The experiment, which was to be extended to all schoolchildren in Sarthe at the start of the school year, caused a lot of ink to flow. So much so that, coincidence or not, the measure was recently suspended, at least for a few months. This Saturday, a demonstration is organized in Le Mans to demand the “definitive” abandonment of the project to distribute connected bracelets to middle school students in Sarthe.
As a reminder, this initiative of the departmental council and the National Union of School and Secondary Sports (UNSS) aimed to “fight against physical inactivity” and “promote physical exercise”. The aim was to equip the 30,000 students free of charge with “health sports watches” capable of monitoring their number of steps or the quality of their sleep.
“Mass Data Collection”
An approach that received a mixed reception from parents, some of whom even created the collective “Du lien pas des bracelets”, which calls for mobilization on Saturday. “The department has considered neither the ecological scope nor the educational scope of its initiative (…), do they think. Rather than promoting the collection of mass data, we expect educational institutions to open the debate urgently and offer elements for reflection on the uses of digital and technologies. »
These citizens, who fear that these watches will promote “incitement to the spirit of competition between students”, will gather in front of the departmental council at 2:30 p.m. According to Free Mainethe application had been suspended for the time to ensure “a good level of security, irreproachable with regard to the processing of personal data”.