When 16-year-old Thomas goes to class there's a new set of eyes watching him. They don't belong to a teacher or a fellow pupil but a CCTV camera tucked away in the corner. "There are cameras everywhere," says Thomas, from Middlesbrough. "I found it a bit intimidating at first but you get used to it. I think it's a bit over the top but I know it's for pupils' protection as well."
Wherever you go in the UK today, someone is monitoring us overtly or covertly - be it through cameras, smart cards or databases. With all the hype over antisocial "youths", young people have, inevitably, become a focus for much of this surveillance. CCTV cameras are now a firm fixture in town centres and playing areas - the very places where young people hang out.
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