A group of British teachers have come up with the solution to enforcing classroom disclipline - webcams! If you're like me, your first reaction to this is, "What the --?", followed by a brief moment of wondering how all those teachers in the 1940's and '50's managed kids without the benefits of the Internet. But let's see what the webcam proponents have to say:
Cameras linked to the internet should be installed in every classroom so parents can see whether their children are misbehaving in school. Teachers who unveiled the plan today said they believed it could be the key to improving discipline, and involving parents in their children's education.
But critics say images downloaded from the cameras could be accessed by paedophiles...
The "webcam" call came today at the annual conference of the Professional Association of Teachers in Harrogate from Essex teacher Simon Smith...Webcams have already been introduced in a small number of nurseries...
[Smith] said: "Bad behaviour in class is a big issue throughout the school system, but teachers have to handle it on their own. If pupils knew their parents could see how they were behaving then they would think twice about disrupting classes."
Indeed, pedophiles could get ahold of these images. Sure, passwords could protect the system, but no system is perfect, and who's going to install and monitor this system? How many professionals are they going to hire for security?
And - leaving aside the ghoulish image of having your kid's classroom behavior beamed across pedophelia sites - who on earth thinks this is viable idea? Do teachers really think that parents have the time to monitor their kid's behavior during the school day? Isn't that the teacher's job (despite Mr. Smith's complaint that teachers have to go it alone)? And doesn't this mean that each child's behavior is visible not only to their parents, but to everyone else's parents as well?
What is the parent supposed to do if they see something they don't like? Drop everything and rush down to the school? What if they see the teacher doing something objectionable, or another kid? Do teachers really want to open themselves up to the possibility of constant observation?
Mr. Smith has apparently convinced himself that the following scenarios are feasible:
(1) Parents will log on regularly, observe only their own child's behavior, and take appropriate action at home.
(2) Parents will not react to odd behavior by teachers or other kids, and will have no problem with their own kid's images being available to other parents.
(3) Kids who have severe disciplinary problems will calm down immediately if they believe their parents will be watching, even though the webcam idea makes it obvious that the teachers feel they can not, or should not, control kids without outside input.
Each of these scenarios seems ludicrous to me.
Webcams in nurseries is one thing - it's not surprising that parents who place their kids in day care want to have instant access, given the inability of infants to care for themselves, the horror stories you hear about unqualified daycare workers, and the general kitchy-kitchy-kooeyness that parents of such young kids have. It's easy to imagine them logging on constantly to check on, and admire, their tiny little Ians and Emmas.
However, by the time the kids are 5 and 6, the parents are probably comfortable with abdicating enough responsibility to allow the kids to go off to school, and the parents rightfully expect that, during the day, the school officials will handle disciplinary problems, notifying the parents only when necessary. This webcam idea puts the burden back on parents to be aware of what their kids are doing 'round the clock, and leaves the door open for schools to avoid the responsibility for imposing standards and discipline altogether.
Posted by kswygert at July 29, 2003 04:52 PM