Should UniHigh Install CCTV in The School?
By William Farrugia
The idea and thought of CCTV at schools and work have been growing throughout the decades as the growing number of incidents at schools which CCTV could disincentivize, although not that many have looked to see whether or not they might have a psychological impact on students and staff at schools, or the feeling of being watched has some indirect complications to it, thus today I shall explore this somewhat hidden and subconscious reaction to cameras.
As of the survey evidence to which we conducted we gathered interesting results surrounding the prospect of cameras and what effect they might have on us psychologically as 75% of respondents thought that having CCTV lowers crime but only 40% believed it was necessary for schools to have.
This idea supports a general view among students and a substantial amount of the public generally that having cameras does disincentivise crime happening at schools, although many believe it is not necessary for all schools to have them as the main opposition has been that it is an invasion of privacy, and not to mention the psychological damage on the student. A study of a Virginia Tech school in the US found that CCTV increased anxiety for students and was negative for the environment at the school, albeit this was done one year after a school shooting at the school and if had been done before would maybe have given a different result although most surveyed in that study said that it gave a false sense of safety, because it was done after a bad event and not before one which lowers the sense of trust within that community.
The impact of this can be seen and analyzed psychologically as people are generally more weary around cameras as they have the fear of being watched in everything they do, this is the main resistance to CCTV in schools as it can not only watch our every movement but can significantly alter our persona and the manner to which we conduct ourselves in our environment.
In a study conducted in an Israeli school, they found that a threatening social manner about CCTV in schools was that it broke down relationships between peers as you are always watched and especially between staff-student relationships as they have the threat of being watched which lowers the quality of education as they aren’t able to have such a rich bond with the students, and when looking at whether or not parents would like to have access to the cameras most of them chose to have look at the footage if they had the opportunity to do so. Parents are the main advocates of CCTV in schools and are often in favour from the very beginning, especially in such an age of technology where there is ubiquitous surveillance many parents often push schools to implement it, although this often resolves in a level of distrust and negative relationships between parents and administrators at the school.
The impact of CCTV could also be seen in the psychological change in one's characteristics, as the fear, paranoia and stress of being watched can be increased with the input of CCTV in their school. It is also noted that crimes do not flatten out and go down to zero, in almost all schools vandalism and contraband continue to thrive in areas where cameras are unable to see, such as the toilets or behind certain areas of the school. In the field of education schools often aim for a climate of “shared beliefs, attitudes, values, that shape the interactions between students, teachers and administrators, and set the parameters of acceptable behaviour and norms for the school”, and in schools were CCTV was not present teachers often did better in areas regarding the openness of conversation, collegiality, professionalism, trust, commitment and cooperation between teachers, but with the introduction of CCTV into staff rooms and offices, teachers were more likely to be anti-social and less motivated to work with the feeling that they were in a prison and being watched constantly with limits on the relationships among teachers. This can be truly evident if CCTV is placed in staff rooms that have been called truly invasive and unnecessary as they are a breach of privacy for staff. Those that are subjected to CCTV in offices and staff rooms are much more likely to not develop good relationships and are more anti-social, it also causes more worry among staff as you are being watched.
In conclusion, although CCTV is to some degree good at disincentivizing crime at schools in many cases, the main debate about it should not too many degrees stand with the implication of privacy and if it is invasive, but what are the psychological effects it has on students and staff CCTV and whether the benefits outweigh the damage it stands to do to students and staff alike.