Technology & the Bully

Read a news story today about how schools in Rome, Georgia are implementing a system in their lunchrooms where kids can buy their lunches using their fingerprint. It's kind of disturbing if you think about it--fingerprints for elementary school aged children will be kept on file somewhere for those who choose to participate. Is it a fair trade to swap convenience for a part of yourself to be on file with a government agency? But what I find even more disturbing is how this particular technology will change the role of the schoolyard bully. Once upon a time they'd beat you up for your lunch money. Will they now cut off fingers instead and use the amputated digits to buy their lunches? This is something only Geraldo Rivera and his penchant for yellow journalism can answer! The bully gets practical training as a mafioso or member of the Yakuza, while the poor fingerless victim is condemned to a life as a shop teacher.