Hypertext Proposal

Although going the extra length to provide security for students has always comforted me, our recent class discussions made me realize how unnecessary some of the safety measures schools have taken in recent years have become. Even though I did not even notice them my first two years of high school, cameras were all over the campus - even in the cafeteria. Once I did notice them, I definitely became more uncomfortable because I felt obligated to be careful of what I said in front of them...not that I said bad things, but the thought of some old guy in a room analyzing videos weirded me out. Anyway, I began to notice more and more cameras around school, then the administration hired twenty-four hour security guards who roamed our halls, and, perhaps most disturbing, the deans and teachers began creating fake Facebook profiles and adding students to spy on them, which taught us all how vulnerable we were. Our every move was watched at school, and our Facebooks, filled with pictures and events from our lives, were open to them to see. I think that security is important at school, but I also think that by watching people constantly, with cameras AND non-stop security, it becomes like prison.

I think Cory Doctorow would agree that some surveillance in schools is necessary, yet, as in his novel, sometimes the line between an acceptable/unacceptable amounts of it can get blurry. He would probably suggest an alternative, more effective way of preventing crime that would flip the current system and target outsiders rather than students. Cory Doctorow uses the examples of cameras and monitoring online activity, which are common today, yet I think his novel proves that he believes that sometimes administrations take surveillance too far and instead of keeping kids safe, they end up making them paranoid and possibly even more endangered.