Monday, March 25, 2019

TOO MANY TEAHERS GET FIRED FOR REACTING TO THE DISRUPTIVE CONDUCT OF PUPILS

Why aren't our school teachers wearing body cameras?

By Trey Rusk

Running Code 3
March 22, 2019

It's fairly common place to read a news story about a misbehaving student or teacher. Cell phones sometimes record these events or capture text messages that substantiate the wrong doing.

I think it would be fairly easy to equip teachers and school bus drivers with body cameras. Students and teachers would automatically adjust the way they speak to each other and assaults would drop dramatically. Just think of all the lying and bad behavior that would stop.

As soon as a complaint was reported, the principal could review the footage. If something criminal had occurred, then the footage would be stored for trial. Simple.

There is just one problem. The cost. Each camera would run a minimum of $300 and the storage of the footage would run in the millions for a medium to large school district.

There is another way. Teachers could buy their own body cams that can be activated as needed. I can buy a body cam on Amazon today for $30. In fact, I own one. That's cheap insurance for any situation.

Of course, you probably won't catch any video of a teacher having sex with a student because they control the recorder. But incidents in the classroom or on a school bus can be documented as evidence.

Several years ago in Los Angeles, citizens complained about police brutality and insisted that officers should wear body cameras to record the violence. The police began wearing the body cams. It wasn't long before people complained that the body cams were intrusive. Maybe what they actually saw was their own criminal behavior.

I wore a body camera on the job. They can come in handy.

That's the way I see it.

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