BIG BROTHER ALERT: INTERNET PROGRAM SPYING ON SCHOOLKIDS

BIG BROTHER ALERT: INTERNET PROGRAM SPYING ON SCHOOLKIDS

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (Wireless Flash) -- Forget hall monitors and truant officers: now the internet is snitching on students who skip class. A new software program called "SchoolSoft" allows parents to use the internet to see whether their kid is currently at school. Here's how it works: teachers regularly enter attendance information into a palm-held computer which shoots the information out on the internet for parents to see. The tattletale software also includes a voice mail system which requires parents to use a top secret password whenever they call their child's school. Supposedly, it prevents Ferris Bueller-types from impersonating their parents and excusing themselves from class via phone. The program also advises parents of their childrens' current grades and whether they have homework that needs to be done pronto. So far, around 320 schools are using SchoolSoft to help parents keep tabs on their kids.

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