Slashdot Mirror
Heart Monitors In Middle School Gym Class?
An anonymous reader writes "My son brought home an order form from his middle school. Apparently the 7th (his grade) and 8th graders are being asked (required?) to purchase their own straps for the heart monitors they're to wear during gym class. I know nothing yet of the device in question, but have left a voice-mail with the assistant principal asking him to call me so I may ask some questions about the program and the device. My tinfoil-hat concern is that the heart rate data will be tied to each child, then archived and eventually used for/against them down the road when applying for insurance, high-stress jobs, etc. 'I see you had arrhythmia during 7th grade pickle ball? No insurance for you' Has anyone heard of such a program, or had their child(ren) take part in it? Does the device transmit to the laptop the overweight gym teacher will be watching instead of running laps with the kids? Perhaps data is downloaded from the device after the class? Or am I just being paranoid? Thanks for any insight."
So an anonymous reader submits a story of a anonymous person with a child at an anonymous school and that qualifies for the front page? I thought I'd seen useless articles posted at Slashdot but this must be the absolute worst.
I'd wager that you're a creep who has never exercised in his life. Checking your heart rate when exercising should be mandatory so that people don't die from being pushed too hard. It's just common sense. We now have cheap, simple devices which beep at you when your heart rate gets dangerously high. That's wonderful; it's not at all a cause for concern. It's a cause for relief.
Do you wear a paper bag over your head at all times? If not, everyone can see that your heart rate increases when you exert yourself: your skin gets red and your breathing hastens. Some of them might even write that down and put it in a big scary computer!!
You should be wholeheartedly praising the school for taking exercise safety seriously. Trying to fabricate some impossible scenario in which claims adjusters actually give a shit that your kid's heart rate increases while exercising... that's plain old nuts. Simple as that.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
You call it paranoia, I see a rational actor navigating the free market by using all information available to him to evaluate the risks associated with this seemingly innocent request.
Shine on you rational diamond! Ron Paul.
If the current health insurance industry in the USA is so fucked up then why Americans are so up in arms against a health reform?
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Yeah, I really want my school wiring my kid up to some machine without telling me about it or asking my permission. Not.
Let's see, formalized education began with the ancient Egyptians, so we're looking at maybe 5000 years total, and NOW students need heart monitors? Wasteful rubbish. If there's a kid with a heart problem, give HIM the heart monitor.
Tell them you refuse permission. Maybe they'll yank the kid out of PE entirely, which frankly would be best anyway; PE never taught anybody anything useful in its entire existence. Send the kid to study hall instead and make him read Dickens or Shakespeare while other kids are wasting their lives running around with heart monitors on.
I piss off bigots.
The cynical response is thus: 'Public' health care gives your government a financial incentive to see you dead. Just look at how well medicare/medicaid* is run, and imagine that program vastly expanded.
*In case you hadn't heard, it's not well run. Doctors are dropping out all the time because the paperwork to get the pittance the government will pay is far more of a hassle than it's worth, and those who do stick around get arbitrary, slow, and capricious behavior from the department.
Why? Because funds are limited, and patient demand for services is not. This is a harsh reality that any insurance program, private or public, has to deal with. The ability to tax to cover these things only goes so far.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.