Students have the "right" to get an education. Way too much emphasis on other non-essentials. If it was my child as a parent, I'd be really angry if information like this was withheld. WE as parents are being held legally liable for the children's wrongs but kept in the dark by children's rights to intervene. Public education is overdue for a serious restructuring back to the basics of education and distancing from teacher's union agendas.

Invasion of privacy! That's such an understatement. The issue is so much larger. There is no accounting for how we are born. How dare the teacher (who also was a church going friend of the parents) be permitted to remain at the school after having breached a duty to the students involved. How clear can it be that the teacher knew he/she was wrong when no attempt was made to let the other parents know what was going being shared. The parents need to have social services evaluate them as their reaction to a normal behavior seemed to create temporary insanity in their thought process.If not they are definitely guilty of discrimination against a lifestyle. I am worried for their daughters well being. These type parents would rather have a dead daughter than one that may or may not be homosexual. How sad. I hope this child knows that when she runs away that there are places that will help her and that she need not live life on the streets, drink herself into oblivion or try to feel better though drugs. My heart goes out to her.
(isn't Gig Harbor the school that dictated how kids could dance? so there subsequently are no dances...a school that breeds problems, pathetic!)

Public schools were set up for specifically for the equal opportunity to education.
The social skills our students learn in our tax payer funded schools should include being aware of the rules of (their) school and know what the consequences will be if they choose to break (those) rules.
I would AGREE with the decision to allow the parent(s) to view the girls caught on tape so the PARENT can be directly involved in the counciling and continued education of the CHILD for the better understanding of the impact their choices make for their future.

The issue goes much deeper than that. With the explosion and availability of video / photographic technologies, anything done in any public venue is subject to be captured by a lens. The issue is not, "Are surveillance cameras an invasion of privacy", but rather how do people really want to present and conduct themselves in public. If people want to practice otherwise private/secret activities in public places, they are taking a risk that someone will see those actions, or even be equipped with a camera to capture the moment. Let's say, trusted institutions like school grounds were not equipped with surveillance cameras. Is that going to prevent anyone at the school who owns a camera from not using one on unsuspecting individuals and disseminate the actions captured via the Internet? As a matter of fact, most schools have some sort of a journalism club, individuals who are likely scouting for news stories, and will use a camera to capture anything and everything. Having surveillance cameras could potentially help people wise up, and be more discreet about themselves.

ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE HATE
CAMERAS IN PUBLIC PLACES. HOW THE INFORMATION
ON THE CAMERA IS USED IS THE ISSUE.

MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PUT IN JAIL, INCLUDING
POLICE CAUGHT ON CAMERA. MANY HAVE BEEN FOUND
INNOCENT LIKEWISE.

JUST CHECK THE BLOG SPACE TO SEE WHO IS USEING
CAMERAS TO INVADE EVERYONES SPACE AND NOTHING
IS BEING DONE TO STOP OR CHANGE THAT.

IT SEEMS NO ONE WANTS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT
THEY DO.

REMEMBER ONLY AN EYE WITNESS CAN TESTIFY TO
WHAT HAPPENED.

ALL IN ALL, A VERY SAD SITUATION

Im a Current student at Bonney Lake High School in Bonney Lake, Washington. I saw this story on the news this evening and thought i would share my opinions of cameras as they appear in between 80 and 100 locations of my school and its campus grounds. I feel that although they serve the purpose of presenting a security tool for administrators, staff and students i feel that having a camera in every corner of every hallway in the school doesnt just pose as an eye to view intruders. They are there to pose as 80 security officers keeping an eye on rule breakers and love makers. Now im not saying this as someone who gets into trouble and breaks every rule in the book cause im the opposite, as i am an honors student and school ambassador. I just feel that school's security was overdone and that the situation at Gig Harbor High School could very much happen at my school and other schools who believe in cameras on campus.

Since when is against the law to SHOW A SMALL BIT OF AFFECTION IN PUBLIC?
"These type parents would rather have a dead daughter than one that may or may not be homosexual. How sad" I agree. How dare a parent use our school taxes meant for safety to impose their religious views on the kids!
If these parents are so concerned about sexual indoctrination and descrimination - let them drag their own kids off to Fundamentalist Christian churches on their own time and dollar.
I think the administrator involved should be fired.

smooching in a public place like that how can anyone expect any kind of privacy? the only question i have is why wasnt the parents of both girls given copies? anymore i would expect the parents would be bypassed and it would have been put on you tube for everyone to enjoy like what happend to alec baldwin.

The problem is that the GH administrator is practicing his religion in the public school system and that is against policy, in fact it's against the law. These fundamentalist Christians think they are answering to a power higher than the state laws regarding public education, and for that reason, he should be fired.

Camreas at schools are ment for one reason, To catch crimes in action. A school fight would be a crime. It is not a crime to kiss. Cameras at schools are not a Invasion of privacy. The use of the footage can be (In this case is) an Invasion of privacy

Cameras at schools are ment for one reason, To catch crimes in action. A school fight would be a crime. It is not a crime to kiss. Cameras at schools are not a Invasion of privacy. The use of the footage can be (In this case is) an Invasion of privacy.

Sorry for double post needed edditing.:(

I think that NWCN.COM should have a link to the story relating to the blog questions, with the questions.
I don't think 'Gig Harbor High School security cameras recently captured two girls kissing in the hall. The Dean of Students gave a copy of the video to one of the girls' parents.

Do you think school surveillance cameras are an invasion of privacy?', reflects the whole of the story.
People need to start realizing that there is no privacy in public places. I think it comes down to the lack of trust among people, and one persons personal beliefs being raised above anothers. Everyone has there own opinion on acceptable public behavior.
Too often people have a 'I don't like what you do so you have to change for me' attitude.

The purpose of surveillance cameras is to protect the security of a building, not to be a lazy way to enforce rules of decency when no one is around. PDA is regulated in some places because it is distracting but if the security camera was the only thing to catch the display, then it was a waste of resources and time to enforce the rule.

Additionally, a simple detention would probably have been how heterosexual PDA was handled, so why make a bigger deal just because it was homosexual? That was poor judgment by the administrator.

First of all...what grade level was this? Are they in high school? If they are in high school I don't see anything wrong with "appropriate" public affection. I have to wonder if this would of been as much of an issue if it had been a girl and a boy kissing. We have to realize that in our changing society as we give more gay rights to Gays that they have to have the same rights to show public affection the same as hetrosexual couples. A kiss like that when I went to school was never a crime. Not even in Jr. High School. I do think however that there are alot worse things that go on in school then two people kissing. I think the school should worry more about drugs and guns in the schools. A kiss never killed anyone but drugs and guns do. That's the probley with this world today..not enough love and too much hate which leads to crime.

there seems to be two questions to this blog...
one, should there be cameras in the school...
i believe there should be in this day and age of school shootings and lack of appreciation for life. This is a public school, and should be voted on by the "public" that funds the schools pocketbook. Do the families of students want the cameras in the schools? For me I would want cameras in the school. School is about an education, not the hugging and kissing that goes with the teen years. If my daughter was kissing a boy in the halls - I would want to know who my daughter was being intimate with.
second question - a same gender kiss...should parents have been notified... same gender - opposite gender yes ...parents should be aware of what there children are doing and with who, not so much of an invasion of privacy, but about being a parent who is active with their children.
Tough question, but it is better to error on the side of safety for our children than hindsight.

I think this is a big invasion of their privacy, and the cameras are being misused.

If they had caught someone kissing and it's against the rules, the only thing they can do is put them in detention. But, giving the video to the parents? They don't have the right to do that.

And why alert one of their parents anyway? I think that he only showed the video because it was two girls kisssing, therefore it's homosexual. I think that if it had been a guy and a girl, they would have gotten a slap on the wrist and been sent on their way.

My heart goes out to both those girls, and I hope an injustice like this NEVER happens again.

.......THAT IS SOOOOOOO FREAKING FUNNNNNNY.......I am amazed that the parents are not trying to pass a new law....get a clue kids all schools have security cameras......and you are minors.......= Dean well within the legal bounds to give the tape to the parents....not to mention on school grounds.......but he better be giving all the parents of children caught smooching in the halls,videos...........because if the parents don't go and make a new law.....I do believe that there is already on the books something about discrimination..........

I believe it was an invasion of privacy for the school to give the tape to the one girls family without blocking out the image of the second girl. It is not their right to share personal information of other students with people that are not their parents when it is not an illegal or dangerous behaviour, and then only with the police.

Camera's in schools can be used for good, protecting the students and faculty, catching drugs and fights on camera so prosecution is easier, but this is complete misuse. How can a parent even ask the school to provide them with video surveylance of their childs every action? How can the faculty who shared this other girls private information with a different family still be working at the school?

Would the same thing have happened if it had been a boy and a girl kissing? Unlikely. THAT isnt seen as inappropriate, but two girls or two boys is due to certain religious beliefs that were brought into the situation and shouldnt be there. Church values are not necessarily school values as we have freedom of religion here and the schools are supposed to allow said freedom of religion and not impose their own faiths on the students there.

A kiss is just a kiss. If they were actually breaking laws, with public nudity or sexual acts, the girls should have been brought in with their parents and appropriate action taken. Obviously a kiss wasnt an issue, or the other parent would have been given a tape as well.

As a professional working in a video security business I cannot pass by this issue. First of all, school is a public place, like any other: shopping mall, bank, airport, etc. So what kind of privacy are we talking about? A privacy to fight, to kill, to destroy? We only concern what happens at schools when it already happens: see Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, or getting closer to our neighborhood: Foss High School in Tacoma. Cameras cannot stop shooting, but they can identify those who bring weapons to schools, who deal with drugs, who initiates fights, vandalize our schools, and on and on. Cameras can help in hostage situations and save lives. Cameras don't lie. They are 100% objective and independent witness for any incident and can effectively serve justice and save big $ in law suits. Those who oppose the cameras in public places are either ignorant or have something to hide themselves. The school administration actions are a different case. The way they used cameras is inappropriate and they should be liable for that. This has nothing do with the question should there be cameras in schools or not. They might get images captured by someone's cell phone, or simply use information from witnesses. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? It DOES NOT MATTER HOW the information got through. It is important HOW this information is USED. This case is absolutely ridiculous and pathetic because they’re making SUCH A BIG DEAL of two girls kissing. SO WHAT? People like each other - they kiss. Are you jealous? If they hate - they fight and kill. This is what we should really worry about.
If anyone has questions about video surveillance and how it could help to protect your home or business, I'd be glad to answer.
P.S. To the girls: you did not do anything wrong! I am a father of a 20-year-old daughter and if that would happen to her when she was in high school, I would go against school administration for putting her on such humiliating public display for NOTHING! They owe you guys more than just an apology! To parents: please be reasonable and don't judge your daughters.

Es, Andy, Elaine, Rob, and Johanna Huft you're douchebags at best. This isn't a matter of people being aware that they're being monitored in public places or that parents have the right to know who their kids are being intimate with (you have no fucking right to know that by the way you overbearing cunts). This is a matter of the dean abusing his powers to do personal favors for his church going pals and wasting taxdollars to enforce his personal moral code and bigotry on the student population (seperation of church and state anyone?). As the dean of students it's his job to ensure student safety through discipline, but in outing this girl to her parents he's personally placed her in danger of severe psychological (just in the act of outing her before she herself was ready to come out) and perhaps physical trauma (she's since been whisked away to Utah to be mentally abused into being straight in one of those ex-gay gulags). I for one will not tolerate our tax dollars being wasted on this cretin's salary and will be personally encouraging everyone I know to voice their complaints with the district.

This is getting ugly and it doesn't have to be that way. The Gig Harbor administrator broke the law. Would someone grow a set and make him accountable?

this issue about these girls smooching has so far has gotten more comments than the virginia tech gunman video. whats up with that? if these girls were smoochin out in public maybe the parents were the last to know.
what got Snu in such a snit? i am not a douchebag! im a butthole! as was my father and his father before him! get it straight will ya. maybe when these girls get a little older they can make some other kind of girl on girl smoochin videos.

Snu- you must not have children or give a darn about what they are doing.
Sounds like you have anger issues and a negative outlook on life.

NICEEE....yep self proclaimed douche bag!!!!......because of people like u snu this world is very confused...these CHILDREN....CHILDREN.....CHILDREN.....have no rights.....they are CHILDREN....... I as a parent better have the right to know what my child is doing at all times.......block out the other CHILDS face and call their butts in.....HAVE A CONFERENCE.....ask why in a place of academia they are making out in the breeze way......which if she was concerned about being outed before her time you would think she would pick a little less public area....and no one said any thing about church and state but you.....maybe your time would be better served attending some support group to get over your religious phobia....sounds like it's getting the better of you.......name calling and hair pulling only makes you look ignorant and inept also overrides any logic you may have imparted....

Point of the fact is that the school has double standards ... do you really think they would have done the same when a boy would have kissed a girl .. and this whole debate would have been so raging if that was the case ? No .. the right wing Christian extremists are jumping right on this because it were 2 girls. You know .. my God can beat your God in a match of checkers.

whoever SNU is....please don't lower yourself to the level of those that have difficulty understanding the complexities of this issue.

Here are the school rules, on this subject, as taken from the Gig Harbor High School web site:

DISCIPLINE
SCHOOL INFRACTIONS, CRIMINAL ACTS, EXCEPTIONAL MISCONDUCT

Students who do not comply with the following Student Responsibilities will be referred to the
principal/designee who shall take appropriate administrative action resulting in discipline,
emergency removal from class, emergency expulsion, a recommendation of short-term
suspension, long-term suspension, or expulsion.

The following acts are specifically prohibited
on school grounds, on school sponsored transportation, or in transit to or from a school
sponsored activity, and at school events off school grounds:

The conducts marked with an asterisk (*) have been judged by the ad hoc citizens’
committee and Board of Directors to be so serious in nature and/or so serious in terms of the disruptive effect upon the operation of the school that students may be subject to a
suspension for a first-time offense. They constitute acts of exceptional misconduct.

* Inappropriate Displays of Affection

Therefore, even if you consider two girls kissing in the halls as "Inappropriate Displays of Affection", the principle clearly violated school rules. He should have, or could have, given the girls detention or I suppose he could have suspended them. Either way, the parents should have been notified of the discipline the girls received and NOT simply been given a copy of the tape.

And for those parents that have posted saying that you have a right to know what your child is doing at all times, it sounds more like you and your child have trust problems. If you can't properly teach and parent your child, please don't expect others to take care of them for you. YOu don't need to KNOW what your child is doing and who they are doing it with, you need to TRUST that whatever your child is doing, you have given them the proper guidance and support so that they are making the proper decisions. I'm sure you NEVER did anything as a child that you didn't tell your parents about or that they wouldn't approve of.

MY BAD I foRgot That this is the CoMpLeX state that wants to stop booing at games.......YEAH...it all seems about right.....at least you all are consistent somewhere......and I have perfect trust in my children...I trust that they will AcT like children.....

So would it be appropriate to say that if a parents child, religious or not, was engaged in some kind of sexual act (on campus and during school hours) that as a reasonable and responsbile parent you were made aware (either by eyewitness or video) of your childs NON-educational activity? Or is this part of the childs(?) rights(?)??? The child is only guarenteed by law, a safe and warm place to sleep, food and water, and a education! Other than that, they have no additional rights. The liberties that are given to them through peer indoctrination and popular cultural influences, while loose and not in the CHILD'S best interest, are subject to the responsbile parent. Not the parent who choosed to be iresponsbile or their child's 'best friend'. We as a nation and parents need to relaize that the decay we see in society is directly due to the turning away from those 'wholesome' values we started out with and have slowly gutted out of our lives. The parents have the RIGHT to know what their children are up to. We need to start acting like parents, while our children act appropriately!

and parents like you, Mike, stand having children that grow up with no self respect, with no ability to make 'choices', and possibly lacking in trust for anyone they come across. Parents have a right to be able to talk to their kids in the same manner they would approach a stranger or even their own friends. No child is chattel, get over it Mike. You are mostly wrong on this one. Build that trust and respect, earn it...and you will have it. And please, be certain you aren't concerned only because of the homosexual implications.

...and parents like you, Mike, stand having children that grow up with no self respect, with no ability to make 'choices', and possibly lacking in trust for anyone they come across. Parents have a right to be able to talk to their kids in the same manner they would approach a stranger or even their own friends. No child is chattel, get over it Mike. You are mostly wrong on this one. Build that trust and respect, earn it...and you will have it. And please, be certain you aren't concerned only because of the homosexual implications.

You forgot to add that these children expect a brand new BMW when they graduate and a 100,000 dollar a year salary.

"Invasion of privacy?" What invasion of privacy? It's a public school, for crying out loud! This was never heard of 20, 30, 40+ years ago. Boy, this country is going right into the toilet if anyone backs up these CHILDREN and saying they have a right to such behavior in a PUBLIC SCHOOL! Too bad more parents can't home school their children or send their children to a school that is not public, where demon-crates and liberals can support such ABSOLUTE stupidity. Grow a BRAIN Demoncrates! You're sending our kids to hell in a hen basket if you keep this up! Parents should make very, very wise choices in raising kids, return to the standards of the Bible, do right by the children and then EXPECT those children to obey and honor their parents as GODS WORD clearly says they should and if not...their are consequences. Imagine if we just hung REAL criminals, the ones who rape, rob, kill & destroy rather than giving them 3 HOTS & A COT (jail) at the expense of tax payers. Better yet, let the victims families desire due/just punishment. OH MY, how are society would change and how many fewer criminals we would have and a strong deterant for wanna-be-kid-criminals. Imagine! It'll never happen because "cruel and unusual punishment" is only intended for the victims, not the criminals. Boy, what are we thinking not letting them have their tv's, ipods & other forms of entertainment in their jail cells while for some of them, their victims bodies ROT in the grave. Get a grip, people....demoncrates! Can they find the brains that they gave up or fried???

the fundamentalist perspective should stay where its meant to be....in the churches and in the homes where the heavy hand, heavy heart reign. public YES! inappropriate displays of affection...NO! kids with guns ...No! but tolerated it seems. Kids exchanging a greeting either by choice or greeting---- a near felony...shame on you for finding fault with that. this pathetic set of parents put their child in a de programming school from all accounts heard...I believe he proudly provided the information on talk radio. Good job DAD! Maybe your daughter will meet her life partner there and the two of them will never be part of your life again...and they can be happy!

since we are getting off the beaten path here! when i was in the 5th grade there was this kid who everybody hated, he was constantly asking for it and one afternoon after school i hauled off and busted him in the mouth. the next day my teacher (retired navy) took me and a plywood paddle with holes drilled in it out into the hallway and had me grab my ankles. it felt like both swats lifted me off of the ground. it litterally felt like my ass was on fire. i never regretted smackin that kid but on the other hand i never hit anyone again.

i dont hold it against alec baldwin for rakin his kid over the coals and i dont see anything wrong with what happend here. if you dont from time to time give them something they wont forget they will more than likely grow up spoiled and stupid.

Since when did physical pleasure start constituting a loving and a caring relationship. Homosexuality has to to with sexual behavior, not an emotion bond. People can and should love and care about each other regardless of gender. But I think that most people don't involve sexuality with everyone they care about. This isn't about invasion of privacy, this isn't about homosexuality. This is about society growing more and more "screwed in the head". If it feels good do it, right?

I find 'screwed' an offensive word Dennis .. can you please rephrase your statement with a non-sexual offensive word ?

it(thinking that people want to see facts)seems futile. the parents made it a homosexual issue. the parents made it a religious issue. the admistrator that should be fired made a mockery of everything by exposing (him)self to be a fundamental puppet of either the parents or the church.

no the parents made it a public issue.....everyone else made it what it is.......FunDAAAAmentally SHe is untill she is eighteen under the unTHInkable inFLuence of her parentS.....HOW can we allow such a TRAGIC THING!!!!.....sounds like you complete the fundamental trifecta......

C, how about "confused in the head"?