'If I wanted to be on Big Brother, I would have auditioned for it': examining the media representation of CCTV in schools and the impact of visual surveillance on schoolchildren

My focus is primarily on visual surveillance in the from of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), as the most common method of electronic surveillance found in schools. Two key sources of empirical data are drawn upon in this chapter. First, the findings from a content analysis of media coverage of the use of CCTV in schools in Australia provide an example of representation in one country, informing us about the dominant cultural narrative pertaining to visual surveillance in education. The chapter also draws upon empirical evidence from three schools in England to counter the media portrayal of CCTV in schools as neutral and benign.