149 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
149 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßÛßßßßßÛÛÜ ÜÜßßßßÜÜÜÜ ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛßß ßÛÛ
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ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛ ÜÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜ ßÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜÛÛÝ Ûß
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ßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÞÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÞß
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Mo.iMP ÜÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ßÛß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛ Ü ÛÝÛÛÛÛÛ Ü
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÜÜÜß ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛß
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ßÛÜ ÜÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÜÜ ßßÜÛÛßß ßÛÛÜ ßßßÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ßßßßß ßßÛÛß ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Essay on Program to ]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [fingerprint children. ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: 07/94 # of Words:850 School:Public State:NY
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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Copyright 1983
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NPG,Ltd.
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FINGERPRINTING KIDS
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Issue: Should parents voluntarily create detailed identification records
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(including fingerprints) on their children in anticipation of possible
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runaway problems or abductions? (1) Yes. You can never tell when terrible
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things will happen to a child, so its best to be prepared. (2) No. The
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vast majority of missing children are not abducted. Whether abducted or
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not, fingerprinting will do no good. It wastes time and money and pushes
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us that much closer to the creation of the Orwellian National Data Center
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that Congress rejected fifteen years ago.
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BACKGROUND: As of early 1983, 11 states had launched programs to
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fingerprint children.( These were New York, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, New
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Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Connecticut,
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Rhode Island, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana.) Most of this activity was
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stimulated by the passage of the Missing Children Act in October 1982.
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What the new law did was to legitimize the use of the FBI's national
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computer network,the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) for
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non-criminal purposes.
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All of the programs are voluntary. In some cases the police
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departments retain the records, while in others the fingerprint cards are
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turned over to the parents for safekeeping. The apparent purpose of the
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program is to help provide positive identification to link either children
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picked up, or bodies recovered, with missing person notices.
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Every year about 1 million children are reported missing. Of these
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most, about 800,000, are away from home for less than two weeks. About
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150,000 of the total missing are abducted; of these two thirds are abducted
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by a divorced parent.
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Some of the reasons behind the missing children are not pretty.
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According to an article in Parade, "about 35 percent of runaways leave home
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because of incest, 53 percent because of physical neglect. The rest are
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"throwaways," children kicked out or simply abandoned by parents who move
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away. Every state has laws against incest, child abuse, abandonment, child
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pornography and the procuring of children, but they are rarely enforced."
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POINT: Conscientious parents should have their childrens' fingerprints
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recorded to help in the event of an abduction; they shouldn't wait until after
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something terrible happens, but should take reasonable steps now.
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Thousands of children are runaways, and in many cases it is all but
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impossible to determine clearly who they really are. People change, but
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fingerprints don't. Well-intentioned but misguided civil libertarians worry
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about Big Brother. But they tend to overlook the obvious benefits of the
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program and concentrate on wildly imaginative fantasies about Big Brother.
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If they would come down to earth once in a while, and visit with and share
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the anguish of a family of an abducted child, they would quickly change
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their attitudes. Besides, in most cases the police do not keep the records,
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the parents do.
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COUNTERPOINT: Absent some showing that the fingerprinting will actually
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help keep children safe and help capture criminals who harm or abduct them,
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parents should refuse to have their children fingerprinted. In promoting
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the child fingerprinting program, police officials tend to be vague about
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how the program will increase the average child's safety. How does it
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improve children's safety to be fingerprinted? Surely, it may help
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identify a body, but that is not much help. Besides, dental records do the
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same thing and probably do a better job. People forget that this program is
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geared to eventually entering the child's identification data into the
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National Crime Information Center. That is a criminal records databank, and
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it could be very harmful to a child in the future to have what many
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employers will automatically take to be a "criminal record." And that is
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not far fetched. In April 1983 the Congress' General Accounting Office
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released a report saying that in some states children picked up as runaways
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are jailed along with real criminals. GAO found that in five states
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(Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Oregon) 39
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percent of the juveniles incarcerated had not been charged with a serious
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offense, despite federal standards requiring that. Running away from home,
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shoplifting and other minor thefts made up most of the offenses. Even
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advocates admit to the possibility of a stigma.
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A PTA Council President in Virginia spoke out in favor of the
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program: "I can't think at this point of a practical reason for not having
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your fingerprints taken. It seems to me the higher the percentage of the
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population that has its fingerprints on file, the less stigma will be
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attached to it."
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Another mother, as her child was being fingerprinted, told a New
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York Times reporter, "Unless you're planning a life of crime for your
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child,I can't see why any parent would object."
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If we are really serious about reducing the runaway problem, we
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should demand that our police officials start looking closely into the
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family situations from which the runaway came from. If there is evidence
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of incest or abuse, the offendor should be prosecuted. Maybe if more
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abusive parents got that message, they would be less inclined to do the
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things that cause the vast majority of runaway cases in the first place.
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QUESTIONS:
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o Do you think that the police will be more effective in locating missing
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children if there are copies of their fingerprints on record?
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o Do you think that there is any problem with having your own records
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stored in a criminal record computer system? Would anyone assume from such
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records that you have done something wrong?
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o If a child runs away from home because of incest or physical abuse,
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should the police help put him back in that home?
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o Do you think that the voluntary fingerprinting program will make the next
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generation of American citizens less reluctant to let government keep more
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records on them? Or will it have the opposite effect and make people used
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to having this kind of record kept?
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REFERENCES:
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Fingerprinting of Children Spreading, New York Times,
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February 22, 1983
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Fingerprinting the Kids Won't Solve the Problem, The Fairfax
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Journal (editorial), April 15, 1983, p.A6
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Reston Kids Ink Up for Fingerprints, Adrian Higgins, The
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Fairfax Journal, September 19, 1983, p.A1
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Jersey County Fingerprints Pupils, Franklin Whitehouse, The
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New York Times, January 26, 1983, p.B1
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Alexandria Cops To Fingerprint School Kids, Joe O'Neill, The
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Fairfax Journal, February 23, 1983, p.A4
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Child Abductions A Rising Concern, Associated Press, The New
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York Times, December 5, 1983
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Finding Missing Children, The Washington Post (editorial),
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May 28, 1982
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