Opposition to surveillance in schools is characterized by accusations that surveillance methods infringe student rights. While very few oppose increasing security in schools, especially in the wake of seemingly constant school tragedies, many argue that the application of security measures is unfair and misdirected at mundane issues, resulting in the amplification of prejudices and the creation of an oppressive school ecosystem that places school administrators on an authoritative pedestal with the ability to abuse power. This leaves stakeholders searching for the right balance between security and freedom, and trying to find out where technology meant to be focused on protecting students goes wrong. Melinda Anderson’s report for The Atlantic …show more content…
She focuses especially on physical surveillance methods, which includes “metal detectors, locked gates, security cameras, random sweeps, and school police” (Anderson, para.2). Quoting research from Jason P. Nance, Anderson explains that racial disparities exist in many educational programs, of which student surveillance is just one, that further exacerbate “educational inequalities” experienced by African Americans “to the highest degree” (Anderson para.7). In Anderson’s opinion, punitive surveillance is not the only way to promote school safety. She claims that schools should give attention to relationship building among students and faculty and spend money on counselors or other staff (Anderson para.14) that can solve underlying problems within the student body instead of security measures that are designed to target crime and school violence, 62 percent of which occurs on majority white campuses (Anderson para.7), and don’t address other social problems that could be at work in a community affected by poverty and …show more content…
She includes that the people implementing these policies believe it creates an atmosphere of safety, citing the Boston Chief of Police for city schools who says metal detectors “make students feel safer [because] ’They know they can’t bring in a weapon, but they also know the kid behind them can’t either”’ (Anderson para.6). According to Anderson, though, treating every student like a criminal “diminish[es] feelings of trust and safety” (Anderson para.8) and could be a factor in the school-to-prison pipeline. She contends that students do not want to engage in a school system that puts discipline first because, with evidence from Kesi Foster, students feel they are seen “’as less than or as criminal out of the gate’” (Anderson para.13). Anderson states that surveillance measures are harmful to black students in particular because when they are applied unequally it sends “the message that […] white children have greater privacy rights than nonwhite children,” (Anderson para.17) which would be likely to affect how students feel they are viewed in and out of the classroom. Additionally, use of security techniques has presented challenges to getting “kids into the building on time” (Anderson para.9) has met significant opposition from stakeholder groups and has not been proven to make schools
Another school in the same district is located “in a former roller-skating rink” with a “lack of windows” an a scarcity of textbooks and counselors. The ratio of children to counselors is 930 to one. For 1,300 children, of which “90 percent [are] black and Hispanic” and “10 percent are Asian, white, or Middle Eastern”, the school only has 26 computers. Another school in the district, its principal relates, “‘was built to hold one thousand students’” but has “‘1,550.’” This school is also shockingly nonwhite where “’29 percent '” of students are “‘black [and] 70 percent [are]
The second is the concern over segregation and the effect it has on society. Mr. Kozol provides his own socially conscious and very informative view of the issues facing the children and educators in this poverty ravaged neighborhood. Those forces controlling public schools, Kozol points out, are the same ones perpetuating inequity and suffering elsewhere; pedagogic styles and shapes may change, but the basic parameters and purposes remain the same: desensitization, selective information, predetermined "options," indoctrination. In theory, the decision should have meant the end of school segregation, but in fact its legacy has proven far more muddled. While the principle of affirmative action under the trendy code word ''diversity'' has brought unparalleled integration into higher education, the military and corporate America, the sort of local school districts that Brown supposedly addressed have rarely become meaningfully integrated. In some respects, the black poor are more hopelessly concentrated in failing urban schools than ever, cut off not only from whites but from the flourishing black middle class. Kozol describes schools run almost like factories or prisons in grim detail. According to Kozol, US Schools are quite quickly becoming functionally segregated. Kozol lists the demographics of a slew of public schools in the states, named after prominent civil rights activists, whose classrooms are upwards of 97% black and Hispanic — in some cases despite being in neighborhoods that are predominantly white. It has been over 50 years since Brown vs. Board of Education. It is sad to read about the state of things today.
Daggett, Lynn M. "Book 'Em?: Navigating Student Privacy, Disability, And Civil Rights And School Safety In The Context Of School-Police Cooperation." Urban Lawyer 45.1 (2013): 203-233. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Black adolescents are more likely to be suspended or expelled than their White peers, yet close to all government and community based programs are focused on specifically helping young Black men achieve academically. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw wrote the article “Black Girls Matter” in 2015. This article was meant to be informative and persuasive. Crenshaw wanted to inform readers about the issue of Black girls being excluded from race-based government initiatives and persuade them to agree with her claim about this being an issue. In order to convince readers that government and community officials need to create more programs that focus on the academic success of Black girls, Crenshaw had to inform readers with statistics and other facts about
Populous places such as shopping malls or airports contain metal detectors in all the exits but in schools they are not necessary. People think they wont change much and they can be added to the school without any negative effects but they disrupt the school much more than that. The article discusses, “The weapon detection program requires 9 security officers for approximately 2 hours
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.
America demands that all youth receive an education and that its educational system is free and open to all—regardless of class, race, ethnicity, age, and gender. However, the system is failing. There is still inequality in the educational system, and minorities’ experience with education is shaped by discrimination and limited access, while white people’s experience with education is shaped by privilege and access. The educational experience for minorities is still segregated and unequal. This is because the number of white children that are withdrawn from school by their parents is higher than the number of people of color enrolling. White parents are unconsciously practicing the idea of “blockbusting,” where minorities begin to fill up a school; whites transfer their children to a school that has a small or no minority population. They unconsciously feel like once their child is in a school full of minorities that school would not get the proper funding from the federal government. Bonilla-Silvia (2001) states that “[i]nner-city minority schools, in sharp contrast to white suburban schools, lack decent buildings, are over-crowded, [and] have outdated equipment…” (97). The “No Child Left Behind” Act, which holds schools accountable for the progress of their students, measures students’ performance on standardized tests. Most white children that are in suburban schools are given the opportunity to experience education in a beneficial way; they have more access to technology, better teachers, and a safe environment for learning. Hence, white students’ experience with the education system is a positive one that provides knowledge and a path to success. Also, if their standardized testing is low, the government would give the school...
Another major reason why juveniles are ending up in the juvenile justice system is because many schools have incorporate the zero tolerance policy and other extreme school disciplinary rules. In response to violent incidents in schools, such as the Columbine High School massacre, school disciplinary policies have become increasingly grave. These policies have been enacted at the school, district and state levels with the hopes of ensuring the safety of students and educators. These policies all rely on the zero tolerance policy. While it is understandable that protecting children and teachers is a priority, it is not clear that these strict policies are succeeding in improving the safety in schools.
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.
Students should not be afraid to attend school. School should be a safe environment where teenagers could be teenagers and not feel intimidated. CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, is a school based survey designed to produce a sample of risk behaviors of students ages 9-12. In the CDC Media Relations web page the 1997 statistics show that 8.3% of high school students carry a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) to school and 7.4% of high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property throughout the year. In the report also included was that nationwide, 4% of students had missed 1 ...
Which can be having armed officers walk though halls, making sure the school is safe from any harm that could potentially happen.
It’s important not to overlook the fact that young people’s privacy is equally as important as anyone else’s. The fact that they’re young students increases the need for student privacy, as our minds can be more vulnerable and fragile. Privacy can ensure feelings of safety and comfort. The first and one of the most important reasons locker searches shouldn’t be conducted is because of how it affects student trust. When students are informed their lockers can be searched at any time, it may give them the impression that they’re not trusted and are doing something wrong, even if that student is completely innocent.
History has revealed that once these surveillance technologies have been put up, departments can increase the number and quality of cameras without any opposition (Sprigman). And with all of the problems and prejudices that ravage America today, the police and government will be very tempted to put more as a precaution. Right now, there is no clear line between surveillance for protection and American values. But if this continues to get out of hand, surveillance systems might change into something much more sinister. Of course, there are numerous laws and established rules that prohibit audio recording individuals without their permission. But that is just for audio and currently, there are no similar rules for camera surveillance. As time goes by, the amount of public cameras increases and this will also bring minor changes to people’s personality and even characteristics. Similar to any technology that harms privacy, the benefits of deploying public surveillance systems must be accounted for, including the benefits and the costs. The main benefit is that it can prevent petty crimes but the chances are very small. Public surveillance can change people’s experiences and normal behaviors because it has a cold effect on the mass public. This carries a very real danger because anybody could abuse this power and in the long run, would not be able to protect us from very minor crimes, much less any acts of terrorism. Public spaces serves as a macro view but schools are a specific
In the United States high schools dealing with student’s privacy are becoming more of a huge problem and more students are feeling that schools are validating their privacy rights. In recent discussions of teen privacy in school, is whether if schools go overboard sometimes and feel they can search the student’s because they are using school property or are on school property. Some people feel that students do need more privacy from their schools because they need their privacy just like everyone else, and with this more reasonability they will have to get them ready when they leave school. On the other hand, some think that by giving more privacy to the student’s more poor decisions would come out of it than strong ones. Students that have
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.