As an ex-Brit, I’m well aware of the authorities’ love of surveillance and snooping, but even I, a pessimistic cynic, am amazed by the governments latest plan: to install Orwell’s telescreens in 20,000 homes. £400 million ($668 million) will be spend on installing and monitoring CCTV cameras in the homes of private citizens. Why? To make sure the kids are doing their homework, going to bed early and eating their vegetables. The scheme has, astonishingly, already been running in 2,000 family homes. The government’s “children’s secretary” Ed Balls is behind the plan, which is aimed at problem, antisocial families. The idea is that, if a child has a more stable home life, he or she will be less likely to stray into crime and drugs. It gets worse. The government is also maintaining a private army, incredibly not called “Thought Police”, which will “be sent round to carry out home checks,” according to the Sunday Express. And in a scheme which firmly cements the nation’s reputation as a “nanny state”, the kids and their families will be forced to sign “behavior contracts” which will “set out parents’ duties to ensure children behave and do their homework.” http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/britain-to-put-cctv-cameras-inside-private-homes/ Its as though someone in UK Government read orwell's 1984 and thought, 'hey, this is a great idea!'.
wondering how they are going to enforce it while most of the cameras are out of the service constantly....
That is certainly a possibility. You start placing cameras inside children's bedrooms and have grown men watching on the other end and you call it surveillance in the best interest of the parent. I dunno about you, but i'd have some serious problems with that.
Apparently its to target problem families, and if by problem families they mean those who are anti-social chavs, who let their kids run wild and live off benefits, I say good
GREAT idea .. better late and never .. Although I feel a bit of invasion of privacy; with failed gun control measures and a rise in violence crimes committed by teen kids these days, it's not a bad thing for the US.
I dont understand how this seems like a good idea to anyone... You put a camera in an angsty teen male's room and all you're gonna see is him a) playing computer b) masturbating c) smoking weed d) sleeping How that serves to protect the public i don't know. Maybe 1/1,000,000,000 you might see a kid building a bomb or creating a meth lab, but the chances are so slim. If the main reason for this is really to make sure those darn whippersnappers do their homework, how will the government enforce it? 10 pound fines per incident leveraged on the child or the family if he or she is not doing homework at a certain hour of the day? Honestly, the entire idea is so retarded my mind boggles. As I see it, this is just a pretext to having cameras in every room of every house and building with the exception of private washrooms. If I lived in the UK I would be both offended and afraid of what the future is starting to look like. I believe Ben Franklin said it best, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." I can easily imagine a future where any activity not sanctioned by the government is captured on camera and you're fined for indecency; and I have no problem with that as long as it only pertains to activities on public properties, but the British Government seems to be on the road to making sure that they have full control of all citizen's actions whether in public or in private homes. To me this seems like a violation of one's freedom, the most basic of human rights.
Its going to be like BB only its going to be "Big "Britain" Brother". Maybe BB was just a pilot and had been successful
Well, the fact that the gov is spending so much money into the program proves that it must provides some sort of benefits. It's the public's fund, ain't it? People are informed so yeah .. Whether this system will provide your so called "long term safety" .. no one knows. For sure, if in the US, teen violence, crime, and death will be cut back. I personally feel it will leave a lasting impact on these kids too. If you can get through those "tough" years - peer pressure, etc; then the chance of you turning bad later will be lower. LOL .. I can't imagine executing it here without the ACLU blowing their horn on each judicial stop.
That seems like a pretty naive view. "The government is here to help us" Look at the US bailout. Do you really think spending a trillion dollars to pay off CEOs and investment bankers will really help the average citizen who makes 45 K a year?
naive or not .. the most important thing is that it works .. lol sometimes answers don't need to be so complicated like you think .. i don't get why you're referring to the bailout .. the reality .. half of the money is to cover the CEO and investment bankers' bad judgments and bonuses .. lol who give damn about average citizens .. come on now...lol
im cool with this being used on criminals and the antisocial types but it will eventually be used on everybody. It may happen here and there but it wont take off in a big way, we wont even accept ID cards and they have given up on that so i dont see how they are going to put cameras in our house. tbh if you think they cant see you wherever you are then your in lala land, them cameras up in space are serious bizniz.
