Working parents, often at work for long hours, tend to worry about the well-being of their children left in day care centres. Knowing well this parental anxiety, some day care centres here have installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, allowing parents to monitor their children online.
Although this facility invariably comes with a bigger price tag, the demand for it seems to be fairly high from upper middle-class families.
Nidhi Gautam, owner of a playschool in Ulsoor, said one of the two rooms in the centre was equipped with a CCTV camera. “Parents can log on with an id provided to them and see what their child is doing throughout the day,” she said.
Owner of a firm that installs CCTV facilities, M. Pankaj Kumar, sees a definite trend. “Last year alone, we installed CCTVs in around 12 schools. There is a great demand,” he said.
Added protection
“Having CCTV surveillance is an added protection in spite of having well-trained faculty whom we trust,” said Merlyn Paul, a parent from Jayanagar.
Tara Jayaprakash, a working mother agreed. “We leave our kids in the hands of a nanny at the day care centre and are not aware of what is happening throughout the day. The CCTV gives me the sense of security that my girl is alright.”
She felt that pre-schools too should add this facility to assure parents that their children are safe.
Medha Piplani, who runs a centre in H.S.R. Layout, which has CCTVs in all six rooms, said it gives parents “peace of mind”. Installing cameras did not imply that they were short of staff to look after the children, but it was a way of keeping parents posted on what each child was doing, she said.
