Big Mother is watching you

Thousands of London parents are monitoring their children at nursery by webcam.

More than 100 nurseries have installed the cameras so parents can watch their offspring while they are at work.

The equipment lets parents log on to the nursery's website so they can view their son or daughter at play.

The boom comes in the wake of a report warning that nurseries and daycare groups are creating "anti-social" children. Oxford University researchers found toddlers become more disruptive the longer they attend, particularly if it is for more than 35 hours a week.

The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, reignited the debate over whether young children are better off being looked after at home.

The nursery webcams are largely aimed at new mothers who want to resume their career but feel anxious about leaving their child at a young age.

A typical system covering four rooms and a garden will cost around £10,000 to put in. So far they have only been installed in private nurseries.

Nurseries with the system can charge a premium of up to £25 a week, with a typical parent paying £175 for a week of full-time care for their four-year-old, compared to £150 at an ordinary establishment.

Nurserycam, which accounts for 90 per cent of the market, set up the first systems five years ago, but has seen a rise in popularity in the past two years.

Now there are 383 systems across the country, 106 of which are in London.

Melissa Kao, founder of Nurserycam, said: "By enabling parents to view live images of their child at play via the internet from wherever they are, they can see for themselves that their child is fine and the nursery is doing a fantastic job.

"The webcam helps to increase parents' understanding and awareness of their children's development.

"Simply put, it provides parents with a means to be involved in their child's daily achievements and share to some degree in their milestones."

Nursery webcams have even been a hit with famous names, with Catherine Zeta-Jones extolling their virtues.

While shooting The Legend Of Zorro in Mexico, the actress kept an eye on her children through the system.

She said: "I miss my family. Obviously, it doesn't replace the real thing, but that webcam is my saviour." But child development charity the National Day Nursery Association said it did not think the systems were a good idea. Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said: "We believe there are human rights and invasion of privacy issues, both for the children and the nursery workers. We also have concerns over the maintenance of effective security so that only parents access the webcams.

"Good childcare practice and working in partnership with parents is far preferableto this type of technology. It would be advisable for nurseries to invest in staff training and facilities for children, rather than spending on webcam technology.

"We advise parents to make sure they are fully involved in their nursery, to ensure there is a keyworker system in place and to get to know their keyworker and nursery manager so they can share concerns and get feedback on their child's development and experiences."