Spy cameras will keep tabs on the children’s activities

Jamshedpur, April 17: It was a free period and Rohan Sathpathy and Neharika Das decided to visit the school library.

Browsing through the fiction section, they could not resist the temptation of taking, without permission, two Hardy boys books. They decided to formally subscribe during library hour. But a camera hidden behind the racks caught them in action. They were hauled up and asked to replace the books.

Deepika Pandey was working in the laboratory when she had a sudden desire to experiment with the different chemicals. With no teacher around, she started mixing the chemicals. Suddenly there was an explosion and the measuring flask caught fire. Her attempts to douse the flame proved futile as her actions were caught in camera. Call it keeping in tune with changing times or drawing inspiration from the Winona Ryder incident or simply the need to keep strict vigil on students, more and more schools in the city are installing spy cameras to monitor the activities of students.

But the move has been questioned by some teachers and parents, who term it as an “unethical infringement” of the privacy of students. “Its true spy camera makes children insecure. But then it’s not possible for me to make regular rounds of the classes on the second floor. So I have installed the cameras in the classrooms there,”said Sister Flavian, principal of the Carmel Junior College, where closed-circuit cameras have been installed on a trial basis.

“Our web cameras are installed in the laboratories and are not meant for surveillance. They are for web conferencing which is an excellent method of learning,” N.K. Singh, secretary and director of SDSM School for Excellence said.

RVS Academy chairman Binda Singh said: “Children can have fun during intervals. But when it’s time to study, discipline is required. Students are naughty and at their age certain restrictions should be imposed.”

But Telco Hospital psychiatry department head Ashok Patnaik holds a different view. “We cannot encroach on the students’ right to privacy. Spy cameras have an adverse effect on the child’s personality. Though children today are more exposed to the media they are a sensitive lot. Since corporal punishment has been prohibited in schools, use of such cameras is useless,” he said.

“Tasks being performed by the cameras are actually the duty of teachers who are role model for students during these years. A child is meant to be naughty as naughtiness adds to his or her creativity,” he said. Some teachers also have similar view on the issue. “I do not approve of the idea. It not only curtails the freedom of the students but also puts a menacing question mark on the teacher’s efficiency,” said a teacher.

It is outrageous to learn that we being teachers need to be monitored,” said a senior a teacher of a reputed city school, and mother of a teenaged son.

The cameras have had their effects. Sacred Heart Convent School, where the system was introduced about a month ago in the library, assembly hall and faculty room, sees a more serene atmosphere in the campus now. Expressing her contempt on the new restrictions, Shikha Shah said, “Now we can't even look into our tiffin during class hours, leave alone a stealing a morsel in it. We feel claustrophobia” (Some of the names have been changed to preserve the identity of the persons).