Pen Pen's Evangelion
A Pen Pen for your Thoughts
This section will just be for, basically random thoughts and feelings. Since my thought process is mostly random you can probably expect this to be updated frequently. Back to Previous Pennys. Back to Pen Penny.
Monitoring Madness
There’s nothing like having a tracking device placed on you to make you feel “safe” when you’re out and about, right? Well, that’s probably somewhat close to the thought process of people in the amazingly lovely and delightfully crazy nation of Japan. Crime in Japan has reached record highs and in response to this they’ve decided to… place tracking devices on school children? Yes, it’s true, because the drastic rises in crime is mostly just juvenile delinquency and not like actual, crime-type crimes.
This is just as wonderful as having your kid tagged and released back into the wild! How could that be bad? I mean, how could having your every movement tracked and monitored by an overbearing organization with authority over all the people it’s monitoring in a strict society like the Japanese have any possible ramifications other than goodness and complete societal uniformity? It’s like a good and watchful big brother, looking out for you by making sure you don’t screw up too bad, and punishing you if you do.
The small chips carry tiny antennae, which allows them to be traced by radio. The chips send a signal to receivers at school gates so parent’s can know when their child enters and leaves school. However, the Japanese haven’t quite gotten to the point where these chips are implanted under the skin, so for the time being they’re just being attached to backpacks. I guess no one’s thought about, you know, taking them off of the backpacks or leaving the backpacks somewhere to “break” this technologically sophisticated system.
The device is currently having a trial run in several schools across Japan. Officials say that student safety was one of the areas of concern that led to this new system. I understand the worry; after all, if anime is any indication, a schoolgirl can’t step outside without being raped two or three times in Japan. I guess it just isn’t reported because the criminal records show rape to be very rare. Obviously anime, with their large-eyed characters that have gravity-defying breasts, would not misrepresent how life in Japan actually is.
Ichiro Ishihara, a teacher at a public elementary school said, “more than 70 percent of parents supported the trials.” So when this technology is exploited and brings an end to independent thought, you know whom to blame, the Japanese! Or, more specifically, you can blame all the Japanese who have children. The teacher also said, “and the kids love it they think its cool.” Exactly! I know I’ve dreamed of having some overlord organization watching my every move! And what better statement of fashion is there than being forced to attach a tiny tracking device to your backpack? – 10/3/04
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