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Bathroom Cameras a Good Thing, Says School
Filed under: Weird But True
Someone installs cameras in the school bathrooms, hoping to catch teenage girls involved in some "horseplay." Sounds like it's time to call the police, yes? Or Joe Francis. But wait, not only is the school well aware of the situation, it put them there.
Some students had "expressed concern that the wash basin areas were not being respected by a small minority" -- and so the cameras were installed, claimed Aeron Rhys, head of Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi, a school in Wales. "The CCTV was installed to monitor these areas and it's done the trick. There's been a significant improvement." Improvement in what, you ask? Misuse of paper and soap, according to one school governor.
One parent, whose 14-year-old daughter was a student at the school, is having none of it. The cameras are an "outrageous invasion of privacy," he said. "The whole place is like they're on Big Brother. There are cameras all around the school, outside and in the corridors."
"Toilets can be areas where misbehavior occurs," deadpanned the school and local councils, who are behind the cameras. Literally and figuratively.
What do you think? Are cameras a solution or an invasion of students' privacy?
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Some students had "expressed concern that the wash basin areas were not being respected by a small minority" -- and so the cameras were installed, claimed Aeron Rhys, head of Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi, a school in Wales. "The CCTV was installed to monitor these areas and it's done the trick. There's been a significant improvement." Improvement in what, you ask? Misuse of paper and soap, according to one school governor.
One parent, whose 14-year-old daughter was a student at the school, is having none of it. The cameras are an "outrageous invasion of privacy," he said. "The whole place is like they're on Big Brother. There are cameras all around the school, outside and in the corridors."
"Toilets can be areas where misbehavior occurs," deadpanned the school and local councils, who are behind the cameras. Literally and figuratively.
What do you think? Are cameras a solution or an invasion of students' privacy?
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 14)
2-04-2009 @ 12:58AM
JenniferBrig said...Hello, what is wrong with having hall monitors, or even (gasp!) teachers monitoring the bathrooms between classes? Or actually having students let someone know if they find a mess in the bathroom? If someone was patrolling the bathrooms, the way they used to when I was in school, there would be no assaults, or horseplay, or anything else. No one has the right to install a camera in a bathroom. That is private time, no one needs to be keeping an eye on that. If the bathroom is getting loud, then a teacher should be able to take care of the situation. Duh!
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2-04-2009 @ 12:08AM
kate said...Why not design a bank of bathrooms that allow for only one person to be in it at a time. It should be the size of an actual stall with a lockable door opening into the hallway. It would allow one person the privacy he/she needs to take care of necessary body functions. There should be sinks and mirrors in the hallway so that hand washing and hair brushing will be open to observers. That would negate the need for cameras at all. Also. the toilets in the "WCs" should be tankless so that no booze or drugs could be hidden there, and untamperable smoke detectors would alert to attempts at smoking in them.
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2-03-2009 @ 11:26PM
Allma said...I speak as a 45 year high school teacher/counselor, parent, and as one who comes from a family of educators. I DO NOT recommend cameras in bathroom stalls. I DO STRONGLY recommend cameras in the handwashing areas. One would be amazed at what goes on in school bathrooms, in upscale, as well as poverty neighborhoods. Being on a security camera while washing your hands is not an invasion of ones privacy. Many students are miserable because they fear going to the restroom with the possibllity of being accused when someone else is smoking, doing drugs, etc. Cameras would eliminate that among other things.
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2-03-2009 @ 9:47PM
EH said...Exaxtly!
2-03-2009 @ 9:36PM
Alexandra said...Apparently a lot of you people do not take the time to read an article all the way thru. There is NO INVASION OF PRIVACY HERE !!! These kids are NOT being filmed while using the toilets, they are being filmed at the SINK. I think that it is absolutely OK to film the sink area. A lot of you are probably not aware of some of the awful things that have happened in school bathrooms, including murder of a student, by another student !!!!!!!!!!
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2-03-2009 @ 9:35PM
Allen said...I'm not clear--is it a minority of students or is it minority students who are doing this. If the students are Muslim Future Terrorists of the New World, they should be monitored every minute of every day. As for the misbehavior and disrespect rampant among many youth today, I think you'll find that nearly 90% of the "bad" ones are illegitimate (bastard) children from "single-mother" homes. Funny how that works.
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2-03-2009 @ 9:48PM
Leslie said...Wow, that has got to be one of the most idiotic things I've read in a really long time. If, in fact, all of these "bastards" are in fact from single-mother homes, I wonder where the FATHERS might be? You're right - it IS funny how that works.
2-03-2009 @ 9:50PM
mary said...allen i bet you are one of these people that think problems never arise in your home because you sound very judgemental and you think you have it all figured out.if you have children get ready for a rude awakening. it can happen in any circumstance. MORON
2-03-2009 @ 9:36PM
20YrOldFemale said...At a high school I went to several years ago, there were several bomb threats a week (at least 3) for an ENTIRE year. Halfway through the year instead of making everyone evacuate they actually started a "sign in procedure". They had cameras outside the bathroom doors and left a sign in sheet for people to write their names and time in/out of the bathroom. Periodically through out the day someone would check the bathrooms and sheet and make sure there was nothing there. Sure enough the punk still did it and they caught him. It was absolutely ridiculous and annoying but I understood why they were doing it.n Our school had no money so no it wasn't upper class.
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2-03-2009 @ 9:45PM
Al Lanahm said...WHAT ? A Prayer Room for Muslims ? How does that happen ? I thought Schools' were a non religion place. How can they worship at School ?
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2-07-2009 @ 6:18PM
Alex said...Looking through ALL the comments Posted, I see two very good points. On one had we Do have kids running amuck and making the entire bathroom experience horrible for both users and custodians. On the other hand, our privlidge to privacy seems to be shrinking more and more every year to combat the few "minoritys". A couple of things I would recomend would be to have Camera's right outside the bathrooms to see who goes in at what time. Hall Monitors should FREQUENTLY check the bathrooms and report misconduct. And the school should be able to pin point who was in there at the given... 15' min interval or something. MAKE THEM CLEAN IT. Eventually people will get tired of cleaning the bathroom (with proper gloves and supervision to combat illness problem) and they will stop shitting in the sink =/
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2-03-2009 @ 9:47PM
PJ said...So it's ok to put a camera in a bathroom, as long as it is only aimed at the sink???? Yeah, people never use the mirror over the sink to check to see if they have food in their teeth, boogers in their noses, or to figure out how to cover up that embarrassing zit. Why shouldn't kids have to do all that in front of someone who is watching? It's not like they are PRIVATE habits that they may not feel comfortable having someone view. I mean, they won't have any privacy when they end up in prison for going berserk from being paranoid that people are watching their every move. What the hell has happened to this country? I know that kids bathroom habits are appalling, and often illegal, but there has to be a better solution than to erode even more of our privacy protections!
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2-03-2009 @ 9:51PM
irene said...For any parent being OK with thier kids being constantly monitored and having thier childrens privacy taken away...well what a buch of ignorant people...
What is the matter w/everyone and thier band aid solutions...this is gonna fester...
Our kids are turning into cattle, they want to tag,inject, and track our children as if they were cows on a kill chute...
Wake up people...why can't you see what life is turning into...your selling your kids off like they were going to market.
What is so wrong with you people that you can't see what is happening, it's disgusting....
as far as kids cleaning the bathroom...that is a big NONO, there are janitors that get paid well in the public schools to clean it...things are no different now than they were then ...now it's getting dramatized and you are being sold deadly vaccines, violating devices like cameras and chips...
Maybe the parent who think it's okay should have thought twice about having children, looks as though it's soo inconvenient for some that they resort to completely violating them... DISGUSTING
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2-03-2009 @ 9:57PM
daniellebhewes said...Recording the sink areas is not unheard of. Its true there are lots of assaults (verbal and physical) in school restrooms and I think this is a good way to prevent or at least have evidence of what occurred. Usually it is a few rotten ones that spoil it for the whole bunch, but I would rather have my kids safe. Blaming this on muslims (previous comments) is totally racist and out of line. do these people hang out in their kids school bathrooms? Or do they actually believe everything their kids say? Also I think cleaning the bathroom (under the supervision of a custodian and with proper gloves and whatnot) would be a great punishment and prevent repeat offenders; especially if they had to stay after school to do it.
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2-03-2009 @ 10:12PM
Sam said...only $600? I send my kids to a private school. Guess what I pay? $26,000 for one and $22,000 for the other not to mention the additional $4000 in school taxes, and it is worth it. So stop whining about how you think your kid should get treated because you pay a whopping $600.
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2-03-2009 @ 10:30PM
ame s said...Um, hello? I was not whining, but pointing out the fact that the tuition I pay pays the salaries of the custodial staff. Custodians: people who clean and maintain the school buildings.
$600 a month is high for private schools in my area. It sounds like you are being over charged.
I also do not recall whining about how my child(ren) should be treated. I don't whine about the fact that each student wipes down their desk with an anti-bacterial cloth after each class change. That is a good thing. My kid(s) being asked to clean a school bathroom despite the fact that a custodial staff is paid to do so is a bad idea. Teaching my kid(s) to clean up after themselves if they spill soap or drop a paper towel on the floor,at school or at home, i s a good idea.
Get it? Get over yourself and hop down off of that high horse before you fall off and hurt yourself.
2-04-2009 @ 1:35AM
Deb said...$600?? doesn't even pay for hot lunch for three months at our private school...high school is $25,000 per kid...elementary school is $15,000...I'm not sure I could even buy all their books for $600 and it wouldn't come close to covering the fees for field trips...what alternate universe has private schools that cost $600?????
2-04-2009 @ 11:23PM
Harold Cooper said...Though I abhor the idea of cameras spying on everyone, especially in the bathroom and other places where privacy is expected, When there is a problem, what other cost effective measure is there? I know from personal experience that bullies like the school restrooms to administer their physical abuse. That is a safety issue that has to be addressed ! Also there is a lot of vandelism and pig like behaveur, not sanitary and costly to repair and clean. Schools don't have the funds to post a live human monitor in all the restrooms. Does anyone have an alternative solution?
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2-03-2009 @ 10:25PM
ztk23balla said...I walked into a bathroom today and the mirrors were covered in soapy smileyfaces. and there was soap on the floor, ye the soap that is despenced, is yellow!!!
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2-03-2009 @ 10:05PM
Albert Thurman said...Since kids in schools today act like animals and/or criminals, they should have armed guards in the bathrooms.
If kids acted like decent human beings, cameras wouldn't be needed to protect the school's property.
Invasion of privacy??? Please, quit using that lame excuse to justify allowing the bad behaviour of adolescent hooligans to destroy someone else's property!
DUH.... The cameras are NOT aimed at the toilets!!
Wah Wah Wah....Cry babies.
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