Big Mother Is Watching You

 
 
The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of nurseries and care homes installing CCTV and webcams, and the numbers continue to rise fast. An estimated 8,000 security companies in the UK supply the technology and equipment that protect all types and sizes of businesses, schools, and families in their homes.
 
 
 
These systems, combined with more powerful PCs and faster broadband internet access, means that parents can now log on to a webcam at the nursery while they work, to see their children happily at play, or check in on granny.
 
Much of this new desire for surveillance and ability to ‘check in’ on what our loved-ones are doing while we’re elsewhere, has been fuelled by media fear. Shocking stories have hit the news about terrible things going on in care homes and nurseries and understandably, some trust may have been lost. Many parents and carer’s want to be able to keep an eye on their relatives and make sure everything is OK, when we’re not there in person.
 
Guilt has also played a part, as we are ever busier, and spend more and more time working or travelling, and less time being able to care for our children or elderly relative’s first-hand. To make ourselves feel better, we want to be able to see that everything is fine, and also feel more connected to the people we can’t always be with.
 
Many parents quote peace-of-mind as the main reason they are keen for nurseries to have webcams installed. They also like to be able to see how their child is getting on, and see how well they’re developing, learning, and how they behave away from home and interact with others.
 
The decision to install surveillance cameras to monitor the care of people, by people, is not an easy one. There are issues of privacy (both of the staff, who are being constantly watched, and also in regards to protecting such personal images once they are available on the internet), trust, safety and honesty.
 
The thinking is that if the staff are monitored, they are more likely to treat the people in their care as well as possible. But this leads immediately to a problem of trust – if you feel the need to monitor or check up on your child or relative, how confident are you that they are happy and being well cared for? If you’re so unsure of things being OK that you need to keep an eye on it, should you not find alternative care that you have complete confidence in?
 
It’s also important, I think, to bear in mind the effect it has on you, the parent or carer. If you are never truly ‘away’ from your relatives, out of sight no longer means out of mind. And, well-intentioned though the ‘checking in’ is, I’m not sure it’s always such a good thing.
 
When my children were at nursery, I would leave them in the morning and not see or hear anything about them – unless there was a problem – until I picked them up. It meant I could fully concentrate and focus on what I was doing while they were there, and not have half of my mind pulled back to the people I missed terribly the minute I thought about them.
 
But these days there’s a very good chance I could sit at work and have a live video stream in the top corner of my laptop, allowing me to watch every minute of my children’s day.
 
Not to mention the heart-ache this would have caused me, seeing my children but knowing I was separated from them, and knowing they couldn’t see me. I don’t think I’d have got any work done at all, or concentrated on my younger children properly, if I were watching my older child playing at nursery, and making sure she was happy, playing nicely, eating well, and having a good nap and so on.
 
Truly being out of mind when they are out of sight is something I think is actually very useful – for both child and parent. It means you can have a break from each other – and it also makes you much happier to see each other at the end of the day!
 
If you are truly so concerned about your relative’s care, or if you feel unable to cut yourself away from your children and focus on something else for a few hours during the day, then maybe it’s time to ask yourself a few questions about the care they are receiving, and your ability to function well without constantly checking in on them.