Big Brother is watching

 

This morning at school, a couple of contractors came into the classroom that I was in to determine the best place to install some surveillance cameras. They said that the purpose of the cameras was to improve school safety, and I can see their point.

 

In May of 2022, the Arizona Republic published an article that discussed the advantage of camera from the standpoint of public safety:

 

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/05/27/four-arizona-counties-implementing-new-school-safety-system-emergencies/

Four counties in Arizona are in the process of implementing a new school safety emergency response system that will connect law enforcement to the public and allow for faster response times.

“What our technology does, it connects other technology like panic buttons, and door-locking mechanisms and cameras and things like that really give law enforcement that critical information needed to respond and puts it directly in the hands of law enforcement,” explained Chrissie Coon, the Chief Strategy Officer of Mutualink.

Mutualink was born out of the communication challenges from 9/11 that first responders had; now, their technology can be used in any public emergency. In recent years, they started seeing the need for it to be used in schools.

School staff and teachers can use the app on their phones, which has a panic button. “They get direct push-to-talk communication with law enforcement. Instead of picking up the phone, dialing 911 and trying to get through that way,” Coon said.

When the panic button is pushed, an alert is sent to the 911 dispatch center, letting them know where the emergency is and what is going on. Dispatchers will then get automatic access to the school’s surveillance cameras and a map of the school layout.

“On the school side, the school teachers and staff are able then to use their phones — almost like a walkie-talkie — and just be able to have push-to-talk communication directly with law enforcement who is coming to the scene,” Coon said.

This system is already being used in several other states, like Florida. Eight counties in Arizona have the funding through legislation to use Mutualink. Four of them are currently in the process of putting it into effect by the upcoming school year in the fall.

“In an urban setting, we’re looking to save seconds here, we’re looking to save minutes, and if we can save minutes on any little thing, it’s very valuable to us,” said Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse.

Despite their obvious safety advantages, cameras in classrooms DO have some disadvantages. In 2021, failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake came out in favor of cameras because they would allow administrators (and parents) to guarantee that teachers weren’t teaching critical race theory, or assigning banned books.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2021/11/29/kari-lake-classroom-camera-idea-votes-not-accountability/8798357002

Arizona, of course, not the only state that has nutty politicians.

In Florida, teachers can now be fined it they have banned books visible on their classroom shelves.

Sone pundits have said that Florida is like Germany in the 1930’s, but with amusement parks.

 Kari Lake’s real purpose in proposing cameras, though, is more basic – and it’s all about politics. By proposing cameras in every classroom, Lake is appealing to the more conservative members of society, hoping that they would help her get elected.

She did not get elected – but still has not conceded to the actual winner, Democratic governor Katie Hobbs.

 For what it’s worth, even Doug Ducey was not in favor of cameras in classrooms.

https://kjzz.org/content/1739168/gov-ducey-criticizes-kari-lakes-idea-put-cameras-classrooms

Gov. Doug Ducey criticized gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s proposal to put cameras into classrooms Tuesday, saying it could lead to predators monitoring children. 

The former TV news anchor suggested the idea of putting cameras in classrooms to monitor teachers to make sure they are sticking to the curriculum. Her idea would allow parents to access the videos. 

Ducey says while engaged parents are good for students, there are better ways to promote transparency in the classroom. 

"Parents are welcome to participate of course in their child's education. There's no bigger force multiplier than a good school along with an involved parent. But we want to do it through transparency in the curriculum," he said. 

Ducey added that he’ll seek legislation to achieve that starting in January but did not provide specific details.

If you’ve read George Orwell's “1984”, you are aware that one of the main characters Big Brother, who is watching everybody.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)

However, the fact remains that we are already at that point.

Although China DOES have a lot of cameras, the United States is a world leader when it comes to cameras per capita.

https://aithority.com/news/top-10-countries-and-cities-by-number-of-cctv-cameras/

China has at least 200 million cameras installed in the country. This is the nation with the most significant number of cameras installed for surveillance in the world. However, China is not alone; other countries such as the United States and Germany have 50 million and 5.2 million CCTV Cameras each.

The list goes on with other countries with more than 1 million cameras. The United Kingdom has 5 million CCTV cameras installed, followed by Japan with 5 million, Vietnam with 2.6 million, France with 1.65 million, South Korea with 1.03 million, and the Netherlands with 1 million.

The United States has 15.28 CCTV cameras every 100 individuals, followed by China with 14.36 and the United Kingdom with 7.5. Other top 10 countries include Germany with 6.27 cameras per 100 individuals, Netherlands 5.8, Australia 4, Japan 2.72, France 2.46 and South Korea 1.99.

In the 1960’s (and before) Allen Funt produced a show titled “Candid Camera”. Since you are likely going to be on camera almost everywhere you go, you might as well follow Funt’s advice”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBH1PpAu9UZ0Dkn6qGqGsmg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candid_Camera

“Smile, you’re on Candid Camera”