THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603070206
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 01W EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: TEENS AT LARGE
SOURCE: BY MARIA WORKMAN, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Life in high school is difficult as it is, but when video cameras are monitoring students' movements, some students think that the situation becomes a little more aggravated.
Last summer video cameras were installed in all Chesapeake public high schools, as well as in Tallwood High in Virginia Beach. In both cities, the cameras have gotten mixed reviews from students.
Edward Welsh, assistant principal of security at Western Branch High School, explained that when school first started, students at his school were shown how the cameras work, where they are located and were told what they are for.
According to Welsh, students have not been complaining about the new systems. He added, ``They have improved their behavior 500 percent.''
But students are grumbling among themselves. Beatrice Beltran, 16, a junior at Western Branch, said that the cameras make her feel like she's being inspected.
``I get the feeling I'm being watched,'' Beatrice said. ``Those cameras are a violation of privacy.'' She added, ``They won't improve anything because people will work around them.''
So on one side are the students who dislike the cameras. On the other side are administrators explaining why the cameras are there. In the middle are students who don't really mind the cameras, but who doubt their effectiveness.
Although a portion of students interviewed for this story believe that the cameras are not an invasion of privacy, they believe that they cannot solve the schools' security problems.
Kim Gore, 16, a junior at Tallwood, said that the cameras might ``help minimize fighting and locker thefts'' and ``let the principals know what's going on around the school.'' But she added, ``People are going to find ways to get around them and mess them up; no one likes them.''
Tallwood High assistant principal of discipline Maynard E. Mas sey said that no incident led to the decision to put the cameras in the Virginia Beach school. It was just an idea that needed to be tested, he said.
Massey added that the monitors are only used when school officials suspect trouble and not to spy on students walking down the hall.
``The cameras are here for the students' safety,'' Massey said.
J. Wylie French, director of alternative education and safe schools for Virginia Beach, explained that the installation of the video cameras was an experiment aimed at cutting down on violence and vandalism. He added that students who believe that their privacy is being violated are forgetting that the video cameras are in public schools.
``There is nothing private about public schools,'' French said. He went on to say that Virginia Beach school system would like to install video cameras in all schools. But that would cost nearly $1 million, money that the system just doesn't have. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
ABOVE: A video camera mounted in a hall at Tallwood High School in
Virginia Beach.
LEFT: An administrator at Tallwood, where this camera scans students
entering a hall, says students have not complained about them and
behavior has improved ``500 percent.'' Beatrice Beltran, 16, a
junior at Western Branch in Chesapeake, said having the cameras in
her school makes her feel like she's being inspected.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maria Wookman is a junior at Tallwood High
by CNB