THE DANGERS OF SURVEILLANCE

If the trend toward more surveillance equipment in schools continues, it
could create a furtive, suspicious and alienated generation of Ontarians.

The Ontario government recently announced school security measures,
including safety audits of every school in the province, and funding that
schools can apply for to pay for security equipment.

Some schools, including some in Ottawa, already use security cameras. They
can be a useful and appropriate tool in schools where there have been
problems with weapons, violence or intruders -- or where there is good
reason to believe such problems could occur.

No parents want to worry about their children's safety during the school
day. Violent incidents in schools are rare, but frightening, and they
receive a lot of attention.

Widespread installation of cameras is not the answer.

The current tendency to consider an area "safe" only if it is monitored by
cameras is misguided. Generations of students have attended school without
having their every move recorded. Electronic surveillance should not be a
default measure, but a last resort.

Schools should resist the urge to place cameras in out-of-the-way places
for no other reason than that they are out-of-the-way. If a hallway or
entrance is little-used, that is not reason enough to install cameras.
There must be some reason to believe the area could become a security threat.

Surveillance, by its nature, gives the impression that someone in authority
anticipates wrongdoing. If Ontario were to put cameras in every area of
every school, it would send the message that our government believes there
is something inherently suspicious about the areas where young people spend
time.

Comprehensive surveillance would only make students more rebellious, and
more creative in finding ways to rebel. If schools become prisons, no one
should be surprised if students start acting like criminals. Students do
expect some monitoring of their behaviour while they are in school.
Nonetheless, they also have an expectation of some privacy, and a right to it.

About a year ago, Ontario's privacy commissioner published a set of
guidelines for the use of cameras in schools.

The guidelines recommend, among other things, that boards develop policies
governing the use of cameras; that video surveillance only be used where
less intrusive monitoring has not been effective or workable; that signs
mark the locations of cameras; and that the footage be used only for the
purposes stated in the policies.

This last point is especially important. If students or staff believe the
cameras could be used to monitor their everyday behaviour, that could have
a dire effect on the morale in schools.

Ontario is still far from the stage where students swipe identity cards or
pass through metal detectors to get to class. That kind of surveillance
could come to Ontario, though, if our schools begin to value security at
any cost.

The Ontario government has said it wants the education system to instill
values. Students who are treated with trust and respect are likely to adopt
those values themselves.