To Truants in Rome, SMS Is the Enemy

Students in Rome are becoming guinea pigs in an experiment that uses cellphones to deter truancy, reports The New York Times.

"Starting on Monday for about six months, when students fail to show up for class and the school has not been previously notified, a text message will be automatically sent to their parents' mobile phones.

... The antitruancy messaging system has precedents. In Australia, the UK, Scotland, France and in India, similar systems are being tried.

... However, some educators are not so sure about the Rome initiative. Giorgio Rembado, the president of Italy's school principals' association, which has about 8,000 members, says the texting approach is too broad.

"The problem is that it's blind, and so it's potentially dangerous," Rembado said. "It's an automatic system that triggers an SMS that could throw families into alarm mode. You really need a filter that uses the technology intelligently."

But Ornella Bergamini, the school board official who coordinated the experimental project, argues that compared with current methods used by schools to advise parents of truant offspring - letters sent to their home or phone calls from the school secretary - the cost and time-effectiveness of short message service makes it an efficient alternative. "It will lead to immense savings," she said".

emily | 9:33 AM | SMS and Students |
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