Parents fit spy cam in child's school bag to keep her safe

The fear of their children being molested has led to some parents taking an innovative step — they send the child to school with a spy camera in their bag to ensure their safety.

One such parent is Rekha Lad (name changed). Lad initially looked for a pre-school with only female staff members. But failing to find one, she decided to keep a spy camera in her four-year-old daughter's bag.

Lad says: "Being a mother, I want my daughter to lead a safe and secure life. I stay in the Harbour line area, where there are a lot of cases of kids being molested in their school bus. Many cases of teachers raising their hand on children were also reported in the news. So, I was very tense about sending her to school."

She adds: "Previously, when I lived in a western suburb, I visited almost 11 play schools near my place to see if there were any male members in the play school, because kids don't understand the meaning of molestation, rape etc. I got my daughter into the habit of reporting to me about each and everything that happens in her school — how they teach, whether they scold children or not, whether food and water are given properly and many things.

Once, in a play school in a western suburb where she studied for only three months in 2014-15, her water bottle would remain full when she returned home as she didn't drink from it. So I requested her teacher to take care of such small things. But the result was that the teacher started emptying her water in the bathroom, making me think my daughter is drinking it. The teacher even beat her up one day. I came to know all this because my daughter would tell me each and every thing."

Lad further said: "Hence, when I shifted to the Harbour line area, I admitted my daughter in a nursery for only one month and kept a pen camera in her bag just to see what happens in the school. But her new school is thankfully very safe and my daughter likes going there."

Pooja Taparia, the founder and CEO of Arpan, an NGO that works to prevent sexual abuse cases involving children, said: "The best way to protect a child is to check whether a child protection policy is followed by the school concerned. Another way is to speak to the child about her day-to-day routine — communicating with a child on a daily basis is the best method to ensure the child's safety."

Swati Popat Vats, president, Poddar Institute of Education, said: "I have not heard of any such case where an Indian parent sends a spy camera with his or her child to school. But abroad, parents use a 'nanny cam' for their children, wherein a spy camera is fitted in a toy and kept at home in order to check if a nanny is treating their child badly."