Using CCTV to Foster Better Discipline, Redux

Last month at the School Board's discussion workshop, I discussed the idea of having cameras in the classroom to bolster security, enhance and improve student behavior, and to improve the overall learning environment.

The reaction I got was very lukewarm... no money was the rationale from the administration, and my colleagues were not enthused about the idea.

Fast forward a month, and we see all the fallout from Ferguson, MO, and NYC with the Eric Garner case, and the push for cameras for police--and I decided to bring the idea again.  I reiterated at the meeting the following important point.  We have utilized CCTV systems throughout the district to enhance security, we utilize CCTV on busses with great impact (to protect both students and employees and to maintain behavior), and now we are including the use of CCTV systems in school cafeterias to improve behavior--it is even written into the behavior management plan for Woodham MS.

So why the resistance to cameras in classrooms?

Others are doing it.  Fayeteville, NC is installing cameras to foster better discipline.  From The Citizen:

"The advantage of the teacher-controlled system is two-fold, staff said. It will allow a teacher to video a classroom lesson to increase professional learning and it will serve as a system to alert school staff and others to behavioral or other issues that require a quick response...The system “provides a ‘natural view’ of the student in the classroom if their behavior is a concern. This type of natural view has the added possibility of assisting educators with response to interventions. If there is a behavior disruption which is serious, the teacher can press the alert/panic button and help is much faster to arrive because of the immediate notification to the front office and or administrators."

Like it or not the future is coming, and cameras are the future and cameras protect students and teachers.  I'm going to keep bringing this idea, because I strongly believe it will help teachers and schools improve the learning environment----and it is coming sooner or later so we may as well get ahead of it.

Cameras in the Classroom

Several districts  have recently deployed cameras in the classroom, as a part of a Bill and Melinda Gates foundation initiative, as have districts throughout the United Kingdom.

Understanding this would be a sensitive subject locally, I can’t help but wonder if having classroom cameras in a small number of schools locally as a test wouldn't be a bad idea?  

I can think of numerous benefits:

1.  1      Security—we have several schools that have had multiple burglaries.  Having cameras could help catch the perpetrators.

2.  2      Physical security—we have a number of schools where teachers have been assaulted by students.  Cameras in the classroom could curtail this problem, and if not an aid in curtailing this horrible phenomenon, at a minimum it would greatly in the prosecution of the perpetrators-making teachers safer.

3.   3     We have been accused of meting out discipline in a disparate manner at some schools; classroom cameras could capture deviant behavior at issue and bolster the case for the discipline of students that violate the codes of conduct.

4.   4   Teaching practices could be observed remotely.  The tape could be provided to the instructor with suggested improvements

5.   5  Productivity could be enhanced (fewer instances of texting, leaving the class unattended, talking on the cell phones, etc.)

Now, I’m certain such an idea would require bargaining, and this is something that would have to be discussed by the board.  But seeing how effective the video-taping on busses has been in enhancing student safety and employee productivity-I can’t see how those same benefits (and then some) would not materialize for the classrooms as well.