The Educator Magazine U.K. Jan-April 2024 issue - Magazine - Page 12
Take Control of School Toilets
With Smart Sensor Technology
Vaping among young people, specifically
in the UK, has taken a toll on schools, as reported by BBC News. A recent survey by the
anti-smoking group ASH found that 20.5%
of children aged 11 to 17 had tried vaping,
up from 15.8% in 2022. This increase in
youth vaping has impacted learning in the
classroom, and increased learning loss.
“You find them asking to go out of the
lessons to go into the toilets,” said Sade
Afolabi, a teacher in Surrey, and spokeswoman for the NASUWT teaching union.
“It is damaging because when you quantify
how much time is lost it’s quite a big loss
to learning,” she added. School toilets have
become a popular hotspot for student
vaping not only in United Kingdom schools,
but schools all over the world, due to the
lack of security cameras and other devices
to monitor these areas.
Toilets, in general, pose a unique security
and health challenge in that there is an
expectation of privacy within the toilets,
therefore security cameras and recording
are not permitted. This often leads
to toilets being used for unpermitted
vaping, loitering, vandalism, and more.
In one example affecting library toilets,
meth contamination forced three Denver,
Colorado, USA area libraries to close in
a span of two months. In another
example, toilets in Montgomery County,
Maryland, United States schools have been
deemed some of the most dangerous places
in the schools due to drug usage, vaping,
violence, and vandalism.
Devices like the HALO Smart Sensor are
designed to help all facilities keep their
buildings and toilets safe through Health,
Safety, and Vaping detection.
Protects Privacy While Detecting
Vape and Vape With THC
Concerns are always present about putting
any type of security device in an area of
expected privacy. Toilets are an example of
a public-use area where security devices are
not implemented due to this apprehension.
Smart sensor devices do not use video or
audio recording to monitor an area. The
device simply monitors the surroundings
to ensure that occupants are not vaping,
along with other forms of improper activity.
Therefore, with the use of vaping detection
devices, there is no infringement on privacy
since they are not being watched by a video
camera. This alleviates the concern of being
visually monitored in an area of expected
privacy. Stationing a smart sensor device in
these areas would help establishments be
able to monitor if any unauthorized activity
such as vaping or drug usage is being done
in the toilets.
HALO Smart Sensor specifically saw success
with Baxter College in Worcestershire, UK,
who was finding difficulty in managing the
increasing number of students vaping
within its toilets. Like many secondary
schools, Baxter College has recently
experienced more of its students vaping and
being prepared to vape within the school
itself, principally within the toilets. This
created issues around some pupils feeling
unable to enter the toilets but also more students asking to use the toilets within lessons
arousing suspicions that vaping was taking
place during these times. Unlike cigarettes,
vapes do not emit an obvious odor and they
can be concealed more easily when being
used. Within the first week following the
installation, two children were caught
vaping on separate occasions during the
detention period led by the school’s senior
leadership team. The HALO Smart Sensor
has tamper detection which will alert to
problems such as students trying to
interfere with the device. Additionally,
the HALO Smart Sensor is far more than
a vape detector. It can also detect
etrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is
found in cannabis and can be used for
health and air quality monitoring.
Aggression Detection
A main challenge with public toilets is the
potential for aggression or violence. Places
like toilets are secluded and there is the
expectation of privacy, which makes the
perfect area for a violent aggressor to act.
Smart sensor devices have been used
in school toilets for example, not only to
monitor and curb vaping in toilets, but also
to curb violence and bullying. With the
HALO Smart Sensor, loud sounds can be
detected like yelling and cries for help with
spoken keyword detection. This enhanced
security makes it easier to eliminate
disturbances and make the toilet a safe
place.
Motion and Occupancy Detection
Motion and occupancy detection can be
used in toilets to identify if suspicious activity is being conducted. The HALO Smart Sensor has a variety of safety readings, including
optional occupancy and people counting
through HALO 3C-PC, as well as motion, or
lack of motion. These sensor readings could
be used to monitor loitering, unauthorized
activity, or health emergencies in the toilets.