The importance of video cameras in school

Klarissa Arballo and Sara Stanton

Do you ever wonder what the cameras all over our school really do? You see them in every corner of the school, inside and out. They are monitoring all day, seven days a week.

Well, if you have been involved in an unfortunate event such as when your car gets hit in the school parking lot, one of your belongings goes missing from your car or a fight breaks out, the school cameras can help determine who is responsible for these events.

If you are involved in an accident in the parking lot and no one is around, the school officers encourage you to let someone know, especially if you are involved in hitting a car. Doing so makes the process easier because if you do not confess, the cameras will confess for you. Your dishonesty could ultimately cause you to be charged with a hit and run.

Our school officers have stated that it really is not a big deal if you hit a car by accident. Of course, there could be consequences with your parents or insurance issues, but, in general, there is nothing you would be charged with if you go to someone first.

Fights are not uncommon in schools and in the general public. School administrators and police officers watch video footage from school cameras to help determine the cause of the situation and what really went down. This footage helps indicate what steps to take next in regards to the consequences for those involved in the fight.

If you witness a fight taking place, you may be like many others and take a video of the fight. By law it may be seen as an invasion of privacy, but if you already have a video, you should show it to the police. The police and the administration like to watch these videos to get a different perspective.

Drugs and alcohol can become a problem in schools as well. At times, students may enter a school with illegal substances on them, looking to trade or sell them to different students. School footage from the cameras can help figure out who is doing the selling and who is doing the buying. These students will then be taken to the appropriate authority to determine the severity of their consequences.

You may believe that video cameras invade your privacy, but they are there to protect you. If you walk out of school and see that your car has a big dent in the back, the cameras probably got it on video. If you drop something valuable in school and someone picks it up, chances are the video cameras caught it. If someone starts a fight with you, and if you do not fight back, the video cameras would have it on tape, so you wouldn’t get punished for fighting in school. Video cameras may make you feel uncomfortable, but when something goes wrong, the video cameras have your back.