be better spent in other areas. While I would love to have every child to have enough time to eat both for the sake of the nutrient itself and for the fact that a child who is not hungry because they actually managed to get to eat lunch is going to be able to focus better in class. That said, if the device is too expensive, school districts with low financial backing may not be able to afford to buy and maintain it and be able to afford all the materials they need to offer a proper learning environment.
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