Should classrooms have video cameras?

I have often wondered if putting video cameras in the classroom would aid in convincing little Johnny's parents that he is, in fact, making obscene gestures at his teacher and classmates.  There are, in my opinion, way too many parents who make excuses for their students behavior, refuse to believe their little angel did anything wrong or blame the school.  If the behavior is on video, parent's can't deny what their eyes see. 

I wonder if, like football coaches, teachers can view their classes and fine tune their teaching skills as coaches fine tune their coaching.  Imagine students having access to repeat instruction via recorded classes.  Wouldn't video recording cut down on student misbehavior in general?  The have cameras on school buses for that very reason.

In all of my wondering, I never considered a hidden camera or audio recorder attached to a student.  I have never considered the possibility that our special population teachers and other school professionals are anything less than the dedicated educators they signed up to be.  Stuart Chaifetz wasn't thinking any negative about his son's teacher either, but he felt he needed to find out why his ten year old son, diagnosed with Autism, was becoming violent in the classroom but never at home.  He placed a "wire" on his son prior to sending him to school, as his son is unable to communicate adequately to explain his day.  When Mr. Chaifetz listened to the six hours of audio, he was sick.

Instead of hearing other students bullying Akain, the audio revealed it was the teacher, the teacher's aides, and the occupational therapist who behaved inappropriately and unprofessionally, if not criminally.  On the recording, you can hear an adult call Akain a "Bastard".  You hear adults belittling the children off and on all day.  You can hear adults discussing their dislike of parents, specifically, Mr. Chaifetz in front of Akain.  You hear the teacher and the OT literally conspiring to sabotage an ARD meeting.  You hear, "SHUT UP!" screamed by an adult to special needs children.

Mr. Chaifetz took his audio to the school administration in order for them to handle the personnel issues within the district.  However, after only one aide being fired and the teacher being reassigned to another campus, Mr. Chaifetz went public.

Oh my gosh!!!  Everyone involved should have been fired.  They sure would have been fired in my school district.  The teacher claimed she was not in her classroom the first hour of the day.  Okay, what about the rest of the day?  Her voice is clearly on that recording speaking inappropriately to students, speaking ill of parents, discussing how to lie to a parent and planning a coup during an ARD meeting.

What is this school district thinking?  They have grounds for termination on so many levels.  Why would any school district in any state want a teacher who is so obviously inappropriate and one so detrimental to the well being of the children in her class?  Get her out of there.  She is not the norm.  She is the exception; a bad exception.  She should not be in any classroom in any district.

One teacher's aide was fired.  What about the other one?  Even if she was not clearly heard being inappropriate, she was privy to what others said and reported this to no one.  Where is she now?  I wouldn't want her in my child's classroom, on the playground, in the library or in the lunchroom.

I am happy to report that Akain is no longer attending the school in question and is having no violent outbursts.

To address my original thought, I think maybe there are more reasons than I originally thought for having video cameras in the classroom.   Whether it is one student's incorrigible behavior caught on video or one teacher out of thousands openly traumatizing her students, maybe it is worth it.  If it helps educate students by watching their class over and over, maybe it's worth the time and money to get it done.  If it helps our teachers become better teachers, it's a win-win situation.

Think about it.

Blessing,

Judy