camera-ville

The mind is a powerful distorting tool. You know how you forget why certain people are your friends. I for one become startled all over again when we spend time with these people and (wow!) we have such a great time! imagine that! with friends! and they're funny and warm and friendly and accomodating and inviting and generous.

Which is a very good thing. Which is also to say that I was startled when the topic of cameras in preschools came up. And some friends (parents) were upset that they could no longer peek into their son's classroom because some parents objected. On the grounds of anonymity probably based on their wealth or what not.

Everyone nodded as to why this was such a pity, such a convenience for the mom while she was on business trips to Asia to be able to see her son. But the crux of their argument was that 'if the teacher's not doing anything wrong, then how could she mind?'.

I was startled to be alone in my shock and dismay. Webcams? for 3 year olds. why?

Did a little research. Webcams in preschools here (and classrooms in general) are very common. I came across plenty of commercial material and no debate board.

So I've been thinking this over. Some running thoughts:
- when A was sharing a nanny with a younger boy at the boy's parents', and the mom decided to study to become a teacher instead of going back to the high-tech industry, she said she'd be studying at the library to give the nanny her own space to do her things. That was, to me, a very wise and mature call I respected. Mature in seeing how more difficult it can be to be a nanny while parents hover around. Which is a situation I'm trying to balance in my home also at the moment.
- People act differentely when they know they're being watched. We're not quite talking The Stanford Prison Experiment with sadistic college-students-turned-prison-guards and psychologically-broken-down-college-students-turned-prisoners, I can see that.

But it bugs me. A heckuva lot. Why? Any thoughts?