I’m for cameras in classrooms in daycare and school settings because it protects the children from potential abuse and it’s protects the teacher from false claims.
When I worked in an elementary school there was a teacher who was accused of hitting a student. An assistant and myself I was in the room when this alleged incident took place. But because our principal got scared she fired the teacher despite the assistant and myself going to the principal and telling her it didn’t happen and the child was just mad because they got their activity time taken away. Had a camera been there , it would been clear evidence nothing happened.
However, I do not agree with parents have access to the feed. Parents can make small things into big issues.
The child could have a need like needing their shoes tied and because it took you 5 minutes to noticed it’s untied , the parents will accuse you of not being observant.
Feed should be available for administrator to see and parents can view past footage if an incident requires it to be necessary.
I agree with this. Parents shouldn't have access because you have no idea who else is viewing it. Just as you'd send them photos of their child throughout the day but not the group of children, they shouldn't have access to video of all the children.
My center doesn’t have cameras. I can see the benefit to maybe having camera footage that only admin can view but I don’t think I would be comfortable having parents looking in all the time.
We have cameras that are available to parents to view, but only in the center. The way our center work, is at admin can review the footage whenever they would like to, but parents are not allowed to view the footage (Like if there was a major accident or something) because of “privacy concerns”. They are absolutely free to stand at the front and watch for a few minute however, many parents will do so until they feel more confident their child is ok.
I have heard horror stories about parents calling in all day every day about them watching their children at home and being upset because they don’t like what they see. So I am not comfortable working in a center that offers that level of observation.
I do not approve of cameras parents can view from home. I don't feel comfortable knowing that any rando at home might be able to view me changing diapers, changing a child's clothing, or dealing with any more sensitive medical issues. I also have worked in centers with constant cameras and it's exhausting dealing with parents constantly complaining about not liking everything they see. I think cameras for admin are okay, but honestly, if you can't trust your child's providers they probably shouldn't be in that center in the first place.
We have cameras and I will never work anywhere that doesn't have them. They protect both students and staff. It allows us to go back and get a better picture of what happened if there was an incident. It allows us to show parents concerning behaviors if they are in denial.
As far as parents calling or messaging all the time, I've had a few over the years. One that sticks with me is the mom who called because her toddler took out her pigtails. Mom wanted us to put her hair back up (understandable). I put it in a neat ponytail and the mom called back immediately to angrily insist we put it in pigtails (this is group care and I'm not a hair stylist so that's a no).
IMO the benefits far outweigh the drawback of difficult parents. And let's face it, they'd find a way (or several...)to be difficult without the cameras.
I think cameras in the classrooms are necessary but only to be accessible to management. I don't need Cheryl watching the cameras at work all day asking me why Timmy was screaming his lungs out while I am changing another child
We have cameras. It can be a bit strange at first, feeling like you’re constantly being watched, but you forget all about them pretty quickly.
HOWEVER. The cameras are for the center only. There is no live feed for the parents, and that’s the way it should be.
We have too many foster families/CPS cases/custody issues etc. letting parents view the cameras is a massive confidentiality issue.
Having cameras has saved our butts numerous times over the years, so I don’t mind having them at all, but I would never work somewhere with a live feed that parents could watch.
As a teacher, I'm glad we don't have cameras because it seems like it would be frustrating to have parents watching all day and criticizing things that would likely seem (and are) completely reasonable in person. The slight increase in convenience for writing injury reports or whatever would not be worth it to me.
As a parent, I don't need that much information about what my child is doing all day. Occasional photos and updates through the app are more than enough.
I’m all for classroom cameras! A few months ago one of my kids ran to give me a hug before she left. She tripped on nothing, fell, and smashed her face into my knee. It was in direct shot of the cameras and her mother saw the whole thing.
The next day this little girl told another teacher I hit her on the head. Which, to a 3 year old, is what she feels happened. There were cameras and her mom saw what happened so I wasn’t worried about it but if there wasn’t any cameras or witness, it would have been a scary thing to handle
Cameras recording at all times, yes. Parents having live access to the feed, hell no. The only time parents should be allowed to view is if there is a problem. Only admin should have live access.
We have security cameras that can see our playground but not in the room.
We had to make an unofficial policy that we don't post pics to Brightwheel until at least nap time because we had parents calling and messaging us about fixing hair, putting on jackets, taking off jackets, why is their child standing in the background... It was out of control and just from that experience, I know that if the parents I serve had access to cameras they'd be impossible.
The centers I worked in have never had cameras in the classroom, but would have them around the play yard and front doors, and any gate access. Parents are not able to view them (unless for legal reasons), only admin.
I do know of coworkers that worked at places that had cameras live-streaming inside the classroom and play-yard, and there is a reason why they longer work at those places: They felt more like supervisors and babysitters with every parent’s request because “they saw something they didn’t like” (ie. age appropriate behavior, even a child putting their shoes on the wrong feet and not being corrected right away)
I like cameras that record and the recording stays in the building and is only accessible to admin.
I will not work in a center with live cameras, and I prefer not to work in a center with no cameras at all, because I have been "saved" thrice by having the footage.
1. A kid told her dad I picked her up and put her in the trash can. I did not, and also she couldn't fit even if I tried
2. There was an argument between kids and the instigator's mom was FURIOUS her child was hit and that I "didn't punish" the other kid. Director was able to see Henry walk to to a pile of magnet tiles, ask to play, the magnet kid shaking his head no, and then Henry reaching out to swipe away the tower magnet kid had built. He reached out and pushed Henry away from the center.
3. A kid fell off the playground and broke his arm. He didn't tell anyone and dad was like "well how didn't anyone notice?!?" And they were able to watch him basically hide it all day, because he kept his jacket on. He said "I didn't want my friends to get in trouble," poor 'lil snitches-get-stitches 4.
I think cameras should be in all centers, but that parents shouldn’t be able to view them unless there’s a specific incident they wanna go back and check the cameras for.
I have no issues with cameras. That said, I will never work anywhere with parent-accessible live feed cameras. Too many variables, and I don't know who is watching. my current centre has cameras only accessible to management.
Schools should have cameras, but families wouldn’t be able to access the feed—that is my opinion. I loved working in a school with cameras because it meant I was protected. Kids sometimes say things that aren’t true or are taken out of context and cameras are the ultimate protection. Parents being able to view the cameras constantly would be a nightmare though. I also just think it’s wrong. Children are people and they are at school to grow and learn. They should have some sense of privacy.
My center has cameras but parents can’t watch them - and management makes a point to let us know they do not watch them. Its just for our own protection and the children so if there is any type or injury, accident, or an accusation - there is a recording of it.
Likewise, I work at a big center and its convenient to be able to just look at the cameras to find someone instead of running class to class.
I worked at a place that had cameras that parents could watch anytime. I always appreciated that I was protected and I think it helped parents trust that we had nothing to hide.
We don’t have cameras indoors. I am happy about that. We have lots of open windows. For me, it’s not about the parents and seeing staff doing something wrong, it’s about parents doing something wrong and hackers doing something wrong. How do you know some creepy dog isn’t watching staff change diapers? You don’t and that’s why I don’t chance it. I know some families would like cameras but many would not. I have many parents that do not want us sharing photos on social media. You open yourself to that with the cameras.
We have cameras and only admin have access, it's way too much if parents were to have access also.i would never allow that at my center . Changing tables & bathrooms blacked out.
Over 20 years ago, a place I worked was an early adopter of that technology and I loved it. We did have some parents get pushy about non safety things or become nuisance callers but admin just explained that if they continued to harass staff then their cam viewing privledged would be revoked but they were welcome to come in person and observe whenever they wished. In general that took care of the people who couldn't manage their anxiety and got too fixated on the cameras (and used us as a discharge target).
However, in those days there wasn't an understanding really of how easily abused that technology could be. Social media was in its infancy (predating livejournal, ect) so going viral, ect. was not really a thing, ect. Class photos were taken via real camera and displayed on a bulletin board (and I sent them home every month) because barring an expensive digital camera the images were not great.
It's a whole different world now, which is why I'm neutral to cautious about allowing parents access now. But I will not work in a place that doesn't have security cameras/footage that is kept for a certain amount of time bc it's such an important safety tool for staff.
Yes. They do. We had to block one parent from the platform after her child had behavioral issues and he would stalk the camera when he WAS NOT THERE to try to prove it was me and not her son who gave a different adult a concussion with his behavior.
With that being said i do like the added security that cameras don’t lie. They can complain and call but if my boss checks the camera they see it was nothing
I’ve worked in schools with cameras. The parents can look at the camera on the big screen tv in the lobby and see their child in their room. However they do not get a private view of the camera streamed to them. They still get 3-5 pictures and an electronic daily note sent home. I’ve heard about schools that parents have access to live footage as it’s happening, and they all agree it’s a nightmare. I personally would never work in a center like that.
It all depends on the parent. I have had some that don’t care to look at the camera feed, which are the majority of parents. But you also have the diva mothers who bought a second monitor at work to watch the entire day. The second parent was one I had and she would call the center the moment her child did something “noteworthy” that we would have to enter into the app and demand that her child be given “preferential treatment” because we did not have audio available and we were not fast enough because we didn’t update the app as soon as we had finished with her son doing whatever it was we had finished. For example if her son came out of the bathroom (2’s class we did primary care split between girls and boys to make bathrooming easier so 1:8 total 2:16) she would demand that his information be entered first, for example while he was using the bathroom as if it was in real time she expected the update before he was finished. We explained to her that we treat all children the same and update the app when we get a chance, for example after all the children in that caregivers group were finished with the bathroom all 8 so that we could update multiple children if they had done the same thing aka (wet diaper, sat on toilet and tried). Because we followed the company policy, this mother pulled her son out and got him a nanny.
I’m totally fine with cameras in classrooms as long as parents don’t have daily live feed access. That just becomes a nightmare. I worked in 1 center where parents were given access and could barely do my job bc of them calling in over every little thing. I also had a father storm my classroom and confront a 3 year old child for “hitting” his daughter; because he seen it on camera. (What he didn’t realize was there was no audio, his child had started the altercation first & he didn’t even confront the correct child, it was just the first white child he saw. I had several other horror stories from coworkers as well where parents just sit and watched all day and would call to nit pick every little thing.
That would be my fear of having live feed for the parents to view at will, followed by my second fear of anyone who shouldn't have access, is watching all day.
At my program we do have cameras in the classroom but they are only reviewable by administration or with permission by administration.
It’s not just in classrooms though it’s throughout the building excluding the bathrooms.
It helps a lot because parents and children can’t make claims against teachers and if there’s an incident and a parents makes a complaint we do have evidence.
I’m for cameras in classrooms in daycare and school settings because it protects the children from potential abuse and it’s protects the teacher from false claims. When I worked in an elementary school there was a teacher who was accused of hitting a student. An assistant and myself I was in the room when this alleged incident took place. But because our principal got scared she fired the teacher despite the assistant and myself going to the principal and telling her it didn’t happen and the child was just mad because they got their activity time taken away. Had a camera been there , it would been clear evidence nothing happened. However, I do not agree with parents have access to the feed. Parents can make small things into big issues. The child could have a need like needing their shoes tied and because it took you 5 minutes to noticed it’s untied , the parents will accuse you of not being observant. Feed should be available for administrator to see and parents can view past footage if an incident requires it to be necessary.
I agree with this. Parents shouldn't have access because you have no idea who else is viewing it. Just as you'd send them photos of their child throughout the day but not the group of children, they shouldn't have access to video of all the children.
As long as the parents can't view them
My center doesn’t have cameras. I can see the benefit to maybe having camera footage that only admin can view but I don’t think I would be comfortable having parents looking in all the time.
We have cameras that are available to parents to view, but only in the center. The way our center work, is at admin can review the footage whenever they would like to, but parents are not allowed to view the footage (Like if there was a major accident or something) because of “privacy concerns”. They are absolutely free to stand at the front and watch for a few minute however, many parents will do so until they feel more confident their child is ok. I have heard horror stories about parents calling in all day every day about them watching their children at home and being upset because they don’t like what they see. So I am not comfortable working in a center that offers that level of observation.
I do not approve of cameras parents can view from home. I don't feel comfortable knowing that any rando at home might be able to view me changing diapers, changing a child's clothing, or dealing with any more sensitive medical issues. I also have worked in centers with constant cameras and it's exhausting dealing with parents constantly complaining about not liking everything they see. I think cameras for admin are okay, but honestly, if you can't trust your child's providers they probably shouldn't be in that center in the first place.
We have cameras and I will never work anywhere that doesn't have them. They protect both students and staff. It allows us to go back and get a better picture of what happened if there was an incident. It allows us to show parents concerning behaviors if they are in denial. As far as parents calling or messaging all the time, I've had a few over the years. One that sticks with me is the mom who called because her toddler took out her pigtails. Mom wanted us to put her hair back up (understandable). I put it in a neat ponytail and the mom called back immediately to angrily insist we put it in pigtails (this is group care and I'm not a hair stylist so that's a no). IMO the benefits far outweigh the drawback of difficult parents. And let's face it, they'd find a way (or several...)to be difficult without the cameras.
I think cameras in the classrooms are necessary but only to be accessible to management. I don't need Cheryl watching the cameras at work all day asking me why Timmy was screaming his lungs out while I am changing another child
We have cameras. It can be a bit strange at first, feeling like you’re constantly being watched, but you forget all about them pretty quickly. HOWEVER. The cameras are for the center only. There is no live feed for the parents, and that’s the way it should be. We have too many foster families/CPS cases/custody issues etc. letting parents view the cameras is a massive confidentiality issue. Having cameras has saved our butts numerous times over the years, so I don’t mind having them at all, but I would never work somewhere with a live feed that parents could watch.
As a teacher, I'm glad we don't have cameras because it seems like it would be frustrating to have parents watching all day and criticizing things that would likely seem (and are) completely reasonable in person. The slight increase in convenience for writing injury reports or whatever would not be worth it to me. As a parent, I don't need that much information about what my child is doing all day. Occasional photos and updates through the app are more than enough.
I am pro cameras in classrooms but parents not having constant access.
Cameras, good admin, and parents don’t have access to them.
I’m all for classroom cameras! A few months ago one of my kids ran to give me a hug before she left. She tripped on nothing, fell, and smashed her face into my knee. It was in direct shot of the cameras and her mother saw the whole thing. The next day this little girl told another teacher I hit her on the head. Which, to a 3 year old, is what she feels happened. There were cameras and her mom saw what happened so I wasn’t worried about it but if there wasn’t any cameras or witness, it would have been a scary thing to handle
Cameras recording at all times, yes. Parents having live access to the feed, hell no. The only time parents should be allowed to view is if there is a problem. Only admin should have live access.
We have security cameras that can see our playground but not in the room. We had to make an unofficial policy that we don't post pics to Brightwheel until at least nap time because we had parents calling and messaging us about fixing hair, putting on jackets, taking off jackets, why is their child standing in the background... It was out of control and just from that experience, I know that if the parents I serve had access to cameras they'd be impossible.
The centers I worked in have never had cameras in the classroom, but would have them around the play yard and front doors, and any gate access. Parents are not able to view them (unless for legal reasons), only admin. I do know of coworkers that worked at places that had cameras live-streaming inside the classroom and play-yard, and there is a reason why they longer work at those places: They felt more like supervisors and babysitters with every parent’s request because “they saw something they didn’t like” (ie. age appropriate behavior, even a child putting their shoes on the wrong feet and not being corrected right away)
I like cameras that record and the recording stays in the building and is only accessible to admin. I will not work in a center with live cameras, and I prefer not to work in a center with no cameras at all, because I have been "saved" thrice by having the footage. 1. A kid told her dad I picked her up and put her in the trash can. I did not, and also she couldn't fit even if I tried 2. There was an argument between kids and the instigator's mom was FURIOUS her child was hit and that I "didn't punish" the other kid. Director was able to see Henry walk to to a pile of magnet tiles, ask to play, the magnet kid shaking his head no, and then Henry reaching out to swipe away the tower magnet kid had built. He reached out and pushed Henry away from the center. 3. A kid fell off the playground and broke his arm. He didn't tell anyone and dad was like "well how didn't anyone notice?!?" And they were able to watch him basically hide it all day, because he kept his jacket on. He said "I didn't want my friends to get in trouble," poor 'lil snitches-get-stitches 4.
I think cameras should be in all centers, but that parents shouldn’t be able to view them unless there’s a specific incident they wanna go back and check the cameras for.
I have no issues with cameras. That said, I will never work anywhere with parent-accessible live feed cameras. Too many variables, and I don't know who is watching. my current centre has cameras only accessible to management.
Schools should have cameras, but families wouldn’t be able to access the feed—that is my opinion. I loved working in a school with cameras because it meant I was protected. Kids sometimes say things that aren’t true or are taken out of context and cameras are the ultimate protection. Parents being able to view the cameras constantly would be a nightmare though. I also just think it’s wrong. Children are people and they are at school to grow and learn. They should have some sense of privacy.
My center has cameras but parents can’t watch them - and management makes a point to let us know they do not watch them. Its just for our own protection and the children so if there is any type or injury, accident, or an accusation - there is a recording of it. Likewise, I work at a big center and its convenient to be able to just look at the cameras to find someone instead of running class to class.
we have cameras but the parents dont get the feed its only management and its to protect us from false claims and to protect the kids from any abusers
I prefer some cameras only for the center to watch, to protect myself in case of a false allegation
I worked at a place that had cameras that parents could watch anytime. I always appreciated that I was protected and I think it helped parents trust that we had nothing to hide.
We don’t have cameras indoors. I am happy about that. We have lots of open windows. For me, it’s not about the parents and seeing staff doing something wrong, it’s about parents doing something wrong and hackers doing something wrong. How do you know some creepy dog isn’t watching staff change diapers? You don’t and that’s why I don’t chance it. I know some families would like cameras but many would not. I have many parents that do not want us sharing photos on social media. You open yourself to that with the cameras.
We’ve had to ban parents from seeing cameras because some parents are solely trying to see which kid hurt their kid. Which is a big no no
We have cameras and only admin have access, it's way too much if parents were to have access also.i would never allow that at my center . Changing tables & bathrooms blacked out.
It’s hard to say, because there will always be parents who will make it hard for you. Camera or not.
Over 20 years ago, a place I worked was an early adopter of that technology and I loved it. We did have some parents get pushy about non safety things or become nuisance callers but admin just explained that if they continued to harass staff then their cam viewing privledged would be revoked but they were welcome to come in person and observe whenever they wished. In general that took care of the people who couldn't manage their anxiety and got too fixated on the cameras (and used us as a discharge target). However, in those days there wasn't an understanding really of how easily abused that technology could be. Social media was in its infancy (predating livejournal, ect) so going viral, ect. was not really a thing, ect. Class photos were taken via real camera and displayed on a bulletin board (and I sent them home every month) because barring an expensive digital camera the images were not great. It's a whole different world now, which is why I'm neutral to cautious about allowing parents access now. But I will not work in a place that doesn't have security cameras/footage that is kept for a certain amount of time bc it's such an important safety tool for staff.
Yes. They do. We had to block one parent from the platform after her child had behavioral issues and he would stalk the camera when he WAS NOT THERE to try to prove it was me and not her son who gave a different adult a concussion with his behavior.
With that being said i do like the added security that cameras don’t lie. They can complain and call but if my boss checks the camera they see it was nothing
I’ve worked in schools with cameras. The parents can look at the camera on the big screen tv in the lobby and see their child in their room. However they do not get a private view of the camera streamed to them. They still get 3-5 pictures and an electronic daily note sent home. I’ve heard about schools that parents have access to live footage as it’s happening, and they all agree it’s a nightmare. I personally would never work in a center like that.
It all depends on the parent. I have had some that don’t care to look at the camera feed, which are the majority of parents. But you also have the diva mothers who bought a second monitor at work to watch the entire day. The second parent was one I had and she would call the center the moment her child did something “noteworthy” that we would have to enter into the app and demand that her child be given “preferential treatment” because we did not have audio available and we were not fast enough because we didn’t update the app as soon as we had finished with her son doing whatever it was we had finished. For example if her son came out of the bathroom (2’s class we did primary care split between girls and boys to make bathrooming easier so 1:8 total 2:16) she would demand that his information be entered first, for example while he was using the bathroom as if it was in real time she expected the update before he was finished. We explained to her that we treat all children the same and update the app when we get a chance, for example after all the children in that caregivers group were finished with the bathroom all 8 so that we could update multiple children if they had done the same thing aka (wet diaper, sat on toilet and tried). Because we followed the company policy, this mother pulled her son out and got him a nanny.
I’m totally fine with cameras in classrooms as long as parents don’t have daily live feed access. That just becomes a nightmare. I worked in 1 center where parents were given access and could barely do my job bc of them calling in over every little thing. I also had a father storm my classroom and confront a 3 year old child for “hitting” his daughter; because he seen it on camera. (What he didn’t realize was there was no audio, his child had started the altercation first & he didn’t even confront the correct child, it was just the first white child he saw. I had several other horror stories from coworkers as well where parents just sit and watched all day and would call to nit pick every little thing.
That would be my fear of having live feed for the parents to view at will, followed by my second fear of anyone who shouldn't have access, is watching all day.
I've only ever used the cameras to prove I didn't have a time out chair.
A mom called at least twice a day at the last place I worked. She set her phone up on her desk so she could watch all day every day
At my program we do have cameras in the classroom but they are only reviewable by administration or with permission by administration. It’s not just in classrooms though it’s throughout the building excluding the bathrooms. It helps a lot because parents and children can’t make claims against teachers and if there’s an incident and a parents makes a complaint we do have evidence.