OECD data show that the prevalence of abuse by peers in the Latvian school environment is higher than in other European Union countries – a third of students have suffered from violence at school at least a couple of times a month. Parents on the initiative platform Manabalss.lv encourage the equipping of educational institutions with video surveillance systems, which would allow to prevent bullying between students, conflicts between students and teachers, threats of sexual harassment, as well as other violence and emotional safety problems.
Some educational institutions, especially those with a larger number of students, already have video surveillance, although mainly around buildings, in corridors and halls, and school leaders value it as an effective tool that helps as physical evidence in various cases.
Watch the computer classes
In the Krāslava gymnasium, video surveillance cameras are installed around the perimeter of the school building, in the corridors, cloakrooms, assembly hall, gymnasium and computer classrooms, but not in other classrooms, nor in the facilities, explains school director Jānis Tukāns. Computer classrooms are equipped with camera eyes so that a student does not think about what to “repair”. Such a solution has been useful in cases where something has disappeared or a conflict has arisen. Regularly – just like that – the filmed material is not reviewed, it is kept for two weeks, and if during this time there is a signal about any abuse, evidence can be found. There have also been cases where students of the other school in Krāslava, who came here with the purpose of “meeting friends”, committed something in the school or its surroundings.
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Source: www.diena.lv
