Camera installed in school toilet to catch taggers

Students at Forest View High School in Tokoroa say their privacy is under attack after they found a hidden camera in the boys' toilets.

But principal Robert Blucher says a security camera has been legally used in the toilets, trained on the foyer area, and in other parts of the school because of problems with graffiti.

"The students know it could be somewhere in the school."

Mr Blucher said three students were caught on camera tagging about three weeks ago and were punished. One was suspended. "I think one of them has sour grapes and is making a story out of it."

Year 10 student Aiden, who was one of the three caught, told the Herald a friend found the camera at lunchtime on Thursday.

"He just saw a hole in the wall he hadn't seen before, looked in and saw the camera. He told us and we went to see and one of my other mates pulled it out."

The thumb-size lens was attached to a chipboard the size of a credit card. The student had to yank the device from attached wires to pull it out.

Neither Aiden, his friends, nor his brother Danny knew the camera was there.

Danny, a Year 13 student, said the camera was in the back wall below a window, sitting above all six urinals and facing the two cubicles.

"I think the school doesn't bloody care about students' privacy."

Aiden said the toilets were one of only two boys' lavatories in the school, and cleaners used to wipe graffiti off the walls every day. He guessed the school had put it there to catch taggers.

Aiden said he did not know who the other two taggers were.

He said his friend did not purposely go looking for a camera, and had noticed the hole in the wall only by accident.

Mr Blucher said the camera was not trained on the urinals or cubicles. "A student might think that and that's not the case.

"We know that would be unacceptable. It's focused on a piece of the toilet area where you can't see anything private."

Mr Blucher said the school had a number of security cameras which were moved around, depending on where problems such as smoking or tagging occurred.

Auckland Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Barry Wilson said if a security camera was being used people should be made aware of its presence.

- additional reporting: Errol Kiong