Hidden Camera: Kids Film Teachers for YouTube

Feb. 8, 2007 — -- If you type the words "angry teacher" into the search function on YouTube, you'll find video clips of teachers telling kids to stand quietly, "shut up" and modify their behavior.

Dozens of students surreptitiously tape, and in some cases bait their teachers to produce video clips for posting on the Internet. Kids might be expressing their creativity, but they're potentially violating the privacy of their teachers.

"It's a little uncomfortable if you are a teacher thinking you are coming in to teach your class and that it could suddenly end up on YouTube," said Anne Bryant, executive director of the National School Board Association.

The videos add to a debate that's already raging in school districts across the country over how to regulate the increasingly sophisticated technology kids carry with them to class.

"Part of what's so interesting about this new technology is that no social norms have developed around it yet," said Xeni Jardin, co-editor of BoingBoing.net. "Kids don't understand exactly how to be respectful in this whole new world."

When videos of Malibu, Calif., teachers surfaced on YouTube recently, the school district responded by restricting access to such Web sites at school.

"It's about being in the classroom and doing what they're supposed to do during the class time. I think that, for me, is one of the issues," said Malibu High School principal Mark Kelly. "If they were videotaping, they weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing."

New York City takes a hard line on technology, with an all-out ban on cell phones in school. But parents and students have staged protests and walkouts, saying the phones are a vital communication link for their families.

Bryant said she tries to find a balance in the use of technology.