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Parents Monitoring Kids at School via CCTV: Is This a Good Idea?

Will CCTV cameras provide an additional layer of security or impeach the privacy of children?

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India
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On 17 January, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that all government schools will have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed classrooms and the parents can watch the feed real-time to keep an eye on children. It is aimed at increasing accountability of the school.

While many said the proposal was welcome, several others disagreed with the move. Concerns were raised on surveillance and the privacy of children and their autonomy to act freely in school environments without constantly fearing their parents watching their every move. This also ties in with the Aadhaar debate where people do not want to be under state surveillance.

The Quint spoke to parents, teachers and a psychologist to get their opinion on whether CCTV cameras in classrooms and parents being able to monitor their child’s every move is a good idea or not.

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Rachna Khare, a parent and a teacher at a private school, told The Quint that the idea of installing CCTV cameras in schools was not a good idea.

Relationships are built on love and trust, especially between a student and a teacher. These days, parents are also so busy at work, will they really have time to monitor continuously for six hours what their children are doing in school?
Rachna Khare, teacher

Parents should instead focus on spending quality time with their children and inculcating good values, said Khare.

Parents monitoring their children would only teach the children not to trust anyone, and in the future, they may not even trust their own parents.
Rachna Khare

School counsellor Seep Wadhwa said that while having CCTV cameras is good for the school to keep track of children, it is not a good idea to let parents access the footage.

CCTV cameras are for the school to keep a check on what is happening in different classrooms and hallways. But, parents should not be allowed to access it as they may start comparing their children with others, or tell their children not to talk to certain other children.
Seep Wadhwa, school counsellor

Wadhwa said parents can influence children and make them act in certain ways, in which they otherwise may not behave if the parents don’t get involved (It should be noted here that several private schools in the Delhi-NCR region already have CCTV cameras in place, but the parents are not given access to the feed).

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Neelesh Misra was of the view that it’s a good initiative which should be replicated in other schools as well.

Parent and activist Sumit Vohra, who is part of an association which forwarded a proposal to Manish Sisodia for installing CCTV cameras in schools, said it was necessary to put cameras as gave his view on why he finds it necessary.

I wholly support installing CCTV cameras in school classrooms, but privacy is a concern. So, parents of one particular class should have a username and login ID on an app which will let them see their own children’s classroom but not of other classes. As for common areas like school grounds and corridors, there should be cameras and the school administration should monitor the footage. Guards should be deployed in areas where it isn’t feasible to put cameras, for the safety of children.
Sumit Vohra, parent and activist

Vohra he supports live-streaming so that parents can immediately approach the school if they see something untoward happening with their child, so that the situation does not escalate.

Advocate Aditya Vardhan Sharma also weighed in on why the measure is a violation of free speech.

Installing CCTV cameras in the classrooms by the AAP government, without a proper legal framework to regulate the system, is an example of intrusive state conduct. This not only hampers the personal development of a child but also curtails the right of teachers to express their opinion unhindered, unfettered by fear of retribution.
Aditya Vardhan Sharma, advocate 
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Even if the government is successfully able to install CCTV cameras in schools, it’s worth noting that it will cost the government dearly. The Delhi government website mentions that the Director of Education manages 1,000 schools which caters to 9.5 lakh children. The Delhi government’s budget for education in 2016-17 was Rs 11,300 crore, which was 24 percent of the entire budget.

A surveillance camera costs Rs 2,000. The Delhi government just last year proposed to add 10,000 new classrooms to schools. If there are 30 children per class in a school that makes around 31,667 existing classrooms. There are also the hallways that will require CCTV cameras.

The cost of just getting cameras for these schools would be around Rs 15 crore*. The cost of installation, maintenance and establishing a system through which the parents will get the feed needs to be calculated too.

(These figures are a rudimentary calculation of what it will cost the government and in reality could just be a fraction of what the government would have to spend in actuality)

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Arvind Kejriwal   CCTV Cameras   School 

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