The CCTV generation – surveillance in schools

There are always questions about how much surveillance is too much. However, there may well soon be a generation gap when it comes to thoughts about issues of personal freedom and the right to anonymity, as a whole new generation in the UK is growing up to find surveillance techniques part of their everyday lives.

CCTV

We are used to seeing CCTV cameras everywhere these days, whether it is in town centres or on road and rail networks. The video evidence they gather is generally accepted to be a positive thing, but for some the idea of extending camera coverage in schools is a step too far.

Earlier this year the NASUWT teachers' union conference claimed there was now "excessive monitoring" in schools. The results of a survey which saw 7,500 members take part found that one in 12 staff reported "permanent surveillance" in the classrooms in which they worked.

Almost 10% of the teachers who had cameras in their classrooms could not turn them off and so assumed that recordings were being made all of the time, leading the union's general secretary Chris Keates to comment "Lab rats have more professional privacy."

Fingerprinting

Although most of us accept the presence of CCTV cameras as part of modern life, many draw the line at the idea of being fingerprinted unless it is as part of an arrest procedure.

Stourbridge MP Margot James thinks differently, as she is the governor of a school which has spent £20,000 installing fingerprint scanners.

Redhill School in Stourbridge is using the system as part of a move to a cashless system, aimed at cutting waiting times in the canteen. Others schools in the Black Country towns including Dudley and Wolverhampton are also taking part in the trials.

Some parents have expressed concerns about the scheme, which requires pupils to press a finger against a machine to convert their print into digital biometric data.

Ms James commented: "Redhill is ahead of the game with this kind of technology. I gather some parents are a little alarmed with having their child's fingerprints taken but provided parents are comfortable with the scheme then I'm ok with it."

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2014/09/15/school-backed-over-fingerprint-scheme/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27087936