TripleActionJones on 2/22/2008 10:36:44 AM wrote:
"Thumper on 2/21/2008 7:18:08 PM wrote:
Note: Let's get some updated topics on the board, please."
Seconded.
The only threads on here with any talking going on are the same topics that have had the same 3-4 people arguing for months, saying the same things over and over.
Example - there's plenty of political discussions to be had, both local and national.
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Thumper on 2/21/2008 7:18:08 PM wrote:
Note: Let's get some updated topics on the board, please.
I found it difficult to walk through the hallways (of a county middle school) during class changes because of the chaotic hall conditions. As a parent of a child in that school, I realize that middle schoolers have unique developmental needs ,BUT there should be an expectation of appropriate behaviors and follow up when students display too much horse play. I saw ONE teacher in the hall "on duty". Maybe the other teachers have decided that it does little good to supervise students who ignore their requests and retreat to the safety of their classrooms. CAMERAS? I quess cameras can help the principals see "who did what" after - the - fact.
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old_curmudgeon on 3/9/2007 10:43:27 AM wrote:
All right. Slightly off-topic, but this is as good a place as any. David Wymer is running against Marion Roark for the Catawba seat on the County school board. Be careful, people. The school board is supposed to oversee school operation. They are supposed to represent the interests of the citizens of Roanoke County, NOT THE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. Mr. Wymer is a lifetime employee of the school system. We know where his loyalties lie. Electing Mr. Wymer to the board will be like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
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nshsparent on 2/19/2007 9:08:06 AM wrote:
I have attended the board meetings and find them to be a waste of time and money. Yes Northside High School is being renovated and I believe that is a good allocation of funds seeing as the kids have been in class at least 4 days this winter with no heat. Oh, Its also the principals responsibility to call maintenance when something is not working properly but amazingly administration never knows about it until a parent calls. Oops, sorry to buck the system but the cameras on the buses do no good either.
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old_curmudgeon on 2/16/2007 8:47:07 AM wrote:
So, the principal monitors the video images from his office, hoping to catch some security violation? Sounds like the job description for a prison guard. How much are we paying these people? Then again, schools are very much like prisons these days. Maybe we should call the principals wardens instead.
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lcknessie on 2/15/2007 4:40:48 PM wrote:
Had you attended any rc school board meeting you would know the answers to all your questions. The principal is the one who views the cameras as the screens are in their office. Granted the principals can't sit in their offices all day, however, for those offices that are "hidden" from the front door, the principals can ask for a type of buzzer that lets the office staff aware that someone has walked into the school. As for money being thrown around? I think you need to get your information correct first. Along with putting cameras around all the county schools, they are also doing a drastic renovation to NHS and fixing the roof at CSHS, along with the turf field at CSMS. Go to a meeting and suggest some other way to spend that money.
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old_curmudgeon on 2/15/2007 3:52:37 PM wrote:
Let's see...If the cameras are REALLY for security, who monitors the cameras? If the cameras are not monitored all the time while the building is occupied, they will be useless for security. But then that is just a smoke screen anyway. No, I think these cameras are there to snoop on the students.
As I said before, remember this the next time these jokers want more money. If you all think this is a good use of half a million dollars, by all means open your wallets and let them empty your pocket change too. Just count me out.
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lcknessie on 2/15/2007 2:14:32 PM wrote:
The cameras were put in place because some parents were worried that what had happened at the Amish school and others would happen at the County Schools. That is why there are now teachers sitting at the front doors checking people in and directing them to the office. The cameras are there for security, nothing more. Having metal detectors would be a stupid move on all parties requesting them. We are not a big city environment and parents should take a more responsible role in what their children are bringing to school and who they are associating with.
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Walker on 2/13/2007 8:23:41 PM wrote:
http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/speeches_quote04.html
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GeorgiaBoy on 2/13/2007 4:37:19 PM wrote:
An earlier poster stated that 'cameras create more problems'....my question is: how so? Cameras don't 'create' problems....people do. Cameras in the school may cut down on some of the more minor misbehavior from students who have some decent core values but probably not for those students with a definite asocial or anti-social bent.
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old_curmudgeon on 2/12/2007 9:08:32 AM wrote:
Very funny.
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wildlacylady on 2/9/2007 11:48:02 PM wrote:
We already have cameras installed at Cave Spring.. ONLY.. A few of them are now working. Reason being.. You have to have a key to turn the camera on.. And where are rhe keys you ask.. Stolen by a kid that goes to CSHS!!! Can you see humor in that!!!
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old_curmudgeon on 1/12/2007 10:08:36 AM wrote:
Half a million dollars for this questionable program. Remember that the next time these jokers want to raise your taxes.
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ZchmnZ on 1/5/2007 1:08:20 PM wrote:
Having been to Roanoke County schools, I really don't think cameras are justifiable or effective. Putting cameras in the halls will not deter criminal behaviour, such as the sale of illicit drugs. Kids find ways to subverse the system, they always have and always will. Drug sales will move into bathrooms, where cameras cannot be present, fights will still happen ocassionally in the halls, and there will still be mischevious behaviour.
As for shootings, it has not happened in Roanoke county schools, and cameras in the schools wouldn't stop one from happening anyways. There were cameras in Columbine at the time of the Columbine shooting and it still happened.
Cameras don't solve problems, they just create more problems.
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Walker on 1/4/2007 11:43:42 AM wrote:
To reply to an earlier post about "being scared of cameras".
Civil liberties etc. are not valuable if your dead.
What scares ME these days is the pathetic/animalistic behavior of SOME of our youth. Shootings, fighting, drugs etc.
Yes, they've been around for a while, but shouldnt soemthing be done to actually STOP the poor behavior?
I know this is an odd idea when we are talking about the local schools, but we have to start somewhere.
Cameras deter bad behavior. Do I want cameras IN the bathroom? Obviously not. Can cameras help keep our children safer, for sure. Is LIFE more valuable than the right to privacy in a school hallway, your damn right.
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aterrell on 1/3/2007 4:31:16 PM wrote:
I believe that the cameras would be good to put in the entry ways of schools to catch any intruders that shouldn't be in the school. Potential child molesters and so forth. But as far as helping these kids we should really think of metal detectors. These days you don't know if you'll be sending your kids off to their last day of school or not.
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old_curmudgeon on 12/20/2006 8:46:36 AM wrote:
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment... You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." -- George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Seems like George Orwell got it right. He was just off by a few years.
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old_curmudgeon on 12/19/2006 2:46:57 PM wrote:
Here is Roanoke County's policy on camera placement:
1. Video cameras may be used to monitor school facilities in locations deemed appropriate by the superintendent. Video recordings may be used as evidence in any disciplinary action, administrative proceeding or criminal proceeding and may become part of a student’s educational record or a staff member’s personnel record.
Notice that NO LOCATION IS EXPLICITLY PROHIBITED! That means the good folks in Roanoke County could have their children filmed in rest rooms or locker rooms. This has actually happened elsewhere. I hope that makes the rest of you uneasy, cause it sure scares me.
Also, who makes sure the video does not disappear if it shows staff misconduct? Hmm?
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nshsparent on 12/15/2006 1:36:45 PM wrote:
Congratulations Roanoke County! Now that you have approved funding for cameras how about fixing the crater in the drop off lane at NMS or possibly making sure NHS actually has heat in the building. I am sure other schools are in need of repairs so everyone speak up, obviously that's the way this works!
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ecoman2 on 8/27/2006 10:25:56 AM wrote:
mckee23608
If your a teacher. please quit. If you think it will stop anything, your clueless. Your not paying attention. They simply move away from the camera. You should ahve learned that the first week of teaching. They can work around a silly camera. Im sure some company has promoted camera use to the school board. They might have used terms like negligence if not used. Its turning a blind eye if you dont use them.
And I'll buy you a fancy boat if you do get them. Or a car. Or Ill send your family to Florida for Xmas. But you have to get the camera to save the chilren, to protect them from the evil drugs that are all over your school. What a bunch of crap.
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TripleActionJones on 8/21/2006 1:09:38 PM wrote:
God points made....
To add my 2 cents,I gotta say,as a person who used to "get away with things" when I was in high school - where there's a will,there's a way.
If a person wants to cause trouble,deal some drugs,take some,cause a fight,etc.... - they will find a way around any cameras.
Hell,people smuggle drugs into prison.
What makes you think a school with a few rinky dink cameras is gonna stop anything?
Take that money,give teachers a raise!
Parents,be way more involved in your kids' lives if you wanna help them stay away from drugs/trouble.
Of course that's not always the magical be all,end all to problems but it drastically improves your odds that your kid won't be skipping school,riding around with a blunt!
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TripleActionJones on 8/21/2006 1:04:10 PM wrote:
God points made....
To add my 2 cents,I gotta say,as a person who used to "get away with things" when I was in high school - where there's a will,there's a way.
If a person wants to cause trouble,deal some drugs,take some,cause a fight,etc.... - they will find a way around any cameras.
Hell,people smuggle drugs into prison.
What makes you think a school with a few rinky dink cameras is gonna stop anything?
Take that money,give teachers a raise!
Parents,be way more involved in your kids' lives if you wanna help them stay away from drugs/trouble.
Of course that's not always the magical be all,end all to problems but it drastically improves your odds that your kid won't be skipping school,riding around with a blunt!
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old_curmudgeon on 8/21/2006 10:36:32 AM wrote:
Let me see if I have this right. Every time someone proposes improved educational standards, the educational establishment weeps and moans about another "unfunded mandate". Yet they always seem to be able to find money for programs like surveillance cameras, random drug testing, SRO's, DARE, and others that have no proven effectiveness, and have NOTHING to do with education. They don't even have a written policy regarding the placement of the cameras, how long to save the images, who gets to see the images, etc. How would you like to find out after the fact that some genius put a surveillance camera in a lockerroom and then made the images available on the web? It happened in Tennessee. Who knows, maybe your kids will be the next victims.
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ecoman2 on 8/20/2006 7:25:49 PM wrote:
cameras will stop nothing. they dont stop red light runners. they dont stop crime. they do make people money. the people that make them, sell them and take kickbacks to install them.
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mckee23608 on 8/16/2006 4:59:14 PM wrote:
Good thing. My student reports that drugs are infesting this school.
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