Bring On The Handcuffs!

I don't have any minutes on my Sidekick, and I probably can't buy any more for a while despite getting my Tax Return check, because I have to pay for the Blue Party (which I'll explain at a later date). I'll also explain "Percival" at a later date, but the bell's about to ring and it's time for another gripe.

Because the authority figures at LaGuardia won't rest until our school has been entirely transformed into a prison, they're intending to add video surveillance cameras to the hallways to monitor the actions of students. Granted, there have been two trash can fires in the past week, but that's the most "exciting" incident that's happened here in all my years at LaGuardia. (Well, minus the whole bomb-threat, marijuana brownies, people that normally smoke in the bathroom and Meningitis outbreak). But come on, nobody walks around with weapons here, we don't have metal detectors (nor do we need them), and our classrooms still have windows, unlike a certain school across the street. On top of all this, the cameras are going to be hidden, so that students won't be able to tell whether they are or aren't on tape.

My main question: what the f**k? Seriously. In a post-9/11 world (and I'm sorry I'm getting all political here), some people are already paranoid enough, and that's without people that fear the government monitoring our every action. So why start that business in school, where we spend most of our day anyway? This year has been one bad idea after another, first adding 3 minutes to the official attendance period last term, then an additional ten minutes to the entire day. The cell phone policy put simply is assinine, considering that if a cell phone is confiscated a parental unit must come in to claim the device. Many people have parental units that WORK during the day so that they and their families can LIVE, so how does it make sense that they should be prevented from sustaining a living to pick up a device that is almost essential in today's world? To go even further, until the phone is returned to the student, they are without a means of communication to whomever they need to communicate with. This could cause minor problems such as not being able to pick up a loaf of bread from the bodega because you didn't get your text message, or it can (God forbid) go so far as to not being able to know a family member died because YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR PHONE.

I really can't wait to see how much further they'll go to butcher our rights. Bring on the orange jumpsuits!