Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 12, 2010

Training better than cameras to stop child abuse in centres

Last week we asked our readers to share their opinions on whether cameras should be installed in kindergartens and day-care centres following a decision by HCM City's Department of Education and Training to pilot the installation of camera systems.
The decision was made at a recent meeting between education officials and kindergarten teachers in the city held after a four-year-old boy was found to have suffered injuries during school-time at Hoa Lan Private Nursery School. His teacher had locked him in a dumbwaiter.
The department said the move to introduce cameras aimed to strengthen the management of pre-school teachers and students. Here are some opinions:
Nguyen Minh Quan, kindergarten manager, Ha Noi
The root cause of the problem did not come from the fact that the kindergarten has a camera system. It came from the teacher herself. If the teacher could have controlled her anger and foreseen the consequences of her action, the incident wouldn't have happened.
In a kindergarten, there are a lot of corners that cameras can't see and accidents could easily happen in those blind spots too. In my opinion, the most important thing is to raise the awareness of kindergarten management boards, provide more training for teachers and encourage love for children.
Instead of spending money on costly camera systems, the Department of Education and Training should focus on human resources for better solutions.
William Ribbing, Pensacola, Florida, USA
When you stop to think about it, cameras are only a means of recording an incident. It is too late to prevent abuse after a child has been injured.
The focus needs to be directed at ensuring that no abuse occurs. Therefore a better means would be to place two teachers in each classroom.
Relevant authorities within each school must be held responsible for the conduct of the teachers, and the teachers are responsible for the protection, care and education of the children.
Unruly children should be brought to the attention of school authorities for discipline by the parents. No teacher has a right to discipline a child under their care in a classroom. They are there to teach and that is all. Unfortunately many teachers fail to understand their full position. They take it upon themselves to control the activities in their classrooms, therefore specific regulations need to be promulgated at each school to provide definitive guidelines to teachers.
Children attending school must be given strict rules of conduct, and any infraction of the rules must be dealt with at a supervisory level. Cameras are not effective tools to prevent injuries to children. Two teachers would have stronger control over activities and also over the actions of each other thereby stopping the endangerment of any students.
The Department of Education and Training is just wasting money buying useless equipment that will not prevent abuse and the money being wasted could be used more effectively by funding additional teachers.
Huy Quan, Ha Noi
The installation of cameras in classrooms can be seen as a necessary measure to curb child abuse. School management boards and parents should know about their child's activities as well their teachers' performance.
However, the effectiveness of the move must be considered from different perspectives. The installation of cameras could have side effects.
Firstly, relationships between teachers and the children grow naturally, stemming from the teachers' whole-hearted care for the latter. If cameras were set up, some teachers would feel like they "have to" love the children. Consequently, their care might become fake.
Secondly, teaching is a noble and highly-respected career in society. If teachers had to work under the supervision of cameras, they might feel like society doesn't trust their performance. In other words, their position in society would be downgraded.
Some cases of child abuse have happened. Although unacceptable, they are cases of "one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel". To avoid future incidents, relevant authorities should strictly control the establishment of schools and classes and increase the inspection and examination of kindergartens.
Cameras should not be compulsory in environments where a teacher's affection towards the students is highly regarded. Furthermore, cameras would be expensive.
Nguyen Trong Chuc, Binh Thanh District Education Department, HCM City
The district has 25 public and 14 non-public kindergartens, and more than 90 class groups. None of them have cameras. And we do not plan to do so. It is the city's most populous district but has no recorded cases of child abuse.
In my opinion, child abuse can happen everywhere, even in areas with cameras. What is important is the role of teachers. Without proper training, the teachers' care for their students cannot be guaranteed.
Camera installation would be too expensive. If parents insist on installing cameras in classrooms using their own money, it would be difficult to implement because not all parents could afford it.
If we depend on cameras to improve our teachers' behaviour, what would be the management role of the education sector.
Nguyen Le Hang, Phu Xuyen District Education Dep't, Ha Noi
The district has more than 11,000 children in the age group for kindergartens.
The district has two national-standard kindergartens, seven qualified kindergartens and around 450 class groups. Although none of the institutions are supervised by cameras, parents feel secure about their operation.
If teaching is well-managed, the installation of cameras would be both costly and unnecessary. It is essential that teachers raise their standards by themselves.
The teachers should clearly understand their roles and responsibilities of how to properly treat their students. It would be a long-term and effective solution to ensure the quality of teaching and caring practises.
If parents are concerned about how the teachers are looking after their children and insist on installing cameras, the education and training sector should try to better manage its staff rather than depend on parents.—VNS

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