What is the proper of placing cameras on school campus?

Lannan Jiang

Writing and Comp

Mrs. Garino

March, 15, 2015

                What is the proper of placing cameras on school campus?

     Is it necessary to place cameras all over the campus in school? To regard this question objectively; the answer is no. In the 21th century, technology provides people with convenience, but sometimes it is not necessary to use technology frequently. Placing cameras in public area is a protection for students’ safety and security, but I disagree with putting them inside our dorms since students need to protect their own privacy.

     To begin with, the use of cameras is certainly a method to protect students’ safety, but they should be only placed in the public area and the entrance of each dorm. Cameras is very convenient for teachers to observe the activity of students on campus since the campus is too big for teachers to take care of at the same time. Not only to watch students, but also to monitor the people who enters the dorm and campus. It is because that the school doesn’t have a fence or a door, anyone can come in and no one would notice. In that case, students, faculty and staff will be put in danger if threatening people come in. So, the cameras can assist teachers to keep track on those who enters the campus so that people’s safety can be guaranteed. Therefore, cameras in public places effectively keep the activity in campus under control.

  

 Second, the cameras shouldn’t be placed inside the dorms at all because the cameras will be regarded as an invasion of privacy. Dorms are places where students and faculty live, where are very personal places. Even though the cameras are set in public area, it will be still uncomfortable with students. For instance, many of the boarders love to hang out in common rooms to have fun, such as watching videos, playing puzzles, eating and etc. Once there was a student told me that they were uncomfortable eating in the common room because they feel someone was watching. There is another issue with cameras in dorms even if they are not in the rooms: when girls come back from shower, they always wear just a towel around them. So it is inappropriate to set cameras in the hall way as well. As a result, students will lose their personal privacy if there are cameras placing inside dorms.

   At last, students are safe inside dorms without cameras. Some students think cameras are needed inside dorms because there were cases of loss of money. This is only because they didn’t lock their doors when they go out. Locking doors before leaving is a rule that school told us for a hundred times. What I meant by that, it probably is their own fault to lose their properties except when an emergency happens. A student has lost her money because she didn’t lock her door; she was the one to blame. Students may ask what if teachers don’t notice when emergency happens without cameras? The truth is even when teachers notice they wouldn’t get to you immediately right after the emergency happens because of the size of the campus. Besides, there are teachers like dorm parents to check on you all the time.

   In short, cameras are quite useful in public areas to supervise the activity on campus, but private places are not needed for cameras because students’ privacy should be protected. The appropriate use of cameras will benefit many people. To think from students’ perspective, they all want campus to be a place like home, so cameras inside dorms are redundant. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin.