Seems fine to me as long as there is a camera in the principals office too.
When I was a student I would have welcomed a camera in class. It could have caught the teacher slamming the desk top in my hands and slapping me around....
posted on September 24, 2003 06:23:29 AM
I don't know. Mixed feelings/thoughts on this issue. I'd enjoy hearing/reading a ton of different opinions to see the reasons those who object and those who support this, do so.
One side of the pro-camera issue for me is that with more and more families needing the financial support of both parents, this technology would/could give parents a chance to 'look in on their children' during anytime of the day and see for themselves how things are going. Might relieve the guilt??? some mothers face when they head back into the work force. I know it was being done in a pre-school somewhere, and at that point, appeared to be working well.
This article doesn't say if these cameras have audio or not. I think if parents of junior high and high school students could hear how and what's being said to their children the teachers might be held more accountable.
And I agree with this part of the article: Maryann L. Graczyk, who heads the union's Mississippi local, said that at a recent meeting, she heard Biloxi teachers express concerns about the cameras' effects on children and about how the cameras might be used in evaluating teachers' work.
Would that be such a bad thing to do? Allow parents into the daily lives of their children along with the giving them the ability to be able to evaluate the teachers strong and weak points. After all, these teachers are forming the minds of all our children.
posted on September 24, 2003 11:20:07 AM
I am betting - knowing what world class control freaks I've seen in schools that the output of the cameras will be 'too sensitive' to be released to parents. They don't have the training to interpret what they see you know. Just lay people.
posted on September 24, 2003 02:06:09 PM
I don't think that the images should be available to parents or anyone outside of the school administration. That's asking for trouble, you are providing 6 hours aday images of young girls to anyone who wants them and thats inappropriate.
That said, I don't have a problem with the cameras. If the treat of the image being caught on film helps to decrease violent or harrassing behavior, then so much the better. It's not longer a matter of accusation that the administration can write off or brush aside because there are no adult witnesses. It will also expose false accusations. How many schools systems have been sued by kids claimingthat they harbored an enviroment of abuse. This type of thing would either clear the school or prove immediately the accusations... less litigation... hell, the cameras would pay for themselves in a couple years.
The arguement of "kids should behave because it's the right thing to do" is admirable and correct but in with the upsurge of school violence, a bit niave.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on September 24, 2003 08:19:15 PM
I believe ABC will be showing it in prime time after Joe Millionaire this fall.
Republican, the other white meat!
posted on September 25, 2003 02:19:40 PM
The cameras would really cut down on abusive teachers.
When my son was in the fourth grade his teacher was fairly wild and sometimes unstable. One day she threw a pair of scissors at a student and missed him. My son said several of the students, with him included, got up and left the classroom and headed to the front office to report the crazy teacher. The teachers must have a strong union or something because they told rebellious students to go back to class. A camera would have helped avoid a second incident that happened later that year with the same teacher.
In my son's high school there was a teacher that advocated smoking marijuana and he was let go even without a camera.
If you'll remember back you're school days you may remember teachers promoting their own politics, biased opinions, etc. They never would have acted the way they did if it was on camera. Many teachers said slanderous remarks when they were mad.
Everywhere you go there are hidden or open cameras --- banks, 7-11's , mall stores, etc. and cameras should be in school too. ( and especially in the principal's office )
-------------- sig file ----------- Most costume jewelry is unsigned. After all, the vast majority of it was made to be worn a few times, then discarded. It wasn't made to be durable. --- The Fluffster
posted on September 25, 2003 03:45:01 PM
It's a good idea in some schools, and not just for students'protection. Classroom teaching is the 4th most dangerous profession, behind law enforcement, mental health work, and retail sales. I have a good friend who was a teacher in a high school in a neighboring state. Last spring, two boys started beating on each other in his classroom. When he attempted to break up the fight, one of the students turned his anger on my friend, and broke his jaw and cracked two of his ribs before some students pulled him off. My friend is now looking for a job outside of education. He was arrested on campus in front of students and charged with assault, the parents dropped the charges only when the school agreed to dismiss him. Cameras would have prevented a good teacher from being accused of something he didn't do by parents who make excuses for their kid's violent acts, and being hung out to dry by an administration with no balls.
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In this world of sin and sorrow, there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. -- H.L. Mencken
posted on September 25, 2003 04:36:01 PM
I agree with fenix that the images should not be available outside the classroom. But all classrooms should be filmed, especially for the teacher's protection.
-------------- sig file ----------- Most costume jewelry is unsigned. After all, the vast majority of it was made to be worn a few times, then discarded. It wasn't made to be durable. --- The Fluffster
posted on September 26, 2003 03:33:59 PM
Those figures are correct involving fatalities. The figures I used involved risks of assault, fatal or otherwise.
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In this world of sin and sorrow, there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. -- H.L. Mencken
