Vinson’s Variety: Locker rooms no place for cameras
Early July 2003, this most disturbing allegation was revealed by the collective Tennessee media: The school system in Overton County, on the Upper Cumberland Plateau, violated students’ rights by putting hidden cameras in Livingston Middle School’s boys and girls locker rooms. The cameras reportedly captured students, ages 10-14, in various stages of undress.” Lawsuits have been filed, and “the parents [of the pertinent students] have asked for $4.2 million in damages.”
The essence of the lawsuit is this: “that images [of those same students] captured by the cameras were stored on a hard drive in the office of Livingston’s assistant principal ? and were accessible through remote computer Internet connection.
The images were reportedly accessed 98 times between July 2002 and January 2003 – sometimes late at night and early in the morning – and through Internet providers in Clarksville, Gainesboro, and Rock Hill, S.C. It also was revealed that the company that installed the cameras, EduTech, based in Dyersburg, has been named in the lawsuit. Most school systems openly have cameras installed in locations where mischief is most likely: lockers in hallways but never in locker rooms or changing areas, according to the source.
First off, let’s do to others as we hope they would do to us and assume the accused are innocent until proven guilty. In this day and age, it is all too easy for someone to hurl an allegation, and, due to timing, personal differences, political differences, etc., the media, bored public, and investigating authorities will join in on an insatiable feeding frenzy – not all of the time, but some of the time. Suspiciously enough, however, William Needham, Director of Overton County Schools, confirmed that Livingston’s principal and assistant principal have been transferred to others schools in the system.
It is no great mystery the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 forever changed the world we live in. Resultant of those attacks, in an effort to enhance the security of Americans and American soil, were the formation of the Office of Homeland Security and the passing of the USA Patriot Act, the latter which gives our collective police forces greater ability in searching, seizing, and arresting, minus a great many restrictions that applied prior to Sept. 11, 2001.
Although not directly linked, I theorize the situation with Livingston Middle School, if as alleged, could be the product of authoritative bodies having too much ability and not having to answer for exactly how they exercise those abilities – the proverbial “sacred cow.” An even darker theory is a case of tightened security verses neurotic voyeurism.
I wonder how this would go over with those privileged authorities/leaders who opt to utilize hidden cameras in the name, and for the sake, of security: When I finish using the men’s room in your establishment, how about if I walk to the center of that men’s room, extend my right arm and hand, clinch my fist with the exception of a raised middle finger, and do a 360 turn, to ensure that any hidden camera captures my intention, as well as my sentiment concerning the usage of hidden spy cameras in areas designated for human privacy.
Hopefully, I will be perceived as a citizen exercising my First Amendment rights, instead of a terrorist, and a SWAT team will not be sent in to take me out!
Mike Vinson is a Warren County columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].