Have noticed this. Seems to be betting worse and not sure the reason why.
It may have gone on when we were in school but don’t think it was near to the scale as what is going on today.
The difference is the ubiquitous presence of digital cameras.
When you were growing up if a student made an accusation the teacher denied it and the student was punished. Fini. That would be the entire story.
And then Steve Jobs decided that it was cheaper to not offer cell phones without cameras built in and voila! Here we are.
Ubiquitous cameras have also reshaped how people think aabout law enforcement.