Schools trial body cameras to aid safety and monitor behaviour
Two state secondary schools in England are equipping teachers with body cameras that will monitor students' behaviour.
The trial technology is being promoted by Reveal, a company that supplies body cameras to police forces and hospitals.
One school in Hampshire, Reveal claimed, said that the presence of a camera changed people's behaviour even when it was not turned on. That school, the company claimed, said cameras were "not something we can come back from." Another deputy headteacher claimed use of cameras had made for fewer dangerous confrontations.
However Tom Bennett, an independent advisor for the Department of Education, said he opposed the use of cameras because of the negative effect on the student–teacher relationship. He added there was a lack of evidence that it deterred misbehaviour, but that it did enhance the fear of crime.
Publication: The Guardian
Writer: Richard Adams