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By Vanessa
Rasmussen, © 2004, All rights reserved.
Website: http://www.startingadaycarecenter.com
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One
of the toughest challenges faced by parents
is to know whether or not their child
is safe and doing well while they are
separated during the day. Daycare cameras
give parents confidence that their children
will receive the best possible care. A
child in a daycare center or home equipped
with a webcam service can alleviate the
anxiety of most parents who are apprehensive
about the type of care provided to their
child at the daycare. With a webcam, they
can view your child throughout the day
and be sure they are receiving the type
of care that they want. They can also
determine what their child does all day
and can share experiences when the parents
and child return home.
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More than 400
daycare centers in the United States have webcams
installed at their centers. Working parents
might miss out on a lot of things their toddlers
do, such as taking their first step or saying
words like please or thank you. There are tiny
cameras installed at the daycare centers that
capture all the activities from their positions
high in the corners of each program room. They
stream the images instantaneously to a video
server connected to the daycare's web site,
where parents log in with a secure password
to see movie-like footage of their children.
The view a bit unclear; it's wide-angle, and
parents can't zoom or focus the cameras. But
they can tell whether it is story time or lunchtime,
and they can see whether their children are
sleeping peacefully, throwing crayons or singing
nursery rhymes.
When a child
has separation anxiety, parents are naturally
worried about his/her state of mind after they
have left him/her at the daycare center. Hence,
they can immediately log on to the daycare server
and check out their child's activity as soon
as they reach work. Most daycare centers have
open door policy, however, it is difficult for
a number of parents to leave workplace in the
middle of the day and check on their child.
Webcams come in handy and lets the parents check
on their children without ever leaving the workplace
during work hours.
Daycare webcams
also encourages the daycare personnel to do
their best because the parents are watching
the great job they do in caring for children.
Since everything that goes on at the daycare
center is recorded, the daycare owner, staff
and other personnel can account for their activities
and refute any accusations laid on them.
Sometimes the
caregivers find webcams intrusive in their work
when the anxious parents call them up for any
little mishap that has happened such as the
child has wet his pants or a toddler has gotten
up from his nap too early. However, generally
speaking, webcams have been a real boost to
the morale of the staff. The daycare staff is
not viewed as glorified babysitters but is given
much respect due to the amount of hard work
they put in taking care of children.
Offering parents
and other loved ones the opportunity to view
a daycare center anytime during the day online
shows them the confidence of the daycare owners
in the curriculum and states that they are true
to their word when they say 'open door policy'.
Copyright
2001, 2004. All rights reserved. Any reproduction
of this article in whole or in part without
written or verbal permission is strictly prohibited.
For information about reprinting this article,
contact the copyright owner: Vanessa Rasmussen,
Ph.D, Starting a Day Care Center, http://www.startingadaycarecenter.com.
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