Day care takes activities to the Internet

With the help of the Internet, some parents no longer have to suffer from separation anxiety.

Little Sunshine's Playhouse offers parents the ability to watch their children via the Internet

"When I go to work in the morning with the Internet access I have, I can watch Hannah's day from breakfast to naps to playtime. I really enjoy watching," said parent Becky Dacruz.

The center is believed to be the only one in Springfield with Internet viewing for parents.

Little Sunshine's owner/director Rochette Harrington finds Internet viewing a "huge selling point" for her day care, which opened July 1. Besides enabling her to better supervise teachers, she said the Kiddie Cams reassure parents.

"I'll have parents comment that their child cried when they got dropped off, which a lot of them do because of separation anxiety," Harrington said. "It's reassuring for parents that by the time they get to work in 10 or 15 minutes, they can get on the Internet and see their child is playing and just fine. It makes it easier for them to go about their day and not worry about their child."

Likewise it helps with discipline. Parents see behavior their child exhibits and give teachers ideas for discipline, Harrington said.

"We can ask the parents to get on the site when they say, Well, they don't do it at home.' It's really neat to tell the parents to get online and to try to watch for patterns since they know the child a lot better than we do," Harrington said.

Teachers also know they are under observation. "We can have up to 100 viewers at once. There might be 20 to 30 people watching and the teachers know that, so they do what they're supposed to be doing," Harrington said.

Little Sunshine's curriculum is coordinated with the cameras and a schedule so parents can view what they want when it occurs.

The Internet also is a way to keep children in touch with extended family.

"We have a grandparent who watches from another country," Harrington said. "We have parents and grandparents who watch from all over the country. One little boy lives with his mom, but his dad lives in California and doesn't get to see him very often. So his dad goes on the Internet and watches him."

Security issues

In this age of security concerns, Internet privacy is an issue.

Little Sunshine's parents must have a password to watch their children on the Internet. Passwords are changed every two weeks, Harrington said.

Harrington said they try to be secure, but points out that if a hacker is determined, nothing will stop them.

Dacruz said she isn't concerned about having her child on the Internet.

"I haven't worried about that at all,' Dacruz said. "Rochette changes the pass code every couple of weeks, and we don't get a pass code until we put our specific child's number in the security system. Even if someone did get on the site, they will just see what children are doing. I don't think they'd be interested unless they are a parent or grandparent anyway."

Other Springfield facilities say they have not put their day cares on the Internet for two reasons: cost and security.

"We did consider it a couple years ago, and it pretty much was consensus that our parents and our teachers did not want it," said Tina Wester, center director for Uptown Kids. "Parents felt that maybe somebody could get on there that shouldn't be on there.

"These hackers know how to get around a lot of that stuff. I think that was a big concern of the parents. We have a security system set up where you have to have a security code to get in the building. They thought (Internet viewing) was a violation of that security."

Jennifer Crouch, director of Tiny Tots Preschool, said her school has not considered putting in Internet cameras.

"One of the reasons is the expense of it. But another reason is concerns about having the kids on the Internet. For example, we have several foster kids here, and protecting their security (is important), as far as other people who don't need to know they attend here, knowing that they attend here or being able to watch them during the day."

Prime Inc.'s Learning Center, which has Internet viewing capability, has elected not to implement the service.

Kristal Glenn, Learning Center director, said the majority of children are from in-house employees and not those whose parents would need remote viewing. She also said "supervisors thought parents might spend too much time watching their children."

Prime does use the cameras for security, however.

Tom Sullivan, security department representative, said security cameras are in every room of the day care and provide parents with remote viewing from the lobby. The video is fed into the security office and everything is recorded 24 hours a day.

"We can sit at the computer terminal and look at the recording of everyone who has been in and out of the day care all day long. Also, if there is an incident, such as a child falling, parents can view the video," Sullivan said.