In elementary school there was more fears of being watched because we sat with the same classmates everyday and had only one, maybe two teachers. This isn't the case for college, where nobody knows our business unless we chose to share it with them. Each level of school has had some relation to certain aspects of Jeremy Benthan's idea of panopticons in education. Once in elementary school kids learn based on reward and punishment. It's hard to keep a six year old's attention, so teachers put fun stickers on good test grades and send class clowns to time out. Kids show off their stickers if they get one and kind of hide away when they don't. The kids who do well like the positive attention they get by doing what teacher's and parent's consider "good" so they will enforce the standards placed by the teachers because it works in their favor. "The ruling person is a spy; in the latter he is a monitor." Kids watch what other kids are doing either because of curiosity or because teachers persuaded kids to be on their side and go against other kids if they are doing something wrong. This appeal of teacher, classmate, and parental approval is what creates the unhealthy competition in todays schools. Kids see school as more of a burden and learn what they are told because they feel they have to instead of for the sake of learning.
