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Mums' anger
at fingerprints for kids
‘We didn’t think
it would be controversial’, says head
CHILDREN as young as five were fingerprinted for a
new school library system without their parents’ consent,
it was revealed this week.
The children, at Primrose Hill Primary School in Princess Road,
Primrose Hill, were asked to provide their thumb prints for
a new software system called Junior Librarian.
Under the system, each child has one thumb print recorded on
to a computer which is then used by the school librarian to
track books in and out of the library.
School bosses decided to introduce the new system six weeks
ago – but failed to tell parents about the changes or ask
them for their consent.
One angry mum, who did not want to be named, said: “My
child just came back one day and told me she had been fingerprinted
at school.
“I couldn’t believe they could do this without telling
anyone. I didn’t know why they were doing it or what the
prints were going to be used for. It made me feel sick.”
Another mum said she had found out about the new system from
another parent outside the school grounds.
She said: “A parent just came up to me and asked me whether
I had heard about it.
“I couldn’t believe they could do it without letting
us know first. It is a breach of our human rights.”
Head teacher Jane Hunter has now written to all 400 parents
explaining the new system – and apologised for any distress
it had caused.
She said: “We didn’t inform parents in advance because
we simply didn’t realise it would be such a controversial
issue.
“The intention was only ever to improve the borrowing system
and make it easier for the children.
“We are very sorry if the new system has caused any distress
of anxiety to any parents.
“It is not compulsory and parents can withdraw their children
at any time. They have been invited to a meeting this week to
learn more about the new system and how it works.”
A Town Hall spokeswoman said the fingerprinting system was not
in use in any other Camden Schools.
She added: “The computer does not store the thumb print.
It registers the number of pixels and then assigns a number
to the information. So it is the number which is stored in the
computer and not the actual thumb print.
“The computer is a stand-alone computer used by the school
librarian and not connected to the Internet or anything like
that.” |
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