Cameras in classrooms are no substitute for greater authority by parents and
teachers.

A few months ago, when major newspapers reported the decision by the Biloxi,
Mississippi school district to place cameras in every classroom as a method
to encourage greater discipline. Pundits and parents welcomed the news,
viewing the omnipresent surveillance as a way to instill more order in
classrooms.

One dissenting voice was the state chapter of the American Federation of
Teachers that argued many teachers felt that talking back was the biggest
distraction in classrooms, something that the cameras could not effectively
monitor since they were not equipped to record sound. Conservatives have
many disagreements with teachers’ unions, but this is one time where we
share some common ground.

Unfortunately, too many public school officials believe that cameras are
needed to enforce order and discipline. This sad truth represents the kind
of nation we are becoming and it is indeed a distressing commentary on our
times. Is it surprising that a survey conducted last year by the non-profit
organization Public Agenda discovered 79 percent of Americans believe that
the lack of respect and courtesy represent a serious national problem?

In the past, children learned their values at home, reinforced by
organizations such as the Boy Scouts and, of course, their church or
synagogue, but in all too many families that is no longer the case.

Television is now the dominant factor in the lives of too many American
children. It is commonly agreed that children spend more hours per year
watching television than in the classroom, and far less in actual
conversation with their parents. Public Agenda found last year that over
half of the parents they surveyed have a child or children with a television
set in their bedroom. At the same time, nearly half of the parents sampled
in that poll agreed with a statement: "Wherever my child turns he/she sees
crude or sexual messages in the media."

Even a so-called family program such as "Everybody Loves Raymond" can be
rather raw in its language and themes. If you want to discuss
technicalities, the program does air just after the conclusion of the
"Family Hour" but many children are still watching television at that hour
and what they will see are adults frequently acting as if they are
children - and undisciplined, venal ones at that.

This problem extends well beyond just one program. The Parents Television
Council issued a report called "The Blue Tube: Foul Language on Prime Time
Network TV" in September that discovered "an increase in foul language in
2002 on virtually every network and in virtually every time slot --
including the so-called `Family Hour' of 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET/PT."

"The Blue Tube" quotes Geoffrey Hughes, author of Swearing: A Social History
of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English: "The influence of
Hollywood has become a dominant factor [in the shift towards swearing],
initially for restraint, but subsequently for license."

Is it surprising that many school administrators and teachers are reporting
children lack respect for their teachers, their classmates? Teachers now
have to instruct their students in basic civility and to perform "character
education", duties that families were once expected to have performed before
their children even started school.

Placing faith in cameras to restore order in classrooms is placing faith in
the wrong place. The real change must start with parents. They need to start
exerting more control and discipline over their children, even if that means
unplugging the TV set.

It is ironic that there are many die-hard liberals who are unrelenting in
their fight to keep the Ten Commandments from being posted in public places,
including public schools (much less having these words of wisdom essential
to our Judeo-Christian heritage even discussed in any depth or meaning in
classrooms). They will do everything possible to keep prayers from being
said in schools. But when the idea of placing surveillance cameras in
classrooms is broached, there is no outcry. Instead, it is accepted, even
welcomed by many parents.

That says something about our society and the diminution of important
values. Conservatives who believe in traditional values should be
absolutely opposed to the idea of cameras in classrooms because it only
teaches children to be good when the camera is turned on them. What happens
when the cameras are not present?

Rather than place cameras in classrooms to enforce order, here is a cheaper
but infinitely more effective solution to the discipline problems that now
afflict many public schools: Parents should limit their children's TV
viewing, even if it means taking away their TV set. Instead, they should
spend more time teaching them the truths that cannot be displayed, much less
really discussed in-depth in any meaningful way in their children's
classrooms.

Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.