Should You Pick the Daycare with Cameras? Pros and Cons

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I’m not afraid of being on camera in public. I’m boring. I have nothing to hide. If someone wants to watch me buy socks or look both ways before crossing the street, that’s their problem.

However, there are a few more complexities when it comes to cameras in a daycare.

Should a Daycare Have Camera Surveillance?

Searching for a daycare that meets your hourly needs and your budget is hard enough without having to take other considerations, like whether or not they use surveillance cameras, in mind.

Still, this is an important matter that every family must weigh before enrolling a child into a daycare.

Related: How to Find a Quality Daycare Facility

The Benefits of Cameras in Daycares

My children attended a nursery school that used surveillance cameras. I was grateful for it because the cameras made me feel that my children were always safe. Those cameras kept a watchful eye on children, teachers, parents, and strangers. Though we never had reason to turn to them, it was nice to have them as an option.

Cameras protect the children by showing where they are at all times. We have all heard horror stories about children wandering away from their daycare facilities. Cameras can help to determine when and how a child slips away.

Cameras provide proof of playground injuries. A daycare center that is accused of abuse may be able to provide camera evidence showing a child’s injuries are from a simple fall.

Of course, the opposite is also true. Daycare workers have been caught on camera abusing children (see video below). This proof of abuse is vital in lawsuits and in shutting down facilities that have no business taking care of kids.

Cameras provide safety from the outside world. Though it is rare, there are cases when someone from outside the facility attempts to harm a child or staff member. Having cameras is an added protection that helps to deter any would-be criminals.

Related: Should I Go With the Expensive Daycare?

The Drawbacks of Camera Surveillance

Having a camera on-site doesn’t solve all of the problems that might appear during the day. They can give parents and caregivers a false sense of security. Administrators might believe that their staff is behaving appropriately simply because they are on camera. This has occasionally been proven not to be the case.

A camera that uses live stream can be hacked. The hacking of a preschool or daycare camera is a serious offense that can be used for dark purposes. Even if a hacker can’t get directly into the feed, they can often easily find the passwords to enter a live stream that is only supposed to be accessible to parents.

Daycares do not have to turn over video footage without a subpoena. A parent may wish to see a particular incident unfold, but the daycare can refuse. In these cases, the camera does little to help a parent or their child.

It’s a Tough Decision

The vast majority of childcare facilities, even in-home daycares, now have surveillance cameras. If the issue of having a camera is important to you, make sure you talk it over with your daycare.

The daycare my son goes to has cameras in it. The cameras are one of the things I like about that daycare. Having worked at a facility with cameras, I have always felt that employees behave better when they know cameras are watching them.

Whether or not there’s any truth to that, I don’t really know. What I do know is that it gives my family better peace of mind. Like a lot of decisions we make as parents, sometimes that’s just good enough.

How do you feel about cameras in your child’s daycare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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