Cybernurseries put babies on the internet

“We were constantly getting phone calls from working parents who worried about how their kids were doing,” says Gerjo Perez of Casa Menuda near Madrid, one of the nurseries taking part in the project.

Many Spanish children start nursery school at nine months, and parents fret over whether their kids are eating, having their naps, getting their nappies changed, and other problems.

At the Marti nursery school in Barcelona, the phone rang so often that two employees were needed just to answer it. “We had the idea of a website, which we expect will calm parents down,” Perez said.

The planners believe that the project, with abudget of 29,000 dollars partly funded by the European Union, will soon find emulators in other European countries.

The website will allow working parents to log into the nursery school from their office, or from any computer with an internet connection.

Hidden cameras will transmit pictures of the kids. “The images will change every five seconds,” Perez said. “It’s almost like watching your kids live on television.”

Grandparents living in foreign countries can watch their grandchildren grow on the internet — as can anyone who knows the secret password to access the website.

“Worrying parents transmit their anxiety to the kids,” Perez says. “The internet will make it easier for us to work with the kids, and it can also help parents participate in their children’s education.”

The danger is that children could start acting for their parents whom they know to be watching. Parents could also start excessively interfering with the work of nursery school teachers, or believing that virtual timemakes up for real time spent with kids.

To avert such dangers, the nursery schools are going to keep the internet window provided to parents strictly under control.

In a first phase, the children will go online for only an hour each day. The parents will be able to observe them on the playground, where they usually are at their most relaxed.