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Should teachers be able to wear body cams in the class room?

(44 Posts)
Smileless2012 Mon 18-Jul-22 16:08:02

This was talked about on 'Morning Live' this morning and is a request being made by a teacher falsely accused of assault by a pupil.

TBH I'm not sure how I feel about this. Is it an invasion of privacy and if so, is it justifiable in order to protect teachers from false allegations?

GagaJo Sat 23-Jul-22 18:17:30

Ali08

I think it's a good idea, as likewise with CCTV in and around the schools!
Also, because schools are so darned fussy about children's uniforms, I think the teachers & staff should be wearing the same - except with 'head' 'teacher' 'staff' etc on them - and have the same restrictions as the children have!!

Summer holidays innit.

Bored already?

westendgirl Sat 23-Jul-22 12:47:05

Ali08, I presume you are having a laugh ?

Ali08 Sat 23-Jul-22 12:42:28

I think it's a good idea, as likewise with CCTV in and around the schools!
Also, because schools are so darned fussy about children's uniforms, I think the teachers & staff should be wearing the same - except with 'head' 'teacher' 'staff' etc on them - and have the same restrictions as the children have!!

GagaJo Thu 21-Jul-22 15:36:56

*and upload it

GagaJo Thu 21-Jul-22 15:36:20

Not appropriate for students to film in a classroom. It borders on harassment. Kids do it and uploaded and it on social media.

Not to mention, students should not have phones out in a classroom.

Teachers don't film students on their own mobile devices. It'd be a sacking offence.

oodles Thu 21-Jul-22 15:32:08

the difference would be @Glorianny, that any footage taken by an official bodycam/cctv co
If a teacher was behaving badly I'd support any child getting evience on their phone as long as they only shared it with the right people

Beautful Wed 20-Jul-22 12:20:28

I agree Mokryna as they say Mud Sticks ... even if innocent ... some people may still question it & have their doubts

mokryna Tue 19-Jul-22 18:33:41

My friend was accused, it was retracted after a few days but the stained stayed and it made the last two years of work miserable.

Glorianny Tue 19-Jul-22 18:27:25

I wonder also if bodycams would be thought by children to give them a right to use their phones to film teachers? On the basis if you can do it so can I.

oodles Tue 19-Jul-22 18:17:59

@Smileless2012 indeed it could catch an attack on a child, but actually a teacher could do somthing like move a scarf over the lens or 'accidentally ' turn the sound down if determined to assault. But yes, there is a way around everything. At my children's school there was the odd teacher who lied or behaved in an unacceptable manner, and probably all of us remember being wrongly accused of something and the teacher was believed. The vast majority of teachers I've come into contact with either at school myself or at my children's schools, no problems at all, just the odd one here and there

Glorianny Tue 19-Jul-22 16:17:03

OhI don't know about this. I can see they might give some degree of protection, but wouldn't they also be regarded as a challenge by some pupils? What can you do that the camera can't catch? Not to mention the kid who thinks it's some sort of route onto Hollyoaks and keeps acting and posing while asking inane questions. Could you post some of the footage on You tube? Or would that be unethical?

Antonia Tue 19-Jul-22 16:16:17

Athrawes

With what is happening these days it's a route that ought to be considered, but oh dear! how sad that we've come to this

Yes it is sad, but no sadder than many aspects of today's society which includes so many entitled people.

Antonia Tue 19-Jul-22 16:14:45

Yes, definitely. There are far too many parents who don't believe their little angel can behave atrociously.
It would also be useful in establishing the truth in cases of accusations.
After all, every time we go on a tube, a train, in a shop or even walk along a town pavement, we are filmed. I know some schools have cameras in densely populated areas such as corridors, but as far as I know, not in classrooms.

Beautful Tue 19-Jul-22 16:08:48

Yes ... protects the innocent & catches the guilty !!!

Yammy Tue 19-Jul-22 12:13:13

As an ex-teacher YES. I know what it is like to be accused of something you have not done which was reported to the authorities the child had got names mixed up with a dinner lady!!!!! I also would have liked to show some parents their children's behaviour and obscenities in class and I taught Infants.sad

Washerwoman Tue 19-Jul-22 11:56:10

Yes.Our daughter was assaulted last week resulting in a very sore shoulder and arm.Another teacher in the same city was punched repeatedly in the head whilst trying to stop a pupil hitting a classmate.

aonk Tue 19-Jul-22 11:50:44

I completely agree. I’m a retired teacher and I had problems with a teenage boys who was constantly shouting obscenities in the classroom. He also wrote obscene comments on his “work.” No one believed me until I produced this in front of his parents. They both burst into tears and apologised profusely.
Also one of my colleagues was falsely accused of assaulting a pupil. This took ages to sort out and she was traumatised by it.

Athrawes Tue 19-Jul-22 11:41:51

With what is happening these days it's a route that ought to be considered, but oh dear! how sad that we've come to this

GagaJo Tue 19-Jul-22 11:19:53

maddyone

Yes, it would protect teachers from false allegations. It might also encourage pupils to behave themselves.

Oh I don't know about that. One school that I worked at had an observation system where they'd use a camera to record the lesson so it could be viewed later at the observer's leisure. Handy in a school where heads of department / managers have a full teaching load.

I did it a couple of times and in both lessons the students knew it was being recorded and were their usual tw**ish selves. Including one having a fit about some other lad stealing his fags.

maddyone Tue 19-Jul-22 11:08:12

Yes, it would protect teachers from false allegations. It might also encourage pupils to behave themselves.

luluaugust Tue 19-Jul-22 10:53:31

I also think CCTV would be a better idea, some parents seem to have no idea how their children carry on.

Smileless2012 Tue 19-Jul-22 10:49:36

Yes but if a teacher is wearing a body cam and assaulted a student then it would be recorded. I take your point about CCTV in classrooms oodles.

oodles Tue 19-Jul-22 10:45:42

surely body cams wouldn't pick up incidents that were not in the line of sight, and someone who wanted to do something that they didn't want picked up on it would just do it when the camera was pointed;elsewhere. A teacher could also cause a temporary malfunction if they were going to do something they shouldn't either
CCTV properly seet up would be better in a classroom

lixy Mon 18-Jul-22 21:56:08

Yes, they should.
Too many teachers, and HE lecturers too come to that, have their lives turned upside-down by malicious allegations.

I was fortunate not to have had an allegation made against me, but friends and colleagues have experienced this with long term consequences for their careers and mental health, even though they had done nothing wrong.

PaperMonster Mon 18-Jul-22 21:47:06

I used to work for a training company which ran courses for teenagers who weren’t in college/employment. The classrooms had CCTV in them. I was inappropriately touched and very distressed by it. Because of the position in the room, the CCTV didn’t show him doing anything but it did show me getting up and moving away quickly. Of course, I wasn’t believed.

I’ve not classroom taught teenagers for about ten years and there were some shocking incidents way back then.