Teacher secretly filming class.

pollypenny

Surely the point is why the teacher was filming and what he/she intended to do with that film.

Hopefully, it was to show the pupils themselves that they were not working; frequently kids just drift into talking (as do adults).

I had a Y9 class with some very disruptive girls, so I recorded the lessons on tape.
They thought it was to 'show Mr M.........." the head. But playing it back, did show them how bad they were and it worked.

BTW: it also showed me how often I said "OK?"

ilikewatch

pupsicola wrote: »

You seriously think the best way to deal with a disruptive child is to beat it, at school and at home????. Jesus christ, just when you think you have heard it all :eek:

No, I think that the best way to deal with a disruptive child is to ensure that they are aware that there will be immediate and serious consequences if their behaviour doesn't change, and that all authority figures (teachers, parents etc.) will show a united front to them.

Almost without exception, the most disruptive and ill-behaved children I encounter professionally are those whose parents automatically take the childs side as soon as there is an issue at school, thus undermining the authority of the school.

ilikewatch

sjc3 wrote: »

I totally agree with you. I am quite shocked that any parent would be happy for their child to be beaten for being disruptive. Then think it normal to beat them at home if they complained about it.

I never said that I would be happy if my child was beaten for being disruptive, - I would be gutted, not least because it would be a direct comment on my parenting skills. I said I would be happy for this system to be reintroduced.
When I was growing up corporal punishment was still very much used in primary and secondary schools, and despite attending what were percieved as "rough schools" in a "bad area" teachers recieved a huge amount of respect and only once did I see anyone talk back to a member of staff - this was also the only time I saw anyone recieve a caning, the threat alone was quite enough to ensure that we remained respectful, attentive students.

sjc3 wrote: »

What kind of awful message does that send the child. That adults sort out problems by using violence. Wonderful!!!!!!

Sadly, a lot of children who leave school without learning to respect others will discover that adults do sort out problems using violence, and that a smacked @rse, and a lesson learned when your 10 years old is infinitely preferable to getting a real beating as a 20 year old.

bestpud

Running_Horse wrote: »

If a teacher needs to film their class, they have lost control and are not fit to be a teacher. I would not leave the presence of that teacher until every copy had been destroyed. I am not a softy who thinks his little angel can do no wrong, but this is clearly wrong.

It's difficult when parents, who supposedly stick up for teachers, think talking in class is not disruptive though, isn't it?

I think it is disruptive and I'm sure the teacher is sick to the back teeth with it!

bestpud

kittykat wrote: »

A teacher in my daughter's school has just been sacked for this...... the police and social services were involved.

balletshoes wrote: »

Do you have any idea why social services and the police would be involved in this kind of scenario ie being filmed in school, in the classroom, while the children were going about their normal lessons? Seems very strange to me, and I really don't understand what the problem is? Unless of course the teacher was using the film footage for personal/private or suspect use.

There has to be more to this one than filming poor behaviour.

I know of an ex-teacher was jailed for filming children but he downloaded them onto his computer for sexual gratification.

That is completely different from the scenario here, as far as I can tell.

nad1611

This thread unfortunately did what I feared, made certain people jump to the conclusion that they know "my little darling's a brat" and deserves to be filmed. Once and for all I don't condone filming secretly, I don't condone children, mine or anyone elses disrupting classes whether by talking or any other means. My child knows exactly what would happen if I saw any behaviour on this tape that I was unhhappy about. Incidentally my daughter has already been cleared of any wrong doing.

The seniour teacher was made aware of the filming by the Teacher themselves after the kids had suggested it didn't seem right and that Seniour Teacher has with the consent of the Head approached parents.
I never said I was going to take this further, the legality was literally just to see if anyone knew, because if the School have brought it to our attention then I guessed there might be something wrong.

I'm not accusing the Teacher of anything sinister at all, I'm not sure I'm even upset about it I simply asked what the stand was on this sort of thing. I would also support filming if I felt it was to improve matters, I have had many experiences of my other children in other schools where a camera would have been very helpful.

Unfortunately the written word is open to each persons interpretation and some have decided to use my question as an excuse to be rude. Although I thank those who have given their opinions,otherwise.

nad1611

bestpud wrote: »

It's difficult when parents, who supposedly stick up for teachers, think talking in class is not disruptive though, isn't it?

I think it is disruptive and I'm sure the teacher is sick to the back teeth with it!

When I said that the kids were only talking I didn't mean to imply that this wasn't disruptive, because I agrre whole heartedly that it is.

nad1611

Fang wrote: »

There wasn't a reference made to your daughter. It was clearly a general comment, one repeated by many, not just that poster. You then decided to say that it 'says a lot' about that poster. Likewise, your reaction to a general comment says quite a bit about both you and your child.

What my reaction to a general or personal comment says about me is
I'm not keen on reading children being described in this way. So yes it does tell me something about this person.

If I'm wrong for being sensitive about descriptions of this kind then I apologise.

What on earth has my child got to do with the way I react to something??

RadoJo

OP - I think part of the problem is that your original post was a little vague about what your intentions were, which is why there has been such a debate over using footage filmed in class and what the possible purpose the teacher had in mind. It wasn't clear whether you had concerns over how the footage was to be used, that there was something untoward going one etc, and hence the thread has included some speculation as to what the situation might have been.

I can completely understand that you have taken comments about behaviour personally, but I'm sure you also appreciate that there are parents out there who consider any attempt to discipline their child as an affront, whilst making precious little effort to discipline them themselves either. I think it's probably frustration at how powerless teachers seem to be that has lead to such forthright views on dealing with these disruptive influences in class and, of course, we are reliant on emotionless text on a page to make a judgement on whether your initial question was an indication that you were intending to complain about this teacher on the basis of your daughter's word.

Now that you have provided some more info, it's clear that there was obviously school involvement in this situation before you were aware of it. What did the school actually say when they approached the parents over this? Was it in the context of accusing those who were being disruptive, or was it to make parents aware of something else about which they were concerned?

nad1611

RadoJo wrote: »

OP - I think part of the problem is that your original post was a little vague about what your intentions were, which is why there has been such a debate over using footage filmed in class and what the possible purpose the teacher had in mind. It wasn't clear whether you had concerns over how the footage was to be used, that there was something untoward going one etc, and hence the thread has included some speculation as to what the situation might have been.

I can completely understand that you have taken comments about behaviour personally, but I'm sure you also appreciate that there are parents out there who consider any attempt to discipline their child as an affront, whilst making precious little effort to discipline them themselves either. I think it's probably frustration at how powerless teachers seem to be that has lead to such forthright views on dealing with these disruptive influences in class and, of course, we are reliant on emotionless text on a page to make a judgement on whether your initial question was an indication that you were intending to complain about this teacher on the basis of your daughter's word.

Now that you have provided some more info, it's clear that there was obviously school involvement in this situation before you were aware of it. What did the school actually say when they approached the parents over this? Was it in the context of accusing those who were being disruptive, or was it to make parents aware of something else about which they were concerned?

Thanks. You're probably right here. My intention in not going into detail was purposely so that I thought (wrongly I now know) that people would debate the issue about whether filming was permissable or not, not what people's views were about if it should be done or not.

Wow I'm just amazed at how much anger there is over this issue. To answer your last question, the school lliterally told us that a Teacher had filmed the children without their knowledge and the school would be looking into it, that's all we know and what my child has said obviously, which I'm well aware will be open to interpretation.