Do You Want SPY CAMS in Your CHILD'S CLASSROOM?

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Submitted by realitycheck on March 30, 2006 - 5:39am.

Cameras in YOUR CHILD’S School?

Last night on the news I saw a segment that I thought I’d like to share with readers.

Last week, in a Detroit MI high school there was a threat of another Columbine-style shooting. Alarmed teachers, parents and students came together to decide what to do. Immediately they approached local government asking to have cameras installed in schools and classrooms. The purpose of the cameras is not just to have students under surveillance, but also to help protect school property from vandalism.
Since January 2006, one person has been murdered ever day in Detroit. Many of the killings have taken place on school grounds. Would a camera being installed prevent this? Some people seem to think it will. Even the skeptics admit that a camera will act as a deterrent to criminals. Problem being; these cameras are incredibly expensive, and, like most cities, the average household in Detroit cannot afford to pay even more taxes.

(F.Y.I. – I live about 25 minutes outside of Detroit and my summer taxes are almost $3,000. My winter taxes are substantially less, $1,500.)

Security cameras are all ready being used in colleges and have faced great opposition from students and faculty.
“College students are at that age when they're sort of going out exploring who they are and what they want to be," says Lauren Gelman, assistant director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "There shouldn't be a record later in life of what is going on, and there shouldn't be a constant surveillance state on a campus."

One option is to disclose the location of the cameras to students. But does this render the camera useless? Isn’t a student going to commit crime where the cameras don’t see?

So there is a scare if the cameras do fall into the hands of the wrong user.

What is the answer?
MY OPINION:
I wish cameras were installed in schools a long time ago. This may not have prevented the Columbine shootings, but it may have made the children think twice.
I would love to see cameras, especially in areas like Detroit, where drugs and guns are dealt from locker to locker.
I feel that, in any situation, there is going to be someone who abuses their power, such as in the case of the TN locker room. This incident never should have taken place. BUT does the good of cameras outweigh the bad? I think it does.
Is it worth the tax money? In other states I have read about proposals where the schools can borrow the money from other sources. It would still ultimately be paid by the citizens, but the increase would be more gradual. If lives can be saved and futures can be changed, I think we should vote to support cameras in the classrooms.

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Security Cameras

#53823 On March 30, 2006 5:45am JohnnyP5379 said,

My school just had a number of cameras installed in the hallways. They are very small and unnoticable. I think it is a wonderful idea because it allows the office staff to monitor all entrances and occurrences in the hallways. This way we can keep the students safe and be aware if something were to happen.

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For once, I am indifferent.

#53829 On March 30, 2006 6:05am IntricateGirl said,
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For once, I am indifferent. I have no strong opinions either way. I do think that it cannot catch all circumstances of wrong doing, and when it fails, everyone will scream, "But where were the cameras?!?" If cameras were there, unless you have a direct view into each and every locker, I could easily deal drugs from my locker if I felt so inclined. The locker door serves as a barrier to anything going on.

Those who will behave will continue to behave. Those who don't behave will just become better at hiding it. As a matter of fact, Columbine had cameras. It happened anyway. And how many schools bought cameras after that? There were a LOT of mass shootings in schools after Columbine. So if most put in cameras and metal detectors in response to Colimbine, and school shootings went up, the natural inclination would be to say that the cameras don't work. I don't think it's quite that simple, but I think it can't be ignored either. Columbine was going to happen. If not in high school then in college. If not in college, then in a workplace. If not in a workplace then in a home. And so on...

But, the feeling of security is sometimes worth more than the actual security. If the cameras make people feel safer, then the cost is irrelevant. I just worry that it sends the message to kids that we view them all as dangerous, so maybe they should just go ahead and BE dangerous.

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I spy...

#53830 On March 30, 2006 6:11am D Weezy said,

I don't know if cameras really deter people from committing crimes. I mean if you look at the news you see security clips of people going into stores and banks and robbing them all the time. I realize that the people that commit these crimes are different from students. I also think that if kids want to committ crimes such as selling drugs then they will find ways to get around the cameras (i.e. locker rooms & bathrooms).

Basically I think this is a way of treating the symptoms and not the problem causing the symptoms. If kids were given realistic options that would allow them to resist selling drugs and committing violence against one another then we wouldn't even be talking about this.

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"Basically I think this is a

#53834 On March 30, 2006 6:32am IntricateGirl said,
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"Basically I think this is a way of treating the symptoms and not the problem causing the symptoms. If kids were given realistic options that would allow them to resist selling drugs and committing violence against one another then we wouldn't even be talking about this."

Ooh! Let me change my answer to "Yeah, what he said."

Seriously though, I think sometimes you have to treat the symptoms first. For example, last week I had the mother of all migranes. I needed to get rid of it before I could even *think* of what might have caused it to happen. In this case, I think that the illusion of security may serve its own need while such programs are being implemented. And it is nothing more than an illusion. You can put cameras in all the schools and metal detectors at all the doors, and one determined student could take out a good 15-20 people before they ever walk through those metal detectors and into the view of the cameras. All illusions, but powerful ones.

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Cameras

#53835 On March 30, 2006 6:55am realitycheck said,
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retail stores not only install cameras but they post HUGE signs that read "SMILE! You're on camera!" They do this because 1. It's the law to tell people they are being filmed and 2. because it makes people think twice.
I do agree, if someone is determined to shoot somebody they will do it either way, but I think that some people may have a second thought before committing a crime.
In Detroit gun & drug sales in schools is a really gigantic problem. Although some students will still find ways to sell these items it will at least make the sale more complicated. Maybe some students will even fear getting caught even more knowing they are being watched.
A second issue here is vandalism. Detroit schools loose big time due to senceless vandalism. Cameras would definately *help* prevent this from happening.
I still feel that if even one life can be saved it's worth the money. Who knows, that life could be my own sons.

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Once upon a time there were cameras on school buses

#53844 On March 30, 2006 7:18am o ceallaigh said,
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A kid was caught red-handed doing something illegal on the bus.

Kid was hauled before the school disciplinary authorities.

Mother screamed.

"That's not my child!"

"But we have the video."

"You faked it."

The kid wasn't disciplined. And the cameras came off the buses.

The problem is not the cameras.

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