In the context of the world today, there is no greater danger to our sovereignty as citizens of the United States of America than the gross government overreach of a looming surveillance state.
The normalization of this overstepping has culminated in our surveillance state leaking into our schools. In a divided country post-9/11, the controversial PATRIOT Act passed by President George W. Bush in 2001 has brought about the sacrifice of our core civil liberties under the guise of “security”. Sadly, this has become commonplace in our everyday lives.
The distended bureaucracy that governs our nation continuously makes the conscious choice to uphold the status quo and to unabashedly rule with an iron fist. However, this atrocity is ignored by the American people. Rather, constant infighting over issues that the government has us convinced are created by the citizens on the other side of the political spectrum has become the motif of modern political discourse.
The most radical authoritarian politicians have the American people convinced that utter debauchery goes on behind the closed doors of every classroom in the country. From litter boxes in school bathrooms to pornography openly available in school libraries, these extremely uncommon incidents have led to the complete demonization of the school system as we know it and the minorities that occupy it. This has led to complete political polarization within our schools.
In particular, the institution of cameras everywhere we look in our schools comes at a major cost. While bureaucrats preach the safety features of these cameras, over $260,000 of taxpayer money has been poured into Marion School District’s installation of these devices. In a district in which 56.5% of the students are economically disadvantaged, 80% cannot read on grade level, and 85% cannot do grade-level math, these funds should’ve gone somewhere much more conducive to empowering students to be educated and functioning citizens in society.
While many school districts purport that cameras will never be used to “spy” on teachers, teachers around the country have begun to report actions from their administrators inconsistent with this mantra. Those in positions of power have taken to using these camera recordings as pseudo-performance appraisals and ways to monitor supposed bad behavior from teachers.
Fundamentally, the over-policing of our schools presents a dire situation for parents, students, and all other onlookers alike. The 1984-esque atmosphere of cameras in classrooms ensures the complete dismantilization of the childhood experience as we know it for future generations of our country. Big Brother looms over every student in the country under these new guidelines. In a union founded on the principles of Locke and protected by figureheads such as Marshall and Warren, this phenomenon contradicts the very nature of our country and should be unilaterally done away with.