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What do you all think? Have they got a point or they just attention seeking gobshites? Parents hit out at CCTV in Wirral school toilets Oct 1 2008 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News Parents hit out at CCTV in Hilbre High School toilets PARENTS have hit out at a Wirral school after learning a CCTV camera had been fitted in pupils’ toilets. A man and woman, who asked not to be named, say they were horrified to discover their teenage son, a pupil at Hilbre High in West Kirby, had been given a detention last week for “defacing school property”. It later emerged he had been given the punishment for putting Blu-Tack over the lens of the camera. The furious couple have refused to allow the school to keep the 15-year-old at detention, and say the camera is an invasion of his privacy. Hilbre High says the camera – which shows the sink area and not inside toilet cubicles – was installed after suggestions from students and there have been no other complaints. The teenager’s mother told the News: “The school are really annoyed that we’re not backing them up but we’ve said no, this is not right. We were absolutely horrified when we found out about it. “My husband got in touch with them and they told us they were within their rights to do this. They said bullying happens in toilets but there must be other ways to deal with it. “How many other schools are doing this and the parents don’t know about it? There’s been no consultation or a letter asking our feelings about it. “Our son only noticed the camera when he went back to school after the summer and now he’s reluctant to use the school toilets because he feels it’s an invasion of his privacy. “No matter how old the pupils are, they still have human rights.” Earlier this year the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) set up a working group to look into the use of CCTV and produce guidelines on best practice for schools and colleges. Hilbre High head Jan Levenson said the cameras were installed following a survey during the last academic year of pupils’ opinions about school life. She added: “Some of the feedback we received led to discussions with our Student Council regarding initiatives we could implement to make improvements to our school environment. “One of the suggestions from the students included the installation of CCTV in areas which require greater monitoring, including the vanity areas within the students’ toilets. “There have not been any other complaints about the cameras, which we would like to emphasise show the sink and vanity area only, and not inside the cubicles, where we would understand there being a concern about privacy. “The company which installed these cameras has already undertaken this type of work in other Wirral secondary schools and we have received a great deal of positive feedback from headteachers about their effectiveness. “We always endeavour to work collaboratively with our pupils and their parents, and we look forward to finding an amicable solution to this situation.”