A number of Chinese schools are livestreaming video from their classrooms and dormitories to the Internet, allowing for parents to more closely monitor their children's education from anywhere, any time of day.
However, parents are taking issue with the practice, citing invasion of privacy.
Some have complained that one livestreaming platform in particular, "Shuidi Live," makes hundreds of video feeds from classrooms, playgrounds, cafeterias and even dormitories around the country accessible to the public.
The service currently has more than 200 feeds broadcasting classes from preschools to high schools in Shandong, Henan and Anhui provinces and Beijing.
The streams often provide wide-angle views in high-definition. Many show bored high school students yawning behind piles of textbooks. Other channels offer gripping coverage of middle school kids in dimly lit study halls. Some show empty classrooms.
A feed from Tianhong Baby preschool in Beijing's Changping district on Tuesday afternoon showed a group of children playing musical chairs. "The teacher sure is pretty," read one comment from July.
Another feed registered more than 40,000 views as of April 20.
No password or user account was required to access the above mentioned video streams.
According to Shuidi, the purchase of a particular brand of camera is required to open an account, which can be set to limit access. "If you don't want other people to be able to see it, you can adjust the settings," a customer service agent told thepaper.cn.
Some parents have praised the service. "It's fantastic! You can watch your child grow day by day," one parent told thepaper.cn.
Teachers explain they are just catering to parents' requests.
"We had consulted with parents, who suggested installing the cameras," a teacher at Shunwen Middle School in Jinan, Shandong Province, who chose to remain anonymous, told thepaper.cn.
"Some parents protested at first … but after discussions they agreed to install them," said the teacher, adding the school plans to install more cameras.
However, not all parents are on board.
"This is not safe, It's not safe anywhere," said a parent of a child at a kindergarten in Sanmenxia, Henan Province. "Children take off their clothes before they nap, and the whole world can watch. I don't think any parent would want this," the parent told thepaper.cn.
Law experts have brought the legality of such broadcasts into question.
"This is not only an invasion of privacy for both students and parents … it is not suitable for broadcast on a public platform," said Zhou Ming, a lawyer with Shanghai Minton Lawyers. "Even if parents agree, schools should be considering this from a safety perspective," Zhou said.
