New York City students protest school surveillance cameras

Chanting phrases such as "counselors not cops" and clutching signs saying "counselors not cameras," high school students from the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Teen Activist Project protested on Thursday the use of cameras in public schools. The protest was held outside off New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office, Fox 5 reported.The group believes that the $30 million in state grants being offered to schools to purchase surveillance equipment, including video monitoring and facial recognition software, would be better spent on mental health programs or other tools to boost school safety. They also argued that such technology could infringe upon privacy and increase government surveillance.Some local officials, school administrators and parents, however, have pushed for increased surveillance in the city's schools as a way to increase security and protect students and teachers. Video surveillance has become much more common in society as a way to monitor locations and attempt to ensure people's safety. As this security method becomes more widespread, perhaps it makes sense that it is also cropping up in schools around the country.