campus omniscience
Wed, Apr 25th, 2007
One thing that I think will come of the massacre at Virginia Tech is probably increased surveillance of students, under the guise of “security” for our “children.”1 This, of course, will be in addition to the already excessive pseudo-parental oversight that most schools exercise, and which most students seem more or less content with. I’ve noticed that students of mine who grew up in the aftermath of 9-11 are largely content with trading off freedom or privacy for “security.” I know this not only by their actions, but by virtue of the fact that we’ve discussed it in class on occasion. Many of them have come right out and told me that their liberties don’t matter as much as their security. This is chilling not only for the immediate aspects of it, but also for the future of the US. If nothing else, it appears that the Bush administration has been successful in rearing a generation in the shadow of its ever-present war on terror, with its ever-present and elusive enemies.
As someone who has always been suspicious of authority and who has also always valued his privacy, I find the kinds of surveillance popular on college campuses now somewhat worrying, and the passive acceptance of it more than a little bit troubling. A colleague of mine told me that he’d visited a liberal arts college in the Northeast which requires their students to buy a particular kind of cellphone when they arrive on campus; with this cellphone, the students can then be tracked across the campus itself. The colleague even claims to have seen a map at the school’s security center, which geo-located the students via the phones. Similarly, the school I work at keeps track of card-key entries into buildings, so they can tell where a student last keyed in. This same system also notifies security when someone hasn’t keyed into their dorm in a certain number of days, after which time, security will begin investigating.
On top of this, I recently read that schools are instituting a program whereby they are tracking student use of exercise equipment to prevent “exercise addiction.” Now, not only does the school know when you eat, where you are, how many times you’ve keyed into various buildings, and what books you’ve checked out, they also know how long you’ve been on the treadmill for. If you’ve been on too much or too long, they’ll marshal the counselors to your cause to make sure you’re not overdoing it and jeopardizing your health.
All in all, I appreciate that administrators fear the worst, and want to protect their customersstudents. At the same time, though, there’s a lot to be said for growing up, taking responsibility for yourself and your actions, and living independently, not as a ward of some campus surveillance state. I suspect, though, that we’ll see even more surveillance, and an increasing preoccupation with “normalcy” in the months after this tragedy. I at least hope that students are awake enough to recognize that it is their own liberty and privacy at stake.
- This ignores the fact that anyone over 18 technically isn’t a “child,” and that we tend to infantilize college students, even though others their age are on the front lines in Falluja or Baghdad, or out working. [↩]
# Comment by Tony on Thu, Apr 26th, 2007 at 6:09 pm:
I’ve been concerned by this complacency, as well. Too many people I talk to are content to believe that the appearance of safety equals safety.
Specifically to Virginia Tech, it’s my alma mater (two degrees). I fear for the changes many will push. At 2,600 acres, the campus would be difficult to monitor, so the results of any effort would be scary. I’m optimistic, though, from hearing the reactions of students and knowing the culture at Virginia Tech. I don’t think the school will overreact. Changes, yes. But not too much more than that.
However, on the infantilization of students, I do worry a lot. My brother had an issue in the fall at VT that involved a discipline hearing. Without his consent, they sent documentation of everything going on to our mom. It was helpful, I guess, but little I didn’t already know from being involved in his life. At 18, his privacy should’ve mattered some, at least. Instead, federal law permits, and probably encourages, this violation.
College “kids” are adults, as you say. They should be treated as such. But our culture prefers to be protected from cradle-to-grave from any risk, no matter how small. Count me out. And I wonder why more don’t want any part of it.
# Comment by SallyT on Tue, May 1st, 2007 at 12:28 pm:
Maybe this is a good reason to have kids. You can bring them up with a healthy dose of skepticism. I try to expand my kids’ notions of the world. I explain to them about animal exploitation–one has chosen to have a mostly vegan diet, the other is still weighing the information. I provide them lots of input but let them make choices and increasingly take responsibility for those choice. Better parents make better kids!
# Comment by James on Tue, May 1st, 2007 at 3:03 pm:
I got a good dose of the ambivalent attitudes of younger students when I was taking a PoliSci class at a local community college in California. I was in the Army for six years right out of high school (for many reasons still unclear to me) and have made a drastic shift in many of my beliefs over the last ten years. So, initially, the kids in the class read me as being a right wing, gun toting ex-miitary type. I am 28, white and keep a shaved head so I guess I look the part.
When I opened my mouth though they hear anti-capitalist and democratic sentiment, anti-security and a skepticism that comes only from being in the intelligence sector of the military for a number of years. Couple that with my veganism and I was sure I would have heard something from these kids that would let me know that the issues I was bringing up were of interest to them.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. All these kids seemed worried about was protecting their interests and making sure that their suv, cell phone, clothes, sunglasses etc were new and “secure”.
My political science professor is now a good friend of mine and the security issues and the lack of interest by students worries him greatly. But, maybe that is just because he is a dangerously crazy and liberal academic.