Cameras in Schools
Surveillance in schools has become more popular, not only for safety reasons, but also to monitor the classrooms and teachers. In recent years, violent episodes in schools in Arkansas, Colorado, California, Kentucky, Mississippi and other states have led educators and legislators to make safe schools a priority. The only problem with making the schools safer is how to make them safer without people feeling violated. Some programs to decrease the violence and inappropriate behavior rates are character education and peer meditation; however, this is not enough. Educators and legislators feel that with the issue of surveillance, the decrease will be more dramatic. Safety is not the only use for surveillance. Two of the most common types of surveillance are webcams and surveillance cameras. Webcams can record teachers in the classroom, how they handle their students, and the lessons they teach. Because webcams are easily accessed, they have negative responses when used in school settings, questioning the level of privacy. They can also be used for communication between two people (ex: over the Internet).
Surveillance cameras are mainly used for one reason: to ensure safety within a specific area. Surveillance cameras are used in stores, places of business, schools, etc.; however, the use of surveillance cameras in schools has also become a controversial subject over privacy.
Webcams are a more recent form of camera and live recording device. It is a camera that is designed to take digital photographs and transmit them over the internet. Live snapshots are taken and uploaded in regular intervals of a few minutes to continue to show a current picture. These webcam links are located on websites and are a...
... middle of paper ...
...ras make schools
safer? Toronto Star. October 15, 2004.
www.thestar.com/NASApp/
Lorber, Michael. (2002). Students Protest Surveillance Cameras. October 16.
2004.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2002/10/10-28-02tdc/10-28-02dres-04.asp.
Strang, Kirk D. (2002). Technology in Public Education: What Will the Quest
for Fairness and Efficiency Do to Individual Interests and Right? Educational
Management.
Toppo, G. (2003, August). Classroom Webcams offer cheap uneasy surveillance. Detroit New Technology. Retrieved October 16, 20004, from http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0308/11/technology-240814.htm
M-web (Thailand), School webcams. (n.d.)
Johnston, S. J. (2004). Squash a privacy bug in outlook express: plus: a worm turns Webcams into spycams; malicious skin threatens Winamp.(Bugs & Fixes) (ISSN: 0737-8939). World Communications, Inc.
In light of recent acts of violence in the nation’s schools, school safety and security have become a hot topic. However, the issue of school safety goes beyond student violence. It includes property damage, theft, and anything else that concerns the overall well being of schools. While it is important to create a safe environment in schools it is also necessary to make sure students feel comfortable in this atmosphere. The security can not be so overbearing that it becomes a negative tactic that gets in the way of the students main objective, learning. Barely noticeable cameras, ID cards, and security guards without uniforms can help generate this safe, but comfortable learning environment. On the other hand metal detectors and mini police forces may be a little too reminiscent of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, or even modern prisons. School security should not be overbearing or obtrusive where it gets in the way of a comfortable environment that is conducive to learning in the nation’s schools.
Which can be having armed officers walk though halls, making sure the school is safe from any harm that could potentially happen.
Current advancements in technology has given the government more tools for surveillance and thus leads to growing concerns for privacy. The two main categories of surveillance technologies are the ones that allow the government to gather information where previously unavailable or harder to obtain, and the ones that allow the government to process public information more quickly and efficiently (Simmons, 2007). The first category includes technologies like eavesdropping devices and hidden cameras. These are clear offenders of privacy because they are capable of gathering information while being largely unnoticed. The second category would include technologies that are used in a public space, like cameras in a public park. While these devices
Ideally schools in the United States are considered by both parents and students alike to be “safe-havens” where parents can trust their children to learn and remain safe during the day and where students can feel safe in a well-maintained learning environment. However within this fully regulated government service, there are often debates over proper classroom environments, teaching tactics, and privacy issues. Today the main privacy issue in public schools is where to draw the line between keeping the school safe and maintaining the privacy of the students (Boomer par. 19). Searches and seizures in schools are not recent issues; however they are becoming more public now than in recent years.
Whitefield, Paul. “Yahoo webcam spying: When Big Brother morphs into Peeping Tom”. Los Angeles Times. (27 Feb 2013). Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Surveillance cameras have helped hundreds of law enforcement agencies solve thousands of crimes throughout the nation. They have become so helpful that most law enforcement agencies are planning on setting them up on street corners, buildings, publication parks, and on their own officers. There are many cities across the nation that have began to use surveillance cameras. Setting up cameras is a pivotal technique to solving and preventing crimes. Although, it is often argued that having law enforcement surveillance cameras set up throughout the nations communities is an invasion of privacy, citizens should sacrifice a little bit of privacy in return for their safety and protection of civil rights against criminals and police officers.
There are many private companies or public spaces still using CCTV (analogue) at low resolution formats for surveillance purposes. Analogue CCTV has great disadvantage in resolution compared to megapixels or high resolution CCTV (Cavoukian, 2001). According to Ratcliffe (2006) analogue resolution is enough for general su...
In recent years, tragedies have been visited upon schools across the country. From Kentucky to Oregon to Colorado, the notion of schools as safe havens has been shattered by the sound of gunfire. These acts are not limited to any geographic regions or family backgrounds, nor do they have a single catalyst. Those who have committed such heinous acts have done so for different reasons, at different times, in different schools. But these acts of school violence have at least one thing in common- they have spurred all of us to take a look at what can be done to better protect children and teachers at school. Protecting our children is not simply a matter of public policy. It is a matter of strengthening basic values, of teaching children right from wrong, of instilling in them respect for others. We each have a responsibility to work to end youth violence and to keep schools safe for children and for those who teach them. Youth violence in many schools has reached universal proportions. It is not only happening in our high schools, it has also made its way into our elementary and middle schools. Everyone seems to have a different perspective on why there is such a problem with school safety. Some say it is the parents’ fault, some say it is the media, and others blame the schools. Yet, the question still remains. What can be done to make schools safer for the children and staff? One thing we need to do is learn to listen to our children and observe their behavior. According ...
Have you ever looked up while in a public place and noticed a camera watching you? While some people may be alarmed, others feel a sense of safety and protection. Electronic surveillance consists of cameras in public places to watch over the city streets or parks. Their purpose is to allow policemen and the state government to know when crime is happening and where in the city. Cameras provide a great advantage of protection over just having police officers patrol the cities. These men and women cannot be everywhere at one time, but the cameras can. Electronic surveillance should be accepted worldwide because it can identify criminals and decrease crime in cities.
There are some major upsides in having cameras in public places. In early 2013 two people set off bombs at the Boston marathon, which killed several people and injured hundreds. The city of Boston had cameras monitoring the streets, and was able to identify the bombers within two days. (La Vigne, Nancy) The FBI was able to catch them before they were able to carry out another planned attack in Times Square, which could have been much, more devastating. In addition to being able to solve crimes that have already happened by using cameras, we are also able to use them and the other technologies that go with it to prevent crime. The National Security Agency has reported that it has prevented several terrorist attacks since 2001 using new technology put in place to prevent the attacks. However, much of the NSA’s tactics have been criticized lately, though the majority of people still agree that it is worth it. Using cameras is also a cheap way to monitor an area. Having to employ several police officers to patrol an area can be expensive and those officers could be out doing more important jobs. When you have cam...
...se of this technology, in order to avoid it being abused. However, because all this technology is relatively new, there are not really any policies that are enacted yet. This will all change in the future, now that the media and privacy advocates are starting to ask questions. Law enforcement security cameras clearly have many benefits to our society, and with the right policies in place; the negative aspects will pale in comparison.
The issue of school safety has become a controversial topic in the United States, due to tragic acts of violence occurring on a daily basis. American citizens should never have to cope with the negative impact of school violence, no matter how often they hear about the tragedies (Jones, "Parents" 1). In the past, schools were viewed as a safe place for children to get an education. Recently, the concern over violence in schools has taken a toll on many parents, school administrators, and legislatures (Eckland 1). Studies have shown that there are over 3 million acts of violence in American public schools each year. Not all occurrences are serious and deadly, but they occur on a daily basis throughout our country (Jones, “School” 6). This has caused many parents to worry about the well-being of their children while they are in class. This has also led to an increase in questions and concerns by parents and guardians. Many people have asked, “What are you doing about safety and security on my child’s campus” (Schimke 2). School violence is the cause of elevated worry and fear for their children, and school districts should enforce better security.
Since surveillance cameras have been invented for security reasons at shopping malls and stores they have also been place in public areas such as stoplights, parking lots, hallways, bus stops, and more.
Do teachers change when an administrator evaluates them? Do parents worry too much about their kids being in school? Have many students around the world been falsely accused of something they didn’t do? All of these problems can be eliminated with one little piece of technology hanging from the ceiling. That little piece of technology is a surveillance camera which can be placed almost anywhere. Many schools are determining whether or not to install security cameras in classrooms. Those who have, have seen dramatic changes in teachers, students, and even parents. Cameras have many helpful factors. For instance, cameras can be used to train future teachers, broadcast to students at home, and deal with bullying. Having cameras in a classroom environment are beneficial for students, teachers, parents, and schools because they hold teachers accountable, help students improve their behavior, and evaluate teacher and student interactions.
Students might use their mobile phone such as a camera for bullying. For instance, they might record someone while there are in the bathroom and send to other students or post it on the internet. In addition, they may send a certain message to intimidate the others. Bullying can also happen to teachers. For example, students record their teachers while they are teaching (Pickett and Thomas 2006). ...