Students walk out in protest at cameras mounted in school toilets

SOME 150 students at a Kildare school walked out in protest yesterday after CCTV cameras were installed in the toilets.

Students at Scoil Mhuire Community School in Clane made their protest yesterday at the school after returning from the mid-term break to find CCTV cameras mounted in the bathrooms in the school.

It is understood neither the students nor their parents were informed about the move which, according to a statement from the Department of Education, may be illegal.

Speaking to TV3 news yesterday, students and parents expressed their anger at the presence of the cameras.

One student, Michael Jordan, said he was “shocked” by the action of the school.

“These appeared in the bathroom with no notification after the mid-term break. I went in Monday morning when we came back and I was going to the bathroom, first thing in the morning on the first day back and I looked up and saw a camera. I was shocked,” he said.

One mother, Margaret Duignan, said she supported the actions of the pupils and said parents should have been notified before the cameras were installed. “We weren’t notified at all about this. The first time the kids found out about it was when they went back to school after their mid-term and I agree with what they are doing today, totally agree with it,” she said.

Another mother, Hilda Jordan, echoed such a view and said parents should have been informed of the move.

“Cameras in the toilet, now in all fairness it shouldn’t be allowed. Parents should have been told, that’s it,” she said.

Principal at the school Padraig Nolan refused to comment on the presence of the cameras yesterday but it is understood students were told the cameras were there to combat bullying and vandalism.

However, a statement from the Department of Education said that, while the supervision of students is the responsibility of the Board of Management, the installation of cameras in toilets may be illegal.

“The guidance available from the Data Protection Commissioner said the use of CCTV to monitor areas where individuals would have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as in toilets and rest rooms would be difficult to justify under data protection legislation,” a statement read.