Somebody’S Watching Me
Faced with school shootings, old-fashioned fist fights and vandalism of school property, many schools in recent years have taken steps to thwart future incidents. It’s not uncommon to see video surveillance cameras in school hallways today.
The Deer Park High School student newspaper The Stag explored the use of video and audio surveillance in the school. The following story was reprinted from the March 24 issue of The Stag.
A few years ago Deer Park High School installed a security camera to catch vandals who were constantly victimizing the vending machine outside of room 408.
At the time, most people knew about the added security. Teacher Lita Tabish, who requested the installation of the first camera, made it clear to all that she would be watching her vending machine. Since that time, three more security cameras have been added in various locations.
“It wasn’t like it was a secretive thing,” said Vice Principal Mike Morgan. “The kids know they’re there.”
However, many students are not aware of how many cameras there actually are in the school or of the fact that the cameras are equipped to not only record visual pictures but also audio tapes. In other words, the administration has the ability to both see and hear everything that students do.
Morgan says that cameras were installed to combat theft and vandalism and that so far they have only been used for that purpose. Principal Trip Goodall reaffirmed his statement.
“The only time I have ever viewed a video at this school is when there was destruction or vandalism,” he said.
However, on the topic of audio surveillance he said, “Me personally? I wouldn’t like that.”
Aside from being a surprise to most students, recording conversations without the consent of all parties violates state law.
“The state of Washington permits a person to record a conversation by electronic means only so long as the other person agrees,” said Thomas Milby Smith, civil rights attorney. “But you’re in a gray area legally. Schools are given a great deal of deference to do things that would otherwise be illegal or unconstitutional outside of the school grounds.”
Basically this means that although it is technically not legal to record what students say, a lawsuit would probably not be ultimately successful. “The (Supreme Court) would characterize this as security to maintain dignity and order,” said Smith.
Another civil rights attorney, Larry Kouznitz, simplified the explanation: “The school has traditionally been the substitute parent. There are less rights there.”
As further testament to this fact, courts have frequently sided with schools in cases concerning rights to privacy.
When informed that there were legal issues concerning the auditory surveillance, Morgan responded that the cameras were three years old, that they had yet to be used for the purpose of obtaining audio evidence, and that it would be difficult to discern individual conversations in times when there was great amount of background noise. He also added that no one was quite sure how to disable the audio part of the system.
“Later on I can see a more sophisticated system being installed into the school to react to an increasing level of violence and vandalism,” he said.
Right now he is considering proposing to the school board the purchase of three surveillance cameras to be situated outside the school. The cameras would be used to monitor the parking lot and grounds and would be very powerful. Morgan said that one model they are looking into could be mounted on the side of the school and would still be able to read the license plate on a car entering the student parking lot. “At least that’s what the salesman said,” Morgan said.
While added security cameras likely would increase safety for students, they also would reduce student privacy.
Smith, the civil rights attorney, offered some advice to students. “It’s hard to tell if you would be able to stop it (the audio recording). Probably not. Just know that you are being observed and recorded and that there is a question as to whether or not this is legal.”