A controversial proposal has been announced that would see schools and nurseries in Cordoba and Buenos Aires install surveillance video cameras, a move prompted by the recent San Isidro child abuse scandal.
The Tribilín Nursery School case has reignited the debate over surveillance in nurseries and schools after a concerned parent hid an iPod recorder in their child’s backpack to discover teachers regularly shouting and threatening violence against the children. Five of the teachers have been accused of child abuse.
Legislators in Cordoba and Buenos Aires have now raised proposals to place these devices in classrooms, of which a legislator said, “The project is being discussed in the Commission for Children, and I think this time it is going to pass because the Tribilín case has brought the topic into discussion again.”
The proposal was rejected last October at the Education Commission after being deemed as an attempt to turn nurseries into a kind of “Big Brother” environment.
The proposal would involve the installation of web devices in rooms with children between 45 days to 5 years old, and parents would have access via the internet to view the footage. Such controls are being applied in countries such as the US, Brazil and Chile, although this has led to much controversy and criticism. Patricia Cubria, deputy of the Front for Victory criticised the proposal by stating “Camera surveillance is not the solution… I think that is a repressive policy of control. There has to be a more comprehensive solution”.
