Big Brother — and cameras — are watching students

When I first heard about the cameras at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School, I was angry.

I grumbled about how this was an infringement on our privacy. I wondered how the school could possibly expect to produce responsible members of the community when they didn’t even trust them to be in the halls without surveillance.

Dramatic hand gestures were made and words like “Orwellian,” as much of an overstatement as it is, were used.

In short, I was mad.

When I talked to Principal Benjamin Eveland about the new security measures I wasn’t sure what his explanation would be. Maybe he felt they were necessary, maybe the district installed them. Though he didn’t completely change my views on the cameras, he did give me more information then I had before.

For those who haven’t heard, new security measures are being put into place in schools around the Mat Su. These measures include cameras in some parts of the school both in and outdoors and new traffic lanes. A bond that approved approximately $12 million and covered every school in the district funded the new measures. When I asked Eveland how he felt about the new cameras, he said he felt like they are good for student safely.

“This isn’t about catching kids or watching to make sure they stay out of trouble,” he said. “This is so we can keep everyone safe.”

Though I still felt the cameras were invasive, I could see the logic behind them. The school wasn’t cracking down on vandalism or other non-problems at school. The cameras are meant to thwart security threats and to help keep students safer. Though the reasons behind installing cameras and the benefits are different at every school, at Career Tech it seemed like the main concern was student safety. Not, as I thought, to spy on students.

New cameras aren’t the only upgrades at the four-year-old school. At other schools, new traffic lanes were installed. Here, teachers received cards and key codes to open certain doors. Keeping doors closed, especially outside of school hours, seems like a good idea to me. I wasn’t aware it was a problem and might not even fix anything, but if there was a gaping flaw in the security at my school I’m glad it was fixed.

At first I felt like the cameras were an unnecessary intrusion into the lives of CTHS’s students. I believed that the school was not only trying to find a problem where there wasn’t one, but it was ignoring the fact that students who choose to apply here are chosen in part because of their goals and their attitudes. I still feel like the cameras could be used to ruin the atmosphere of trust and friendliness and make the responsibilities of the students and staff seem trivial. To me, it depends on who is using them. I do trust the teachers, but I wish that the group behind the proposal of this school bond trusted us a bit more.

When I talk about the cameras “spying” on students and staff it doesn’t escape me that in high school you’re almost never alone. You’re constantly surrounded by your peers. It’s not like school is a place you go for privacy. Still, cameras that are on 24/7 and have the ability to be rewound and played again at a moment’s notice, along with other features, are different from being around other students. To me it almost seems like an intrusion into my life.

Cameras, like with any other security measure in school, can be used to make everyone safer. I understand that this bond is meant to be proactive and minimize threats to staff and the student body. I trust that my teachers and principal want what’s best for my peers and I, which might be why I have heard so little fuss about the cameras. I hope that the school uses the new equipment wisely, but also trusts the students to do what’s right. After all, this is one of Career and Technical High School’s guiding philosophies.

Sophie Harris is a junior at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School.