Nanny Spy

In your opinion, is it ethical for parents to use a Nanny-Cam?

I've heard of many parents these days using hidden cameras to spy on their nanny or babysitter. I'd like to know what the general opinion of Y!A users is.

From a parent's point of view, you're simply doing all you can to protect your children. From a babysitter's point of view, it can be quite insulting to discover you've been filmed.
Yes, it's not necesarily the filming part that bothers me; it the fact that so-called "nanny-cams" are generally sold as hidden spy cameras, integrated into every-day object such as lamps and smoke detectors.
This somehow sets off my ethical alarm.

it's ethical if it's announced at the beginning - and if that means they have to pay more for a babysitter, that's a good test of how much they are 'willing to do anything to protect their children'

if it isnt, the parents deserve a reputation for being decietfull, that babysitter's parent may be you future boss. sometimes well to do people have their kids babysit to teach a work ethic, not becasue they need the money. in fact, the only girls i know who babysit, that's EXACTLY the case, and about 1000 people work for their dad. if i i mentioned the company, nearly everyone would recognise it. in a job hunt, it would be costly to cross that company off your prospects list

perswon below says "When it comes to the safety of your kids, sometimes its okay to screw ethics" (there's ethical ways to make your kids safe, like NOT putting their picture on the internet!)

by that logic, it's ok to embezel from your employer to buy a safer car too, I can assure you those girls dad would see it that way - I know him pretty well. he values his girls the same way people value their younger kids, and if you offended them, he'd never forget it (and just what exactly, is the dad doing when he watches the films by himself? Is he turned on by a candid film of a pretty teenage girl?). A lot of interacting with a baby/toddler occurs in the bathroom (like risk of drowning) Gonna have a cam in the bathroom? A lot of couples who end in divorce, there was a vice the other partner didnt know about - happens all the time.

quick poll here - does anyone trust a stranger secretly filming their teenage daughter?

i really dont quite understand what parents are teaching their kids when they say 'we love each other so much that we have to treat others like crap'

i can be socially costly to presume and treat your babysitter like a lower status person who cant be trusted. That babysitter might be from a family of much higher rank in the community, and you might find that treatment coming back to you for a long time. Even if the babysitter's family isnt upper rank - can you really be sure her friends or relatives arent? I'm pretty sure the girls I know have friends from many different circles

what goes around, comes around

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