還能逃學嗎？

逃學？加州學生被全球衛星定位系統追蹤

Call it a last-ditch effort to tackle truancy in Orange County. Two Anaheim schools have become the first in California to adopt GPS tracking to prevent chronically truant students from cutting class.

把這稱為解決橘郡曠課問題的最後一搏。兩所安納漢學區學校成為加州率先採用GPS追蹤，防止習慣曠課的學生蹺課。

Seventh and eighth graders in the district with four or more unexcused absences are issued a small GPS device. Every morning，an automated system calls the students to remind them to get to school. Students are then required to use the tracking device to check in five times throughout their day，including at 8 p.m.，well after school is through.

該學區無故缺勤4次以上的第7、第8年級生，獲配發一具小型全球衛星定位系統追蹤器。每天上午，這套自動系統會撥電話提醒學生去上課，學生得1天5次用追蹤器報到，包括在早已放學的晚間8點。

Participation in the trial is voluntary on the part of the students and the parents to avoid having to repeat a grade or， worse， face time in juvenile hall and a $2，000 fine for truancy.

這項試驗性計畫採由學生和家長自願參加，以免因曠課而被留級，或者更糟的被關進少年觀護所和罸款2000美元。

The devices cost between $300 and $400 each and it’s a total of about $18000 per student for a six-week program. Some critics might see this as a waste of money. But the district defends the program saying that it costs about $8 per day， that’s cheaper than the $35 it loses per day for every absent student.

這項器材每具要300到400美元，為期6周的計畫總計每位學生要花1萬8000美元。有些人或許會批評是浪費錢，但是該學區辯護說，這項計畫每天花約8美元，比每個曠課學生造成的每天35美元損失還低。

And the technology has proven quiet effective. Similar programs in San Antonio and Baltimore saw attendance rates among chronically truant students jump from 77-percent to 95-percent on average.

而且，這項科技已證明相當有效，在聖安東尼奧和巴爾的摩實施的類似計畫，已見慣性曠課學生出席率從平均77％增加到95％。