My son explained to me he cannot get lunch at school, as he refused to give his finger print to obtain a swipe card.

I find it disturbing that he can no longer use cash but has to give his finger print in order to pay cash onto the card, which an amount is taken off to pay for the use of the machine

Is this system preparing the government to have every childs finger prints on the UK database before they are adults, what do you think, or is this just the school diabolical idea of keeping the kids in line?

Would you approach the school with your concerns or ignore the situation and make your child take sandwhiches to school?

The new fingerprint system is a way of avoiding bullying for lunch money. The only person able to use the card you have put money onto will be your son. It is a way of removing a small problem from the schools but untill bullying becomes an unacceptable part of our society (not just in schools) it may be a help.

My daughter has just turned 12 yrs old and started Senior School. She has used the home PC for a number of years to look at websites for children (CBBC, Jacqueline Wilson) and Google to search for personal interests (gerbils, solar system). She's not a great one for MSN instant messaging, I'm thankful she prefers to talk or see friends. Mindful of her growing years and instilling trustworthiness & respect I'm relunctant to impose any stringent checks. However I worry at the dangers of the powerful piece of equipment the laptop can be, at how quick & skillful our children are becoming with modern technology.

Laptops are portable this means that a child can move to another room to use a computer. My son is 15 and still does not have his own computer. He uses the family computer in a communual room and there is an openness about what he views and who he talks to. I feel that isolated children (banished to there bedrooms) may be more vunerable and less able to talk about what makes them uncomfortable.