Over the summer, Palestine High School installed security cameras around the school, and in its hallways. There are multiple reasons why the school decided to put these cameras up.

One reason is to monitor students and staff inside of the school. This helps the staff make sure that students are getting back to class on time, and that nobody is messing around with other people’s stuff.

The major reason why they have installed these cameras is for the safety of students and staff. Over the past couple of years, there have been an increasingly number of shootings that are happening over the country. Having cameras in the school would help PHS against a threat if one were to ever occur.

Last year PHS started this process by installing a door monitor on the front entrance. If anyone wanted to come inside they had to press the button, and it allowed the secretaries to let them in. Some of the students were upset by this; however, it was all for the safety of them and everyone else inside. Most of the students and staff saw these new security installments as a good thing. With everything else happening in schools around Palestine, putting in cameras could potentially prevent a very bad situation.

“This is not about trust; this is purely for everyone’s safety,” says Ms. Waldrop. “Because of the evil world we live in, safety precautions are mandatory,” she says.

Cameras have been installed in almost every corridor and hall in the school; however, there isn’t a camera in the gym, and there are no cameras in classrooms.

Waldrop explained that it is illegal to put cameras in classrooms as you cannot disrupt the privacy of the teacher. This also explains why there are not cameras in the gym since it is technically Mr. Blank’s classroom, and she respects the privacy of his class.