Nanny Cams

Tanith, your post reminded me of my previous workplace. we had cameras on the floors for security. However on one occasion a colleague's laptop charger went missing and ask much as he did no one seemed to have a clue where it went. He was so pissed, he went to security and asked to look at the recordings...security refused look through the recordings themselves, as that was not the purpose of the cameras; but were ok to allow him to trudge through them. He did...and found it was a colleague across his desk who had nicked it..and on being asked feigned ignorance LOL...it was a hoot! The office was ok to take up action (I wonder what they would have done) but the guy dropped it. Anyways, this is completely off topic, but I was reminded of this incident and decided to share on a lighter note.

It is like Health and Safety. Bound to stop some that no one will know about. Or the frequency or the severity.
Or even that they dont go into the job in the first place.

Cams don't stop abuse, though. A quick look on Youtube confirms that - nurseries around the world with cameras and still people are filmed hurting children.

What really gets me is that, instead of people saying "I must be careful to take on professional, properly trained nannies and childcarers, take up references and listen to my instincts when they tell me something is wrong.", they seem to prefer suspecting every childcarer and filming them covertly, just in case.

Is it just lower paid people, I wonder, who should be filmed every minute of the day, just in case, or should we introduce it for doctors, dentists and other professionals? After all, members of their professions have been accused of abuse and failing to do their jobs properly. Why doesn't suspicion automatically fall on them?

Done clandestinely it is against the law, which makes it a massive stumbling block when prosecuting.

I can see both POV and I don't think nannies should have anything to fear from nannycams but when you're playing on the floor and your knickers are showing above your jeans it's not presenting your best side....

Also if you're a clean and tidy person there's a risk that you see what a state your house gets into during the day

good points flipflop79

If I was a parent, I think that I might ask the nanny in interview if she was ok with a nannycam. And watch for their reaction.
See whether they said yes grudgingly, or whether theyw alked away from the interview.

Or the other way of doing it maybe to just say you wanted to install one, if you got to a point of mistrust with the nanny.
[But something may have already happened by that point]

Very interesting thread. Just last week there were two news items regarding nannies and kids. One mentioned by Ocado where a nanny was throwing a child around and another where a nanny was supplying her boy friend with kids in her care. Stories like this scare the living daylights out of parents.

I also don't feel that the web cam needs to be used only to catch out these extreme cases or any case, at all. A large number of nurseries now have web cam with parents able to login to see their children. I sent my DD to such a nursery and It was amazing how good it feels to be able to see your child when you are away and see that they are fine. A picture is worth a thousand words.

But if it's done clandestinely, shouldn't it be a against the law? That's just wrong.

Cause even if one is using it to keep an eye on things, wouldn't it be better to tell the nanny it's there and use it as a deterrent rather than wait and watch for something nasty to happen.

Miscel, I have messages you. Thanks.

Flustered

I think that's a very good point!

Did someone suggest the nanny being able to access the cam and watch parents interactions with children. 'What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander'. Definitely a CPD exercise.

My daughter is a nanny. She is happy to be filmed.

Thanks nannynoss, would it be reassuring if I said I would only look for tantrums after a few minutes, definitely not at the first sign of trouble? Hummm, I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable - tricky tricky tricky!

Thanks for the advice, hope I haven't hijacked thread too much.

I can't do rough housing silliness so for me I would be massively reassured and happy to see someone else doing it - but I take your point about dignity!

I will think about it a bit more and then pass the idea by the nanny...

Miscellaneous it wouldn't bother me if I knew where it was and when you were watching but again with the 'fun and laughter' bit, if I knew you were watching I would feel a bit uncomfortable and would compose myself! After all you are employing a nanny who is sensible and caring and capable! I wouldn't like my employers to see me acting like a little kid!

Wouldn't a phone or walky talky be better option if you want the person in the house to do stuff/need to contact them?

I am interested to know how people would react to this situation:

Being disabled and bed bound, I can't be heard when I call from my bedroom. I wonder if a baby cam (not hidden!) which doesnt record but lets me see & hear real time a room, and can be linked to speakers so I could speak too. I think I'd put it in the lounge & id keep it mostly off bit would be able to turn it on occasionally

• when I can hear ds kicking off and want to know someone else is dealing with it
• when I want to check if they're still in the house, so I can ask for something, ask someone to answer the door/ check to see if they've heard the door and I'm not lying here missing a delivery/ visitor etc (or go to the loo without pygamas without scaring people!)
• when I can hear fun and laughter I might be tempted to have a look so I can feel soppy
• and finally so I could ask for help should I need it

Would a nanny/ pa find this a horrible breach of privacy? If told and explained to them why? I wouldn't want to make someone feel judged or not free to put their feet up for a minute etc, but I do waste so much energy going backwards and forwards on days when I know I shouldn't be moving and over straining my body. In sheer convenience terms I think it may help, but I value good relationships as much.

The one I'm looking at has a red light that comes on when it's active, so although I wouldn't be able to tell them when I was about to turn it on, I wouldn't be hiding it at all... (as id have to walk to the room to tell her then go back to bed to turn it on - kind of pointless!)

Anyway, this thread just reminded me about that idea I've had for a whole, but not convinced about it.

I am a parent with nannies and no way would I use a nanny cam. It's all about trust!

And agree you wouldn't relax as much when crawling round on flier plying chase - singing songs / etc being recorded

I think if as an employer you feel you need a nanny can then you need a new nanny as you obv don't trust your nanny

**when I say it's not always the case for nannies- I'm referring to the nannies on £1,000 a week working on cruise ships/Monaco/Dubai- they are not underpaid!!

It's a tremendously responsible job. I wouldn't decline working for a family if they told me they have nanny cams, because despite not being a parent myself yet, I respect the fact that these people have had to make the decisions to go to work, probably when they don't want too, and I am looking after their most treasured "possession".

It's an interesting conversation, and definitely a positive to hear parents say that they would never consider it, unless they had serious concerns. I suppose if they had serious concerns, it wouldn't get to the nanny cam stage anyway!

I think, and this is based on 9 years experience, working in childcare is one of the hardest jobs. It's not always the case for nannies, but a lot of us are underpaid and over worked, so maybe some kind of cameras wouldn't be a bad thing. We could do a day in the life of child with nanny/childminder and see actually we love and care for children, who aren't our own, and devote 10/12hours to them in loco parentis.

It has never occurred to me to film my nanny, openly or covertly. However, like TreadSoftly, I had extremely serious concerns I might consider it. For example if I had good reason to suspect that a long term nanny could have taken to physically abusing a child but that the "evidence" could have other explanations.

Nannying is one of a small number of jobs that you've got one person caring for vulnerable individuals without other adults present where those in their care may not be able to flag abuse. There was a case the other week where a mother had concerns and found the baby was being thrown around and hit by the nanny.

As a nanny employer I would have to have some very, very serious concerns before doing such a thing. I am fairly pragmatic about different parenting styles though and that from time to time, everyone has a bad day in the job and a single snapshot of a stroppy toddler and a terse nanny isn't going to give a balanced view.

That said, media stories about abusive people scare the living daylights out of parents who chose or have to work. There is so much trust involved and you always, always wonder what if especially with non-verbal children.

Any parent who would routinely record their nanny and children and watch it as a form of evening entertainment has truly lost the plot though and should just give it up as a bad job and find alternative forms of childcare.

"No more acting like a four year old, which, let's face it, is the main reason we do this job!!"

Exactly!

I feel the same as many others. I love looking after children and really enjoy my time with them but would feel so self-conscious playing with the children if I were being filmed. I can't hold a tune in a bucket so don't sing in front of parents, I wouldn't feel comfortable playing rough and tumble or chasing them round on my hands and knees or getting us all covered in paint, glitter, flour or even cake batter! No more acting like a four year old, which, let's face it, is the main reason we do this job!!

I also think it is (or hope it is) illegal to film people without their permission.

My ex-bosses had a video baby monitor that they could connect to from anywhere over the internet and I hated it. I felt I couldn't do silly voices when reading to her (which she loves) or blow raspberries on her tummy of sing silly made up songs to her which we were in her bedroom. I also had to check everyday that it was only trained on her cot. I feel that she lost out on a lot by having that monitor there.