Secondary school installs CCTV in pupil toilet areas

Head says cameras are needed to clamp down on ‘disappointing behaviour’ while parents claim surveillance is ‘intrusive and creepy’

Parents and anti-surveillance campaigners have urged a secondary school to rethink its decision to install CCTV in pupil toilet areas after reports that some children were now too scared to go to the toilet.

The cameras were installed at Summerhill school in Kingswinford in the West Midlands after what the head described as “disappointing behaviour” by some students.

Executive headteacher James Bowkett said the CCTV was intended to monitor who was entering and leaving the toilets, and stressed that the cameras were not directed at cubicles or urinals.

But a number of parents told local news organisations their children were choosing not to use the school toilets because they felt uncomfortable.

One mother told the Birmingham Mail: “My children have refused to go to the toilet in school; they feel like they are being watched. They said, ‘Can we ring you to take us home to use the toilet?’

“Some are saying it’s to prevent bullying, and there’s been vandalism, but surely they can put a prefect on duty in the toilets at break times or a teacher, they don’t have to video children in toilets. A lot of parents are now requesting the footage.”

Another mother said: “My son has come back and said he doesn’t want to go to the toilet. It’s shocking, they may have problems going on in the toilets but they can’t do this, surely.

“A friend of mine said her daughter came home in tears because she was too scared to use the loo all day and she nearly wet herself in class. It’s so intrusive and creepy.”

Bowkett said cameras had been in operation in various locations in the school for years to monitor student behaviour, protect the school building and ensure everyone’s safety.

“Following some disappointing behaviour from our students, who were not maintaining our high standards of behaviour whilst in the toilet areas, we took the decision to extend the network of cameras to these areas.

“I must stress that this is to allow us to monitor who is entering and leaving the communal toilet areas and I can reassure parents and children that no cameras are directed towards sensitive areas including cubicles or urinals.”

Summerhill school was said to be “requiring improvement” following a visit by inspectors from the schools watchdog Ofsted last year; student behaviour was determined to be good and judges reported that pupils felt safe at school.

Five years ago, research by the campaign group Big Brother Watch found that more than 200 schools across Britain were using CCTV cameras in pupils’ toilets or changing rooms, raising concerns about the privacy of schoolchildren.

Data provided by more than 2,000 schools responding to freedom of information requests revealed that a total of 825 cameras were located in the toilets or changing rooms of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales.

Responding to reports about Summerhill , Renate Samson, the chief executive of Big Brother Watch, said: “Using CCTV to monitor who goes in and out of a toilet does not require a camera to be placed inside the toilet itself.

“Teaching children ‘high standards of behaviour’ can be done in many ways [that] do not involve breaching their privacy when going to the loo. This is a heavy handed, unacceptable and frankly lazy approach to addressing problems of behaviour.

“The school should rethink their policy and work with parents and students to address problems rather than spend money on inappropriate surveillance.”

The use of CCTV surveillance in schools is widespread but it remains a sensitive issue. Earlier this year it emerged that a three-month pilot scheme was under way in two secondary schools to test the use of body cameras as a way of helping teachers tackle low-level disorder in classrooms.

At that time, the government’s adviser on behaviour in schools, Tom Bennett, said schools should instead focus on staff training to build supportive school cultures based on firm boundaries and compassion. “I’d say that cameras were an expensive and complex solution to a problem that can be solved in other, far more meaningful ways than tech.”