Parents Petition to Put Cameras in Classrooms - Special Needs ...

by Jen Thorpe | More from this Blogger

There is a growing movement of parents who want to have cameras placed into Special Education classrooms. Students who are non-verbal cannot tell their parent what happened at school, but the cameras would be able to record the events for them. The presence of a camera could prevent situations where students are abused by the teacher.

Earlier this year, Stuart Chaifetz started getting notes sent home from school with his son, Akian. The notes said he was having violent outbursts at school, which was very unlike him. Akian has autism, and has difficulties with verbal communication, so he couldn't simply tell his dad what what happening at school that made him react in a way that was violent.

After trying several different methods to learn what was actually happening in Akian's classroom, and getting no answers, Stuart Chaifetz decided to try something different. He sent his son to school with a small recording device in his pocket. The recording revealed that Akian was being bullied at school, not by other students, but by his teachers.

A few months ago, a teacher in a Special Education classroom was in the news because she placed a student into a cardboard box. The student was fourteen years old, had suffered a traumatic brain injury, and was confined to a wheelchair. The teacher was suspended for ten days without pay, and was then allowed to return to work (at a different school).

These are really frightening stories, especially to parents who have children that are in Special Education programs. Children who are non-verbal, or who have a great difficulty communicating, are not going to be able to come home and report to their parents about abuses suffered at school. Right now, parents don't have many options available that will let them know, for certain, exactly what happens in their child's classroom.

A growing number of parents, all across the country, want to have cameras placed in Special Education classrooms. There are dozens of petitions about this on Change.org.

The main purpose of the cameras would be to record exactly what is going on in the classroom. Parents with questions about what happened in their child's classroom could view the video and learn exactly what occurred. The recording would instantly answer many questions.

The other purpose, of course, is to prevent abuse from occurring. It would be much harder for a teacher to bully a student, or place a student into a box, if the teacher knew she was being recorded.

The opposing viewpoint is that recording what happens in a classroom at a public school is an invasion of privacy for both the teachers and the students. Some of the teachers will not be comfortable being filmed all day as they do their jobs.

Image by Husky on Flickr

I am currently writing for the Insurance, Deals, Genealogy, and Special Needs blogs.I have also written for the Parenting,Money, Homeschooling, Preschool, Health, Food and Weightloss blogs.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

Source: http://special-needs.families.com/blog/parents-petition-to-put-cameras-in-classrooms

fred thompson red hook romney tax return the tree of life movie academy award nominees 2012 2012 oscar nominations kyle williams