16-05-2025
Working4You: White County Central School District implements locker room audio recording devices
WHITE COUNTY, Ark. – A new law, known as Eli's Law, requires all public and charter schools in Arkansas to install audio recording devices in locker rooms in an effort to prevent bullying in unsupervised areas.
Arkansas State Representative Keith Brooks shared a powerful statement about the legislation just weeks before it was signed into law.
'There has been a total failure in terms of leadership that allowed this to happen on their watch. Children's lives have been impacted forever, which is unacceptable in my view, and it should be unacceptable in all of our views,' Arkansas State Representative Keith Brooks said.
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Brooks, who was the sponsor of this bill, made it very clear that the law was in direct response to allegations of bullying and harassment in the Quitman football locker room.
Working 4 You first uncovered the alleged abuse in August of last year.
At the time, parents say the faculty and staff did not do enough to protect their children.
Through all the allegations, lawsuits, and changes the year brought for their boys, these parents stayed true to their goal that this story would spark change.
Audio recording devices aren't required until the 2027-2028 school year, but one school in central Arkansas already has them up and running.
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The locker room has been a private space for teammates to gear up, strategize and zone in.
Some say its seclusion from coaches, teachers, and staff can also open the door for bad behavior.
'Other districts had some serious accusations of sexual assault, there had been bullying, hazing, kids skipping class going to locker rooms,' White County Central School District Superintendent Pharis Smith said.
Smith said he's heard it all.
Last year, his team started looking into ways to monitor the space without physically putting eyes on it.
'Right now, we have it recording all the time,' WCCSD technology employee Matt Jones said.
You wouldn't notice it unless you knew what you were looking for.
'It's getting everything from back in the stalls to right as you come in the door and all the locker areas,' Jones said.
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The device doesn't record videos. It's in a place to detect all sounds of bullying, distress, or harassment.
'It's not a gotcha thing, but it's here to help [students], it's here to help us as well,' WCCSD Boy's Head Basketball Coach Zach Kersey said.
The superintendent said the devices pick up everything from a scream to a whisper.
'It protects the coaches,' Smith said. 'If a parent says they berated them in the locker room at halftime or after a game, we've got the audio to go back and see if that happened.'
Smith said the superintendent and principals are the only ones who have access to the recordings, and they can only be used when a serious allegation is presented by students, staff or parents.
If it is determined there was a case of bullying, parents would be notified and allowed to listen, and the proper authorities would be contacted.
'To tell you the truth, we haven't even listened to one,' Smith said.
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The recording devices were installed in October. Smith says he hasn't received one allegation of bullying in the locker room since.
'In this day in age, you don't know, it may save a life,' Smith said.
Five minutes in the locker room can change the outcome of a game. It could be just what a team needs to pull off a win, but five minutes in the locker room could also be the worst part of a student's day, away from supervision. Far from a hand to help.
'If we can put a stop to some of that, then as a superintendent, it makes you feel you've not only done your job, but you've been preventative and you've put stuff in place that hopefully we don't ever have to those conversations,' Smith said.
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