As everyone prepares for another school year, Scituate Public Schools is introducing some new adjustments to the school community. Among other changes like the arrival of Principal Wargo, Superintendent McCarthy and the freshman class of 2016, the district has set up school-wide security cameras, specifically by the building’s entrances and exits of the building.

    With this new change come many reactions. Why are these cameras here? What is their purpose? Are they really necessary? With their unveiling under constant speculation, some people find this new feature at SHS unnecessary. After a series of interviews with members of the school community, the split in opinions was apparent..

    Senior Christian Miller considers the the new cameras finding a humble abode across the cold, multi-colored walls intrusive. He also adds that seeing the cameras makes him see the school as a type of jail with the new devices trying to control student behavior. Miller’s opinion is shared by other students of the school community. Junior Jake Treanor agrees with Miller.

    In Treanor’s mind, the cameras are intrusive, that the main reason for them being at SHS in the first place is to try and catch kids breaking the rules in the hallways during a class period. He, along with other students feel that are expensive upgrades to try and catch kids skipping or bullying in the hallways when they are hall monitors during each block.

    Since the cameras are mostly located by the entrances and exits, people who skip are going to have a much harder time getting of school before it ends. This idea is a basis for many people’s personal opinions on the cameras as a whole, mostly because there has been no public assembly for the students to talk about the cameras.

    Foreign Language Department head Mrs. Ciulla was fine with our new electronic friends hanging around all over the high school. She said, “I think they a necessary piece of school safety.” In her opinion, with the camera’s presence enhance school security, making problems such as vandalism, bullying, and theft easier to prevent and solve.

    One of the primary reasons why high schools like SHS are adopting new security package is for safety reasons. SHS Assistant Principal Mr. Mills, offering background on the new cameras, said “Most modern schools have some sort of security system.” He does understand the confusion and speculation among students because there has yet to be a proper assembly to explain the security update.

    According to Mr. Mills, the school surveillance cameras are a part of a district-wide security package. Not only are cameras being installed in Scituate High School, but there are new, safer doors that were installed in some of the elementary schools, most notably Wampatuck Elementary School. With this big security upgrade for all of the schools, members of the School Board as well as school administration are hoping for more safety, and less bullying and vandalism. With that Mr. Mills also said the spending was “appropriate, money shouldn’t only go to maintenance.” With this, safety is the main reason behind the cameras.

    For most teachers, the idea of surveillance cameras is a benefit, not a burden. Safety is an important part of  any environment. One person who isn’t angry about these “eyes in the sky” is Biology teacher Mrs. Loughnane. She believes if people aren’t doing anything wrong, then the cameras aren’t really intrusive in the first place. They are there to ensure safety at the school, not to try and record every action of the student body. Safety is a priority issue,

    Final Verdict: Although there was a large lack of information about these security cameras, they’re here to stay. But because of the lack of information that the school has provided about the cameras, students only heard about them through word of mouth which led to a lot of rumors being spread. If the cameras are only here for security purposes, then they are more than welcome to be a part of Scituate High. But if the cameras cause students to feel extremely uncomfortable at school, then they should be either be removed or there should be meetings to discuss alternative forms of security for Scituate High. Until then, the security cameras should be seen as just a security feature, not an evil “eye in the sky”.