Question of the day: will the ban on photo and video shooting at school raise the authority of the teacher?

Ivan Zubov

At the end of last week, information appeared in the Russian media that the State Duma Committee on Education is developing a law banning photo and video filming during lessons, and is being done to protect teachers.

"Unfortunately, at some point, the cases when teachers videotape children, having previously provoked a conflict or a funny (in the opinion of children) situation, have become the "norm" in our country. And then they post it online, send it to each other and arrange trolling", - said Deputy Olga Kazakova.

Kazakova's proposal was made just after two videos shot in schools were widely distributed in the media and social networks. In one video, a Moscow school teacher, Sergei Okopsky, beat a student at a financial literacy lesson for the "wrong" hairstyle (according to the school's management, the teenager did not obey the teacher). A criminal case was opened against the teacher. In another video, the former school principal, teacher Alexandra Fedurina calls the eighth-grader a "traitor" and a "bastard", wishing him a "bullet in the temple" because he was late for a school event. She was fired. Without these videos, both Okopsky and Fedurina would have continued to "teach" our children.

There was no respect for teachers here

The channel "Provisional Government", commenting on this initiative, writes:

"Kazakova justifies her idea by saying that "it is important to return respect to the teacher at the level of children and relationships with parents." Here it would seem that respect for the teacher should begin with the conditions of his work created by the employer. Decent salaries, for example, protection from mobilization, which the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov did not want to give them, exemption from extortion by the authorities and reduction of the bureaucratic burden. But it's easier for the State Duma to ban something. There is no sense of respect here. Only the desire to close my eyes to existing problems, hide and not see ..."

The deputies simply skipped lectures on child psychology

The author of the Lysenok channel calls this initiative not only strange, but also dangerous:

"Strange decisions and proposals from State Duma deputies. Prohibit children from taking pictures during lessons. You see, they provoke teachers, and then expose them in an unsightly way. I want to remind you that from time immemorial there has been a conflict of "fathers and children" in the psychology of childhood, and in the case of restrictions on the freedoms of the younger generation, it is radicalized. You see, the deputies did not propose to provide all classes with a permanent video surveillance system in order to refute the results of provocations. They proposed, as always, to ban, and if the ban can somehow affect adults, then when children are driven into the framework of their discomfort, and especially against the background of a hormonal explosion, it can lead to the radicalization of the younger generation, and instead of a war in the information space, it can go into the doorways. But the deputies, apparently at universities during psychology, ran around nearby pubs and, unfortunately, do not know its basics. The example of the PMCS "Redan" apparently did not teach them anything, or they did not understand the answer to what it is..."

The poor teacher is an evil teacher!

However, as the experts of the popular channel "Bad Luck" correctly noted, this problem is not solved by prohibitions.

And here's why:

"In many countries of the world, smartphones are generally prohibited for use in schools — from the moment of entering the territory of an educational institution until the moment of exit, the device should not be in the hands of a student. It is difficult to say what and how it helps to fight. One thing is clear: violence at school does not stop it: teachers beat and bully students, and students bully and sometimes beat teachers. This is not some special Russian problem, it is a problem of mass free education all over the world.

The fact is that in any large country there is an acute shortage of personnel in secondary education, the reason for which is relatively low pay for this work — yes, even in most EU countries teachers are poor people, and as a result — extremely low qualifications of the teaching staff. And since the school is free, then the contingent of students there on average also does not shine, and all this is excellent ground for constant conflicts that result in psychological and physical violence, and with the development of technology and in network bullying.

Somehow this could be changed in Scandinavia, simply because of the general standard of living, bringing education funding to an unprecedented level, it was possible to make a strong middle class out of teachers, bring them to another professional level. But the large countries of Europe, Eastern Europe, the USA, the Russian Federation — it's the same everywhere: the teacher receives a salary that only allows him to stand on the border of poverty and middle income. And while this is the case, bans or, on the contrary, video shooting permits at school will not change anything..."

And let's add on our own: 99 percent of filming in schools is done in a secret way - so that teachers don't see. So the effectiveness of this innovation will be zero. Moreover, it is impossible to fine or judge children.