The popularity of webcams in kindergartens to allow parents to monitor their children is on the wane in Beijing over concerns it affects the behaviour of youngsters.

The number of facilities providing constant coverage on the Web has dropped from four to just one in the capital since last March.

Supplying the all-day instant viewing service for parents via web cameras was dubbed as "transparent kindergartens."

It was designed to comfort parents when separated from their kids but sparked heated debate among experts, kindergartens and the parents themselves.

"I'm eager to know my baby's dining, learning and sleeping and all the other things that happen while I'm absent," said Wei Li, a mother of a four-year-old boy.

However, the monitoring method has been criticized by experts, who said it would lead to the unnatural behaviour of children.

Xiao Feng, director with Beijing Huiyuan Psychological Education Centre, said the spontaneous performance of children would be restrained if they were conscious of always being filmed.

One mother, who refused to be identified, said she was concerned at any person on the Internet being able to look at the children if they could obtain the password for kindergarten sites.

"No one can make sure there is nobody preying on the kids on the Internet," she said.

Investigations showed a majority of the surveillance policy followers are private kindergartens.

"Some want to use this service to attract more parents," said Guo Suping, director of Yingcai Kindergarten in Haidian District.

She believes the policy is a form of discrimination against the kindergarten teachers, whose each and every move is recorded by the cameras.

Guo and many peers said the policy violated image rights of both children and teachers.

(China Daily January 11, 2006)