High School Uses Ankle Monitors To Track Social Distancing Of Athletes

A high school in Washington state is facing criticism after equipping student-athletes with ankle monitors to track social distancing during practices.

The students only have to wear them during practice and leave them in the locker room when they go home.

The monitors are being used as part of the district's contact tracing program. They record how close students get to each other and for how long. In the event of a positive COVID-19 test among students, health officials can quickly identify who had close contact with the infected individual.

Officials with the Eatonville School District have defended using the "proximity monitors" against backlash from parents and other people online.

"The monitors are for both staff (coaches) and students on the field, regardless if they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. If a student or coach tests positive, we will have immediate information regarding athletes' and coaches' contacts, so we can more tightly determine who might need to quarantine," the district said in a statement.

One parent said he was reluctant about letting the school put an ankle monitor on his son but didn't want to keep him from playing football.

"I was notified if I didn't sign it, they couldn't play," Jason Ostendorf told the Tacoma News Tribune. "My son has played football since he was in third grade. He's passionate about the sport. ... I signed it reluctantly. It's either that or he doesn't play. ... It's not optional. If you don't sign the waiver, they don't get to play. You have no choice in the matter."

"It's just one more thing they're doing to the kids through this whole covid thing," he added. "The vaccine, now be tracked when you're at practice. Where does this end? I feel like this is an experiment on our kids to see how much we can put them through before they start breaking."

Another parent said he had no problem with the school using the ankle monitors.

"It's a continuation of doing what we have to do to let the boys play a sport that they love," Jason Lewis told KCPQ. "If my son would have told me, "Dad, I don't want to wear it. I'm not going to wear it,' He wouldn't be playing football. That's his choice. I mean, but he wanted to play football. He would have worn three of them if you asked him to."