I think you've missed the point of my commentary, if you think that's key here. Neither you nor I have access to that information; the school board, teachers, government workers, and parent representatives do, and they made a combined choice to implement this.
They could be wrong (and they have been before, of course) - but this family isn't arguing that. They are arguing on religious and privacy grounds.
Reductio in absurdum: take the "I won't do it because it's the mark of the beast" to it's next level (hacker news comments, library membership, news articles, theaters), and you have a dysfunctional society.
I must say, I'm extremely worried about the USA, and this article demonstrates why.
Should we really commend someone for being unable to tell the difference between an electronic component & radio transmission system, and the magical 'mark of the beast'?
I'm also pretty sure that forcing people to wear tags is going to be overturned by a judge on the point of religious freedom, not based on a common sense decision.
And so we're overturning a practical cost saving practicality because:
1) One person believes in magical symbols, and can't tell an electronic component from magic.
2) Some people (commenters in this article) believe we're all magical special snowflakes that should never be treated as a 'group', despite the practicalities of dealing with a large group of people at the same time.
Now all we need is for a bunch of nudists to decide that clothes are the mark of the beast. Or concert goers to say that tickets are a mark of the beast. Or flight-attendents to decide that passports are a mark of the beast. Or Hacker News commenters to decide that login details are the mark of the beast.
I grew up in South Africa, where most of my family were anti-apartheid activists.
My family made extensive use of IBM computers and technology in their ANTI-apartheid activities.
They wrote speeches with Wordperfect and Wordstar on IBM XTs.
They saved them to Verbatim floppy disks, printed them out on Epson and HP printers, faxed them with imported fax machines (Canon?), scanned for viruses with McAfee antivirus, shredded evidence with imported shredders, and powered it all with no doubt dubiously imported UPSes and petrol generators.
Then they used US Robotics modems and PCAnywhere with encryption software (2) to transmit files to people both around South Africa and overseas.
They used personal-database software to keep track of press articles and potential supporters overseas, and then used Lotus 123 to calculate where the money was going.
They used the international telephone system (Gasp! Technology!) and Swiss Bank accounts (I think - I was never sure on where the banks were) to transfer money that supported anti-apartheid causes.
They also smuggled people over the border, no doubt using foreign-manufactured cars, airplanes, and perhaps foreign weapons in the process.
Did my family help more than having a computer system run the Pass system hurt? Absolutely not - but I like to think that by having access to some of this technology things changed for the better sooner.
Somehow in this history I've picked up a healthy anti-respect for authority, a view that some things can be used for both good and evil, and a fundamental respect for the power of computers.
Balance in all things.
1. Many of your friends no doubt earned their pocket money by cleaning the yard and taking out the trash. I earned mine by shredding hundreds of pages of activist documentation for my grandmother.
2. The encryption software they used was dumbed down thanks to US ITAR export rules, probably putting the lives of countless good people in danger.
They could be wrong (and they have been before, of course) - but this family isn't arguing that. They are arguing on religious and privacy grounds.
Reductio in absurdum: take the "I won't do it because it's the mark of the beast" to it's next level (hacker news comments, library membership, news articles, theaters), and you have a dysfunctional society.