Should Parents get to view their children and teachers on Web cam

[Reform Canada]

Pros

Parents can monitor their children at school Teachers are less likely to pursue a hidden agenda Greater control of bullying Incompetent teachers can be identified Overall classroom behavior likely to improve

Cons

I don't see any

[SoldierDad]

I could be persuaded otherwise by sound arguments, however.

In my 12 years of working in public education I've seen nothing (in six different school districts), nor heard of anything, which prevents parents to visit their children's classroom in order to gain first hand experience and knowledge of what goes on in the classroom. In fact, this is very often encouraged. If parents do not take the time to come to their child's school, what makes anyone think they will be enticed into watching what goes on in school due to a computer cam? There is also the higher likelihood of students staging an incident because the cam is there in order to get themselves on YouTube, or getting even with a teacher who held them accountable for their behavior. The detriments to the learning process far outweigh the benefits IMHO. A parent wanting to know about their child's education can come visit the school anytime.

[NCLaw441]

All parents cannot get away from work to visit their kids’ classrooms (and many students, especially middle school and older would be absolutely mortified if mommy came to school to visit the class). Part of the reason for the cameras is to help ensure that some of the behavior won’t occur JUST AS IF a parent or other person were there to observe. As for putting the planned antics on youtube, that is done now by students with video phones, so that horse is out of the barn.

[SoldierDad]

Part of the reason for the cameras is to help ensure that some of the behavior won’t occur JUST AS IF a parent or other person were there to observe.

Do you really believe that a webcam in the classroom will have the same effect of the parent being physically present in the classroom? That's no better than wishfull thinking. The students who would be cowed by a camera would not be the ones that need to be watched in the first place.

As for putting the planned antics on youtube, that is done now by students with video phones, so that horse is out of the barn.

So, let's just increase the opportunities of those students who would engage in bad behavior in order to get it on the web by placing these web cams in the classroom. No thank you.