Surveillance in Schools: Safety vs. Personal Privacy
A project created by
Kathy Davis, John Kelsey, Dia Langellier, Misty Mapes, and Jeff Rosendahl
“Surveillance…n. close observation, esp. of a suspected person” [emphasis added]
--Reader’s Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder, 1996
In 1995, “The total number of crimes committed per year in or near the 85,000 U.S. public schools has been estimated at around 3 million” (Volokh & Snell, 1998). Our educational system is evolving all the time, and one factor that is constantly changing is the aggressiveness within our schools. In 1940, a survey of teachers revealed that the biggest behavioral problems they had from students were “talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, cutting in line, [violating] the dress code, [and] littering” (Volokh & Snell, 1998). In 1990, the top-rated problems were “drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, [and] assault” (Volokh & Snell, 1998). In 1940, we had little need for surveillance beyond a teacher’s observation and intervention. Today, however, we live in a much more diverse society with troubled youth and adults who have easy access to weapons, drugs, pornography, etc., which have enabled students and staff to bring their violent and/or inappropriate tendencies into the naïve schools. What worked in 1940 (teacher-student confrontation) is not as realistic in contemporary schools, where teachers are hesitant to confront misbehaving students due to fear of violent retribution (Volokh & Snell, 1998) and where teachers are sometimes involved in inappropriate activity themselves during school hours.
Over the past few years, though, schools have begun experimenting with different types of surveillance in an effort to decrease such inappropriate activity by the students and staff. Since 1995, the percentage of victimized students dropped from 10 percent of all students to 6 percent in 2001 (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2002). What contributed to that change? It was not just one method, but rather a collaboration of multiple surveillance techniques, including school-management-based programs, environmental modification, and educational and curriculum-based programs (Volokh & Snell, 1998). This project addresses the value of a few different types of surveillance in schools, including supervision and observation through cameras, metal detectors, locker searches, and Internet tracking (email and web searches) and offers recommendations for their limited use. Not specifically or thoroughly discussed in this project are profiling and violence-prevention programs—mainly due to the limited time we had to work on this project and the broadness of those topics.
To read more about the specific security measures and how they should be used in schools, please click on the links below:
References
Surveillance. (1996 Ed.). Reader’s Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.
U.S. Department of Justice. (Nov. 1, 2002). Indicators of school crime and safety, 2002. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/iscs02.htm
Volokh, Alexander, and Snell, Lisa. (Jan. 1998). School violence prevention: Strategies to keep kids safe. Reason Foundation. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://www.rppi.org/ps234.html
Project Creator Contact Information:
Kathy Davis,
John Kelsey,
Dia Langellier,
Misty Mapes, and
Jeff Rosendahl
Course -
EPS 313
CTER program at
UIUC
Course Instructor -
Nicholas Burbules