Would you set up a spy cam?

[King Grover]

What if the father in this case is not a perv at all, but just a very concerned father and he wants to know if his baby girl is on drugs or crime or something like that. I find nothing wrong with this situation as it is his property and his daughter, who is a minor. just becuase the term "17 year old daughter" was mentioned, everybody thinks the worst. like I said earlier, i would do this job with no questions asked. Since when is it our job as computer proffesionals to get involve with our clients personal lives. Install the camera(s) and forget about it. It's none of my buisness what the guy does with it.

[Sowulo]

Ok. Here comes the liberal....
[RANT]

As members of the human species, there is a point (a very grey area to be sure) where all of us owe something to everyone else. We can only be as strong as our collective weakest link. Is it right to look the other way when genocide takes place "somewhere else"? No, if one knows there is a violation of basic human rights going on under their own nose or on the other side of the planet and does nothing to help, that person is as guilty as the perpetrator(s). Parents need to be aware of what's going on in their children's lives but the child does have some rights to privacy. I would disagree with the spy cam in the kid's room whether it was a boy OR a girl. If there is concern about drugs, talk to them, get a drug test if necessary. If you're concerned about your kids getting pregnant, talk to them, get them help with birth control, whatever. A parent has no justifiable need to see what they would see off a spy cam in a bedroom. I remember seeing a documentary film in high school about a young woman who was murdered at a street corner in Philadelphia with over 20 witnesses, none of whom so much as yelled in her defense. As far as I'm concerned they are all guilty of murder. Some of the posts ahead of mine remind me of those 20 "neighbors." I hope none of my neighbors are like like that. And yes, I do walk my talk. I'm here helping people for free (actually I thrive on the abuse us mods usually get for helping keep the forums clean and legal), I have been shot at working with kids caught up in chemicals, gangs, satanic occults of ritual self abuse.... Sometimes a good life is better defined by how much you care about others....

[/RANT]

[klenard]

Some people, gotta love 'em though. With out them, our lives would be boring and we would not have anything to talk about.

[Kymera]

The way I see it, is that if you install this camera, you're providing the tools for illegal/immoral activity. It's akin to giving a drunk person the keys to their car. You're indirectly responsible for anything that occurs as they drive home. The whole idea is just disgusting, there is no reason why a parent would need video surveilance for their teenage daughter's bedroom, except for some perverted means.

[Sowulo]

Originally posted by Kymera:
The way I see it, is that if you install this camera, you're providing the tools for illegal/immoral activity. It's akin to giving a drunk person the keys to their car. You're indirectly responsible for anything that occurs as they drive home. The whole idea is just disgusting, there is no reason why a parent would need video surveilance for their teenage daughter's bedroom, except for some perverted means.

Gee I wish I had have thought of that drunk driving analogy...a very clear and easy point to make.

[Shinjatheninja]

Interesting...very...interesting...

[waldo]

that's just sick!.....

psst!... hey buddy? got the website address for streaming video?

[parning]

We are currently in the discussion phase of setting up a spycam at work. Not for any nefarious purpose, mind you, but to catch the LUNCH BANDIT!

We're still hassling over exact placement and to whose computer it should report.

Is this a legitimate use? I think so. I think that this is what spycams were MADE for! Lunch Bandits of the world, BE AFRAID!

[Reality]

Of course spy cams were made for spying but there are some places that it is inappropriate to place them. I think secretly installing a camera in someone's bedroom is sick. Now if you want to put one in you and your wife's or husband's room then that is between you two. But to put one in a teenager's room is not a good idea in most cases. As for at work, heh expect them everywhere.

[King Grover]

Ok, but I must agrue more. I believe that it is this man's right to install anything in his house that he wants to and there should be nothing illegal about it. As far as teh person that installs it, there is nothing wrong with that either in my eyes. It's like having a satelite dish installed at your house. just another piece of hardware and there is no law aginst home improvements that I know of. I jsut wathced that movie "Meet the Parents" (which I thought was stuipid by the way) and the dad in that movie had hidden cameras all over that house. It sounds like the exact same thing here. If I wanted to install a hidden camera in my daughters bedroom to keep tabs on her, would anybody here object to that?

[Sowulo]

We've already answered that question....and quite emphatically I think. With just a simple extension of your logic, one could claim that it's perfectly alright to commit any crime or immoral act you want as long as you do it in your own home. Yes you have rights but your children are not property. They have rights too.

[exholt]

If a parent feels the need to place cameras in their children's bedrooms, it tells me at least two things:

1. They have allowed communication between them and the kids to deteriorate to a point that they either don't communicate or they don't trust them and must spy on them. Since the parent has authority over the minor, the onus is on them to maintain communication lines with their children and to prevent this deterioration from happening. Constant interaction by asking them what they are doing is one key way to do this. And if anyone tells me that working parents don't have time for this, I have one word....BS!!!

Personally, I have known many parents(including my own) who work at least 12 hours/day 7 days/week who managed to spend their free time in nurturing, encouraging, diciplining, and keeping in touch with their kids and knowing what's going on in their lives. Most of them work in physically laborious occupations, but they know that there is no substitution for personal parental involvement in their children's lives. As a result, none of them ever felt the need to "spy" on their kids. Why would you if you created an atmosphere of open communication and you spent enough time teaching your children what's right and wrong and to resist peer pressure and the lures of instant gratification? The key here is regular parental involvement in their children's life including holding them accountable and building a relationship of TRUST. Without TRUST, you've already lost one of the best parenting tools.

If you can't trust your kids enough to the point you feel the need for a spy cam in their bedroom, you have other far more pressing parenting issues that need to be addressed. It is ultimately self-defeating and a sign that many other things went wrong along the way.

2. The parent is inherently paranoid and HE/SHE is the one who needs help, psychologically and otherwise.

3. Parent is potentially a sick pedophile who really needs help and possible institutionalization.

All are reasonable conclusions that I could think of from news and other posters and there might be some more. From my observation of parents who are like this father, these spying tactics often backfire and make matters worse either in more discipline problems/rebelliousness or the child opts to move out of the house (My choice if my parents were this distrustful towards me through actions like this).

For the reasons I stated above, I will not help this father as I will be compounding the ills of poor parenting and possibly giving him the tools to commit crimes. If he wants to ultimately shoot himself in the foot as a parent or commit criminal acts, he can do it himself.....

[King Grover]

Originally posted by Sowulo:
We've already answered that question....and quite emphatically I think. With just a simple extension of your logic, one could claim that it's perfectly alright to commit any crime or immoral act you want as long as you do it in your own home. Yes you have rights but your children are not property. They have rights too.

What I never said is My daughter is 1 year old. wanna change that answer?

[Sowulo]

Originally posted by Grover:
What I never said is My daughter is 1 year old. wanna change that answer?

Very clever, Hehehe. If you want to change the topic say so or take your post to the riddles thread going over in the Lounge. I'm not surprised someone tried this. And by the way, if you wanted to put a camera in your 17 year-old's bedroom without hiding it this discussion would be quite different as well. With a 1 year-old and a legitimate reason, why would a camera need to be hidden? (p.s. this is a rhetorical question)

[EvilCabbage]

Hrmm intense stuff...

If i had a 17 year old daughter, and knowing what young fellows are like, I wouldnt want to spy on her, but I would make damn sure she knew exactly what she could be in for. Perhaps if this clown had spent some time with his daughter, and maybe spent some more time educating, and helping her out, he wouldnt be so worried about her now.