Youth Responses to the Surveillance School: The Bifurcation of Antagonism and Confidence in Surveillance among Teenaged Students. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adorjan, Michael; Ricciardelli, Rosemary
• Is Part Of: Young. Volume 27:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 451
• Page End: 467
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Youth -- resistance -- school surveillance -- privacy -- social network sites -- teachers; Youth -- Research -- Periodicals; Youth -- Scandinavia -- Periodicals; Jeunesse -- Recherche -- Périodiques; Jeunesse -- Scandinavie -- Périodiques; Jeune; Mondialisation; Condition sociale; Recherche; Europe; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 305.242
• DOI: 10.1177/1103308818821206
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1103-3088

Abstract

The recent rise of so-called 'surveillance schools' is often justified given the need to engender a safe and secure educational environment for students—a fusion of pedagogical and security motives. This article contributes knowledge regarding the attitudes and lived experiences of teenagers in response to school-based surveillance. Focus groups centre discussions on two areas: the effectiveness of policies regarding technology in the classroom as well as school-wide restrictions on Wi-Fi access and the effectiveness of surveillance technologies geared to actively monitor student online activities. We explore a bifurcation of attitudes revealing both resistance to surveillance school practices as well as strong support for monitoring technologies perceived to be effective in addressing cyber-risks like cyberbullying. Our findings point to the need for empirically assessing the contexts where support or antagonism towards surveillance occurs, suggesting neither isomorphic resistance nor wholescale acquiescence.