The installation of closed-circuit television became mandatory for all new child care centers Saturday. New child care centers catering to children under the age of 6 are now required to operate CCTV while existing centers are being given a three-month grace period to have CCTV installed.

The revised enforcement regulations on the law concerning the care of infants and young children, which went into effect on Sept. 19, calls for the installation of high-resolution CCTV in areas where the children spend much of their time. Such areas include classrooms, playrooms and playgrounds. Child care centers are required to store the recorded videos for 60 days. Child care centers must comply with parents’ written requests or doctor’s written requests to view the videos unless they have been deleted after the 60-day mandatory storage period.

A string of child abuse cases that occurred at child care centers early this year shocked the public and led to widespread calls for the installation of CCTV at child care centers. CCTVs at child care centers serve two main purposes. First, it is thought that the surveillance video would deter and prevent child abuse. Second, videos can be used as evidence in reporting abuse to the authorities.

However, CCTV is not a fix-all solution to the problem of child abuse. It may deter abuses, but it does so by treating all caretakers and teachers as possible perpetrators. In fact, many workers at child care centers and rights advocates have fought against the mandatory installation of CCTV, arguing that it violates the privacy of the workers. Hence the compromise that the CCTVs be limited to areas where children spend a lot of time.

Another shortcoming of CCTV is that unless the screens are monitored in real time, an act of abuse in progress cannot be stopped. The experience with CCTV installed to prevent bulling in schools has been that without the resources to monitor the screens full time, CCTV has little value in stopping crime. Furthermore, school bullying just moved to areas where there was no CCTV.

Indeed, CCTV is just a stop-gap measure. More fundamental changes must be made in the way the country takes care of its young children. The government’s free universal child care program has led to a sudden surge in demand, which, some experts argue, has led to a decline in the quality of child care services.

Instead of making child care service providers feel like they are being treated as potential criminals, the government should improve their working conditions and make sure that only the best qualified people are taking care of our young ones.