I'm SHOCKED: My child says "Big Brother" to be monitoring her classroom via webcam,,,

reply to post by NightGypsy


Perhaps a self-led technology-homework project is in order to defeat the cameras

Infrared light against security cameras

reply to post by Blanca Rose

Perhaps you should be more concerned over the level of violence perpetuated by school aged children, rather than wondering why schools need to monitor the kids who should be in class to learn, rather than on a killing spree. Did you look at the link I provided? School shootings are happening at the middle school level.

Blanca, what on Earth makes you think I am not as concerned as I should be over violence perpetuated by school aged children? As I said, you're comparing apples and oranges here and making assumptions about what I find more important. I happen to live in a city where one of the largest school massacres in the country occurred and also happened to be working for one of the law enforcement agencies who responded to that horrible scene that day. Don't tell me about school killing sprees.

reply to post by citizen smith

Perhaps a self-led technology-homework project is in order to defeat the cameras

Ha, ha! I like it! (Although I think if Big Brother really is gonna be watching, my daughter will encounter some backlash for the use of the infrared light in the classroom). LOL

reply to post by NightGypsy



Well, then you shouldn't be surprised that the school needs extra security, via monitoring kids in the way you describe.

You say you responded to one of the situations, yet, cannot understand the need for this type of action by the school.

Just imagine, if a student who came to school with a gun could be located via this new way of checking, how deaths could be avoided, or stopped much faster, or even all together.

You think I am comparing apples to oranges. yet, I am seeing the forest for the trees.

The school needs to protect itself from liability when these types of things happen, too, and I see it also as a way of them protecting themselves for insurance purposes.

reply to post by NightGypsy

What? Is this something that was reported in the news? How did you find this out?

Andy has posted similar comments every few weeks in various threads. I have asked him several times to elaborate on his experiences and he never replies... It would be nice to know exactly what hes talking about , I know I am curious...

At least it is "Big Brother" watching your daughter and her classmates through a television and not "Big Creepy Uncle."

Really though...hopefully her teacher was pulling a joke or something, because I can't imagine how it would be legal for them not to notify parents of this.

reply to post by NightGypsy


Guy's check out the Movie "Phantom" is not horror movie, is about a hero who fights the New World Order and secreat society's, it talks about mined control. I was amaze by it on the accuracy of the movie and how they plan things with their sinister minds.

5 star post, thanks.

Originally posted by Blanca Rose
Scenario's of children bringing weapons to school, to not only kill teachers but also classmates is on the rise. A teacher has their back to the class quite often, and they do not have eyes in the back of their heads!

In your scenario the teacher still ends up shot, the only difference is that the whole thing is caught on camera.

We can now stream classroom shootings to the world minutes after they happen. Yay for CCTV!

reply to post by GobbledokTChipeater


That might very well be, but, hopefully the shooter could be caught before making it down the hallway into other classrooms or to the cafeteria.

My opinion is that it is a good thing to monitor the classrooms, and kids will just have to learn to quit picking their boogers and eating them, if they think somebody might be watching!

Also, it isn't only the students that get monitered, it's also the teacher. Imagine how many teachers that shouldn't be teaching could be eliminated, opening the slot for a teacher who can!

All around, this is a good thing, if you consider the positive applications of it.

reply to post by Blanca Rose


Not to be crude, rude or offensive but people with your mentality make me want to go on a killing spree myself. Our government has been sucking up our liberties in the name of security for a good while now and folks like you welcome it with open arms. Quit buying into the manufactured fear, it's being used to control you.

This thread is purely speculative. You should have waited until after you spoke with the school to find out what is really going on. For starters, flat screen tvs are not synonmous with spying -- they are for viewing; not spying, unless you are looking at old movies where a sombre face of some authority/controller appears on a big screen.

The screens have to be for something else. It wouldn't be the first time a teacher made a scandalous statement just to try and get his class riled up or fearful of his/the authorities power.

Come back tomorrow and give us the real story. I am sure its not what your daughter relayed.

Something people are not taking into account here is that this could be as simple as a way for school administrators ("Big Brother" in some teacher's minds) to remotely monitor classroom activity.

I'm sure you remember the principal or other school admin coming into your classroom on a scheduled date to evaluate the teacher's performance. You were probably also warned by your teacher that you had better be on your best behavior during the visit.

Bad teachers are not caught when they have forewarning of such visits. Coming from an educator's standpoint (I'm not an educator but my entire immediate family is; My father was a principal) this could be a godsend to make quality control in a classroom much more effective.

Not everything involving technology is nefarious. Now, where the money came from for such a set-up, I have no idea. All I do know is that school systems get huge discounts and price breaks on things like that so while it was still probably expensive, it wasn't as expensive as you would think.

reply to post by NightGypsy


Im curious. Your title says the kids will be monitored via webcam; however, you post says that TVs were installed. Those are two different pieces of equipment that do completely different things. A TV can not view you. And really what is the big deal with TVs being installed? At my daughter's school there are TVs in all rooms. They are used for various things, one of them not being spying

Did you not think to contact the teacher that very day and get clarification? I communicate with my daughter's teacher all the time. Via email mostly. Especially if she comes home and I have issue with something. You said you would not jump to conclusions, but yet you started this thread and jumped to conclusions immediately.

Your daughter is obviously giving you very wrong information causing you to needlessly freak out. Maybe notices were sent home with kids and she didn't not bring it to you. There are so many what ifs and and maybes in this alleged story.

Other than that, I really do not see the big deal with the cameras in schools. At a school, you do not have level of privacy that you do in your own home. It is school and unfortunately all kinds of bad stuff happens in schools. I absolutely support cameras in schools, except bathrooms and locker rooms.

reply to post by Blanca Rose


Please tell me how a TV/Web Cam will stop a shooting?
Thats right run scared like little mice to "Big Brother" he will take away your rights um....i mean "help you" and "keep you safe" just look at how the "patriot act" saved us from all them evil terrorist .

How can they put a cam in there without telling the parents? Oh and parent donations? Yeah right.
Even if there was no cam just a TV in every room i would ask why? Why not use parent donations to update books?

NightGypsy
Please find out the truth/story from the school and get back to us on this.

I think it's very important to wait for an update, with information provided from sources at the school, before jumping to any conclusions. Hopefully, this is being followed up on by the OP and we will be presented with that information today. Until then, there is nothing but pure speculation and (perhaps) needless paranoia, though the discussion is interesting in the hypothetical. Perhaps someone who has the free time today can do some research on what this technology may actually be, how it works and what it may/may not be used for... this would be helpful and interesting information to add to the thread.

Originally posted by Learn2Swim
reply to post by Blanca Rose

 

Not to be crude, rude or offensive but people with your mentality make me want to go on a killing spree myself. Our government has been sucking up our liberties in the name of security for a good while now and folks like you welcome it with open arms. Quit buying into the manufactured fear, it's being used to control you.

Your the type of person that needs monitoring, if you say you could go on a killing spree based on what I had to say. Schools have all sorts of problems that this type of equipment could be used for. Teachers coming on to students, not teaching what they should be, and also student behavior as well.

Get over it already! You are monitored for just about everything these days. At stores, in parking lots, at traffic signals, on google earth.

Embrace it with open arms? Why not? They better learn to deal with it, because you are monitored in just about every other aspect of your life nowadays.

Don't leave your house if you think this is the only monitoring people /students are subject to. You don't have a choice, no matter how much it disturbs you and makes you irate!

Do something about it, instead of criticizing why I see this as a benefit for several reasons.

Go raise a stink everywhere there are cameras, because that should keep you quite busy. "Smile, You're on Candid Camera," for real, just about everywhere.

reply to post by greeneyedleo

Did not think to contact the teacher that very day and get clarification? I communicate with my daughter's teacher all the time. Via email mostly. You said you would not jump to conclusions, but yet you started this thread and jumped to conclusions immediately. Your daughter is obviously giving you very wrong information causing you to needlessly freak out. Maybe notices were sent home with kids and she didn't not bring it to you. There are so many what ifs and and maybes in this alleged story.

Every good forum moderator should know that it's best to read a member's introductory thread carefully before making accusations that are false.

The information in this thread was provided to me last night around 10 p.m., which is obviously not during school hours. I stated in the OP that the info had just been given to me and that I was going to follow up with it in the morning, which I have done via telephone. I should be hearing back from the school shortly. Hooray for you that you are so diligent at keeping in touch with your child's teacher, though.

I understand what you're saying about the flat screen t.v. in relation to the operation of a webcam, however, I am simply relaying the information as it was given to me by my daughter. It may not be a television at all . . . perhaps it's just a monitor. What I do know is that (as I also explained in my OP) her teacher told her that a small pop-up window would occasionally appear on the screen, which would indicate the room was being monitored.

My daughter is 12 and is very level headed and perceptive about people and her surroundings. I believe I also stated earlier that her teacher is not known for being one to kid around with the students. While it's certainly understandable that some may presume she is ill-informed or pulling a prank, I know this is not the case. If there was a chance of that, I would never have started the thread.

I also explained in my OP that I was reserving my judgment about what was occurring until further investigation. Do you remember reading this statement?

Like I said, I don't know if this is, indeed, what is happening at my child's school,

I did speculate about what the potential might be for a "Big Brother" situation after locating some info on the internet that confirmed this activity has occurred at other schools. I also provided links to those sites.

This is not allowed on ATS, or one is deemed to be "freaking out" for no good reason?

Either way, I find your approach to my thread offensive, given the fact it appears you didn't really pay attention to what I wrote in the OP before you started accusing me of things. Not the best impression to give in light of the fact you are a forum moderator.

reply to post by LadySkadi


Well, here you go, first article that came up with a google search on the subject.

www.video-surveillance-guide.com...

Public schools have been equipped with video surveillance CCTV systems even before Columbine. The reasons include increased safety and security for students.

This is from 2005, so surveillance in schools is NOT something new.

There is a list of why camera's are beneficial, and this was the top of the list.

Provides school officials with information and evidence that’s not otherwise available.

Here is something else from the DOJ explaining why camera's are beneficial.

www.camerasecuritynow.com...

Finally, the solid documentation that a video recording provides can be invaluable in situations involving liability claims. Although it is possible that this may occasionally work against a school, most schools welcome this concrete evidence so that testimony regarding an incident does not consist solely of hearsay.

There are plenty of pro and con articles about this situation.

Originally posted by NightGypsy

I also explained in my OP that I was reserving my judgment about what was occurring until further investigation. Do you remember reading this statement?

You also used the word, "Shocked," in your title. Explain to me how that is reserving judgement? Can you see how the people reading your thread might be confused?

It seems to me you did pass judgement on the camera's before finding out the facts from the school.

Originally posted by NightGypsy

I did misread what you wrote about the time frame due to reading too fast and I do apologize for that.
However, as a member too I do feel my opinion on the TV/webcam issue is still valid. And I still think you jumped to conclusions by certain keywords used. But that is neither or nor there. Best of luck in getting to the bottom of this.