| British schools are installing surveillance cameras in toilets. This is how they fight children's pranks, and at the same time, the overuse of toilet paper. The events in the county of Kerrigan (Wales, UK) have stirred up the entire school community of the country. As it turned out, the administration of one of the local schools decided to put an end to pranks in the toilets in a very unusual way.
Two months ago, security cameras were installed next to the paper towel and soap dispensers to identify naughty kids and the «improper» use of toilet paper, the BBC reports, citing local authorities. Parents, having learned of the new regulations, were furious and began talking about an «unprecedented invasion» of their children's privacy. Many did not want to leave their children under the all-seeing eye and took them away in a scandal.
According to the school's principal, Aaron Rees, nothing special has happened at his school. In his opinion, the installation of cameras «worked» perfectly: discipline «improved significantly» and there was no intrusion into the students' privacy because of it. «Previously, both our students and cleaners constantly complained that the children were constantly playing with the water at the sinks. Others were always starting noisy games in the toilets, and still others were wasting toilet paper and soap. After the installation of cameras, there were no more complaints. And although this decision was not easy for us, we made it mainly in the interests of the children,» he told one of the local publications.
Moreover. According to the principal, it was decided to monitor what was happening in the toilets with the consent of the school council and was discussed with the students in advance. They allegedly approved the administration's decision, and the head of the district school council, Keith Evans, supported the discipline measures proposed by the principal. «There is always mischief in school toilets. And after installing cameras, at least there is no need to worry about toilet paper and soap,» he explained the unconventional move by the school administration.
However, to the disappointment of the authors of the idea, the parents did not appreciate the savings in soap and toilet paper. And Anthony White from the city of Landisul took his 14-year-old daughter out of school, slamming the door goodbye: «This wonderful place is now under the full supervision of Big Brother. Video cameras are installed throughout the school: outside, inside, in the corridors,» he told local journalists. According to the British father, being in such an environment is extremely harmful for a child: this is «a real invasion of privacy,» he believes.
Russian schoolchildren do not need to worry about such a trick: our schools do not even have money for a security alarm, let alone install cameras in the toilets. However, they should still learn one lesson from the toilet problems of their British peers. Before making a controversial decision, the principal was forced to discuss it, and then secure the approval of the school governing board. That is, the schoolchildren themselves. Whether they made the right or wrong decision in this case is not important. The main thing is that the school administration cannot ignore their opinion in principle.
In most of our schools, there are still no governing boards. This means that the hands of our school administration are not tied by anything, and theoretically it can make any decision, even the most idiotic one. This makes most of our schoolchildren defenseless against the tyranny of the authorities and even more so – against the all-seeing eye of Big Brother.
Moskovsky Komsomolets |
