Parents seek cameras for kindergartens

One kindergarten teacher who refused found that half the children had been withdrawn from her preschool.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Parents in the Sharon area have been leading the way for the rest of Israel in demanding that closed-circuit security cameras be installed at municipal kindergartens and nurseries, reports the Hebrew weekly Yediot Hasharon. One Herzliya company said it was receiving three or four orders every month to install the cameras, with a wave of inquiries every time there was a news report of an alleged abuse in a preschool. According to the report, in order for cameras to be installed, both parents and staff must agree. Some preschool teachers said they had nothing to hide, but felt compelled to agree to have the cameras installed. One kindergarten teacher who refused found that half the children had been withdrawn from her preschool. "It is very sad that these days I have to have cameras in my kindergarten so that parents can feel relaxed," one teacher said. One Ra'anana mother said the cameras not only provided a sense of security for her, but allowed her to share in her child's experiences every day. But a local psychologist said that while parents were quick to jump on the technological bandwagon, they were not thinking of the long-term consequences. She said one of the aims of a kindergarten was to release a child from his parents and to teach him to act independently, but if his parents were watching his every move and offering suggestions and criticisms, this freedom was lost. "I am not saying that parents should be irresponsible, but they should stop interfering in the child's life," she said.