[Infowarrior] - UK students' op-ed on classroom CCTV

[Richard Forno]

We don't need no CCTV in our classroom

Our school's installation of TV cameras to watch our lessons is an  
insult – a fact many adults failed to grasp when we protested

Leia Clancy and Sam Goodman
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 June 2009 13.30 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/03/cctv-classroom

Earlier this year, on a school day like any other, we shuffled into  
our politics class at 11.20 on a Monday morning. What we didn't notice  
straight away were four tinted CCTV domes hanging from the ceiling  
including a huge monitor dome staring right at us. Confusion and anger  
broke out among us. A teacher casually stated that they were for  
teacher training purposes. After a thought of "God, George Orwell was  
right", some of us angrily packed up and left – we weren't comfortable  
working in a classroom with cameras.

It turned out that our entire class was angry or confused over the  
cameras. Out of a class of 18 students, 17 felt uncomfortable with the  
idea and decided to boycott the room until the issue, and the  
students, were addressed. This was a difficult decision as we were  
three months away from exams and we had five lessons a fortnight in  
the room. The student body was supportive and a petition gained over  
130 signatures from the sixth-form.

Two weeks later our teacher read a statement from our headteacher  
explaining the cameras were to be used for teacher training purposes  
alone, that the system was not currently switched on, and that we  
would be warned whenever it was meant to go live. It did, however,  
also say that it was initially not deemed "necessary" to consult the  
pupils about the installation.

Lessons continued, although a few weeks later when students discovered  
that the recording system was in a cupboard in our classroom the  
microphones were found to in fact be switched on. We switched them off.

The school is currently awaiting a decision from the information  
commissioner as to whether the cameras can remain or not. Henry's  
Porter's blog about our decision to "revolt against classroom CCTV"  
sparked a huge debate on the issue of CCTV in schools. Although users  
were largely supportive, we wanted to respond to some of the  
misinformation posted by commentators.

Many users suggested that cameras were a good idea because they could  
be used to keep an eye on bullying and student behaviour, we were  
accused of been "narcissistic megalomaniacs" angry at "being nabbed  
for our churlish troublemaking". This stereotypical and frankly  
ignorant view ignores the fact that Davenant Foundation School  
produces some of the best exam results in Essex. Violent behaviour  
among pupils is simply not an issue, making the justification for  
putting cameras in our classrooms more surprising.

Adults are often quick to define the youth of today as stereotypical  
troublemakers and violent offenders – generalisations which are  
prompted by the media – when in fact the majority of students at our  
school are as responsible and arguably better behaved then the  
majority of adults. Some commentators insinuated that we overheard  
adults talking about rights and repeated it. That notion isn't worth  
the space it was typed upon. We are A-level politics students who have  
been studying civil liberties as part of the curriculum for the last  
two years. Sam campaigned for David Davis when he resigned over the  
issue of civil liberties and spoke at speakers' corner about the  
issue. The criticism of our campaign only serves to illustrate the  
ignorance of adults who have surrendered within only the last few  
years our right to protest in parliament, our right to go about our  
business without being stopped and questioned by police about our  
identity and our affairs, and our personal privacy.

Eroding standards in schools and deteriorating discipline are down to  
a broken society and the failure of the education system. The truth is  
that we are whatever the generation before us has created. If you  
criticise us, we are your failures; and if you applaud us we are your  
successes, and we reflect the imperfections of society and of human  
life. If you want to reform the education system, if you want to raise  
education standards, then watching children every hour of every day  
isn't the answer. The answer is to encourage students to learn by  
creating an environment in which they can express their ideas freely  
and without intimidation.