UK Schools Spy on Students Using CCTV

The recent report reveals that secondary schools and academies throughout the United Kingdom have been spying on both personnel and students via CCTV cameras.

The report reveals that there were over 100,000 CCTV cameras installed in such institutions, while some of them were found even in private areas like toilets and changing rooms. Of course, parents weren’t very happy to know that and claimed that the spying state had gone too far.

The researchers collected the information under the Freedom of Information Act. They received responses from more than 2,100 secondary schools and academies, which admitted they used almost 48,000 cameras overall, half of them being installed inside school buildings.

207 schools also admitted they have CCTV cameras in toilets and changing rooms. The statistics says that over 50 schools have more than one camera inside the building for every 15 student. In the meantime, with 1,800,000 students being taught in these institutions, it makes it an average of one camera for every 38 kids.

Overall, 90% of schools have cameras, which may pose the question of how the situation managed to reach such impressive level without any concerns. Experts agree that the research in question brought with it really serious questions concerning the privacy of schoolchildren across the United Kingdom, with the full extent of school surveillance shocking a lot of parents.

Many people believe that both school students and parents should be asking why it happened that the educational institutions have become more like prisons. It is unclear to many what problem the cameras are to solve. In fact, the surveillance cameras usually have almost no effect on crime, but rather have serious impact on society.