Texas student expelled for refusing to wear tracking chip on school campus

Thursday, November 29, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: student, tracking chips, expelled

(NaturalNews) The statists have now set their sights on our children, as efforts to train them at a younger age to be compliant without question has now spread to the public school system.

As we've reported, Texas high school student Andrea Hernandez, an exceptional student who was enrolled in advanced coursework, has been targeted for expulsion by authoritarian school officials at John Jay High School in San Antonio for her refusal to wear a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tracker around her neck at all times while on campus.

The school introduced the trackers this year, saying they are aimed at reducing truancy and absenteeism, which will in turn increase the school's public (read taxpayer) funding.

But Andrea and her father have fought the policy on religious grounds, saying they believe the tracker represents the so-called "Mark of the Beast" mentioned in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. And they've taken their case to court, where a judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the school, which has in turn delayed the district's plan to expel her, at least for now.

'The mindset is that everyone needs to be monitored and controlled'

John Jay is one of two schools out of 112 campuses in the Northside Independent School District that has implemented the tags, which are contained in an ID that students wear around their neck.

Andrea Hernandez, according to court papers, is refusing to wear the RFID tracker under provisions of the state's Religious Freedom Act. She is also seeking "redress of the deprivation under color of regulation, custom, policy or usage of certain rights secured to her by the First and Fourteenth Amendments" to the U.S. Constitution, the papers say.

After she refused to wear the ID, school officials suspended her, saying she was free to attend other schools within the district that were not currently using the ID tracking system.

Hernandez is being represented by The Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties legal organization, which said the school's suspension not only violates state laws regarding religious freedom but also the U.S. Constitution's provisions as well.

"The court's willingness to grant a temporary restraining order is a good first step, but there is still a long way to go - not just in this case, but dealing with the mindset, in general, that everyone needs to be monitored and controlled," said John Whitehead, president of institute, in a statement.

Whitehead said student tagging and locating projects were the first step in producing a "compliant citizenry."

"These 'student locator' programs are ultimately aimed at getting students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy, and wherever you go and whatever you text or email will be watched by the government," he said.

What makes the program so ominous is that the IDs will be used to track students no matter if they are on campus or not, which is bad enough. But while on school grounds, students won't be able to access essential services like the cafeteria or library without them.

Andrea Hernandez: Just say no

Also, according to published reports, students will need the ID trackers to be able to buy tickets to extracurricular activities as well, such as after-school sporting events.

Hernandez says that teachers are "even requiring students to wear the IDs when they want to use the bathroom," says the Rutherford Institute.

"School officials offered to quietly remove the tracking chip from Andrea's card if the sophomore would agree to wear the new ID without the imbedded RFID chip so as to give the appearance of participation in the Student Locator Project. Andrea refused this offer. Andrea has also been prevented from distributing flyers to fellow students explaining her objections to the program," said the statement.

Her punishment began even before she was suspended. For refusing to wear the ID, she was not permitted to vote for the school's annual Homecoming King and Queen "after school officials refused to verify her identity using her old, conventional student ID card," the group said.

The real lesson here is this: Comply with the Leviathan or be ostracized and punished.

The Hernandez's have decided not to come along quietly.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20461752

www.rutherford.org

www.rutherford.org