I still do not quite get the worry about pedophiles getting tapes of fully dressed kids. They could get the school yearbook and have all of their pictures and names , they could stand outside a school and film kids with a cell phone camera,etc. The pedo worries in this case seem like a straw man argument.

If a teacher does not want cameras in a classroom, I wonder why? The video would instantly clear an accused teacher of misconduct. It seems like these senior teachers just do not want their performance and teaching abilities recorded. , or perhaps it is the way they treat students in some cases. I cannot see one good reason to keep cameras out of classrooms. It protects the innocent and clearly shows the guilty, so what is the harm? Me thinks they doth protest too much !!

Originally posted by eyewitness86
I still do not quite get the worry about pedophiles getting tapes of fully dressed kids. They could get the school yearbook and have all of their pictures and names , they could stand outside a school and film kids with a cell phone camera,etc. The pedo worries in this case seem like a straw man argument.

We have gone completely mad in Britain with this issue. It is a complete over-reaction which severely curtails a respectful relationship that can be maintained between teachers and pupils.

If a teacher does not want cameras in a classroom, I wonder why? The video would instantly clear an accused teacher of misconduct. It seems like these senior teachers just do not want their performance and teaching abilities recorded. , or perhaps it is the way they treat students in some cases. I cannot see one good reason to keep cameras out of classrooms. It protects the innocent and clearly shows the guilty, so what is the harm? Me thinks they doth protest too much !!

I think that you have hit the nail on the head yet again eyewitness. There is too much lazy teaching practice and poor behaviour that will show the school in a poor light publicly. Of course misconduct by pupil, or teacher can be monitored in your suggested system but I am 100% certain that it will not be entertained by teacher Unions or schools.

Once again, a solid contribution.

I've been reading alot lately on ATS about teachers being fired for absolutely ridiculous reasons (the one on this thread is a good example.) So if we have computers in classrooms, where they could record everything, what's to prevent them from firing even more teachers for stupid reasons? They could pick out anything that a teacher does (especially if he/she is teaching something like evolution that the school board may not agree with) and use that for a reason to fire them.
Just being devil's advocate with the computer thing.

This may be a bit off topic, but I feel that your nation is on a really downward slide into total control and more crazy laws.

NO ONE respects and loves the British people more than I; Whether Scottish or Welsh or Irish or English, while traveling in your nation I was given the most warm and sincere friendship by your lovely people while there. Uniformly polite, caring, generous and honest, I was always greeted with real concern and shown the very best that your people can give. The British people are, I believe, more civil, socially concerned, giving and open than any others I have ever met. You have endured hundreds of years of changing history with grace and dignity, have defended the rights of the downtrodden worldwide, and deserve the very best government that a nation can muster.

Having said that, however, I must also say this: you allowed yourselves to become disarmed, you allowed the government there to install massive and intrusive survelliance systems in virtually every area of life, down to your trash bins, and you seem to either trust the powers that be or at least seem to believe that they have your best interests at heart, contrary to all evidence .You seem a bit perplexed and helpless to an observer; too polite to raise hell and get changes, too timid to demand rather than request that you are the masters of your own destiny. Eternal optimism may not be a desirable trait for your future.

We share a common fault: we trust too much and rely on those in positions to do something to actually DO IT to benefit us, and we are never suprised when we are rebuffed again and again despite making our desires well known at the polls, etc. We assume that all will be well in the end and that the people in charge are really patriots and only concerned with helping its' own people. That is a mistaken assumption and will lead us into the same quagmire you are now in: Once rights are taken, they are NEVER returned. The average American at least has enough weaponry and ammo to make it difficult, if not impossible, to make us a police state in the worst sense, and believe me, when push comes to shove the average American will lock and load if it comes to defending the basics of our homes and lives. You all do not have that option anymore. You now HAVE to be a docile and obediant population as only the cops and the crooks now are armed.

You are watched, taxed, listened to, measured and filed away in some database somewhere..the finest people in the world being treated like suspects at all times by an authoritarian and uncaring elite. It is a crying shame that the nation that basically civilzed the world, that established new and successful nations worldwide, that defines the very essence of intelligent and civil discourse in politics and business and has done so for hundreds of years, is being sold down the primrose path to total control and subjugation of the people by the same globalist billionaires that are ruining my country. What a shame. But at least we will be able to make a last stand and fight back if push comes to shove. And that fact may just be the reason that we keep a few basic rights while yours keep getting swept away with each phony terror attack or govt. sponsored ' event '.

I fear for us all but remember that you are the cream of the crop of civilized humanity, you carry the banner, and when that falls, the world will be a place I might not want to live in anyway. Good luck.

Originally posted by eyewitness86
This may be a bit off topic, but I feel that your nation is on a really downward slide into total control and more crazy laws.

The British people are, I believe, more civil, socially concerned, giving and open than any others I have ever met. You have endured hundreds of years of changing history with grace and dignity, have defended the rights of the downtrodden worldwide, and deserve the very best government that a nation can muster.

I am in complete agreement. This nation is the best in the world to live in because of its general tolerance of others. However, we cannot allow uncontrolled immigration from the whole of Eastern Europe. This
mat well be the next big problem for Britain.

You seem a bit perplexed and helpless to an observer; too polite to raise hell and get changes, too timid to demand rather than request that you are the masters of your own destiny. Eternal optimism may not be a desirable trait for your future.

I completely agree with you. We are the most docile public in the world and the most apathetic when we go to the polls. However, we distrust our politicians more than most other nations.

That is a mistaken assumption and will lead us into the same quagmire you are now in: Once rights are taken, they are NEVER returned. The average American at least has enough weaponry and ammo to make it difficult, if not impossible, to make us a police state in the worst sense, and believe me, when push comes to shove the average American will lock and load if it comes to defending the basics of our homes and lives. You all do not have that option anymore. You now HAVE to be a docile and obediant population as only the cops and the crooks now are armed.

Too true. I am watching our rights to proper democratic freedom decliing to an all time low under the Blair regime. I was hoping for positive change under the new guy, Dr. Gordon Brown, but after the last four days, I think that laws will become MORE constrictive and limit our freedoms to a greater degree. The recent attacks will justify laws to include GPS chips in cars and possibly chipped ID cards. At that point, I would not like to live here.

You are watched, taxed, listened to, measured and filed away in some database somewhere..the finest people in the world being treated like suspects at all times by an authoritarian and uncaring elite. It is a crying shame that the nation that basically civilzed the world, that established new and successful nations worldwide, that defines the very essence of intelligent and civil discourse in politics and business and has done so for hundreds of years, is being sold down the primrose path to total control and subjugation of the people by the same globalist billionaires that are ruining my country. What a shame. But at least we will be able to make a last stand and fight back if push comes to shove. And that fact may just be the reason that we keep a few basic rights while yours keep getting swept away with each phony terror attack or govt. sponsored ' event '.

Superb comments. I wish I could give you more than one star because this deserves an 'applause'. Once again, an excellent summary of the way that many people feel about what is happening to Britain surreptitiously. We have already 'bought into' the European legislative framework for a unified EU, whether we like it, or not.

I fear for us all but remember that you are the cream of the crop of civilized humanity, you carry the banner, and when that falls, the world will be a place I might not want to live in anyway. Good luck.

If we cannot stop the latest Fascist trends by Government in the next 5 years, the flame of hope carried by the Brits wll be snuffed out for good.