Keren Aivas

Due to the growing number of cases of child abuse in kindergartens and day care
centers in Israel, many are calling for the installation of surveillance cameras, which will
help detect cases of abuse and make it easier for law enforcement to convict the
abusers.
Proponents claim that the installation of the cameras will also guarantee the safety of
the children and assist in the conviction of male and female educators who abused
them.

It has also been argued that the placement of surveillance cameras may also serve the interests of educators, as it may protect them from revenge and false complaints.
Opponents of this move argue that installing cameras means a loss of trust in the
education system, and that it entails too severe a violation of children's privacy.

Boys and girls are first and foremost human beings. As human beings, children are
entitled to their full rights. A child does not fall short of an adult in his right to life,
respect, education and equality. Even if the "Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty" had not been enacted, every child in Israel is entitled to these rights by virtue of being a human being. Human rights exist by virtue of morality and by the force of international law applicable in democratic regimes. Easy and material they exist with the enactment of the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Liberty and with the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the State of Israel.

As mentioned, a child is not an adult in diminution. He is a person, for all his qualities
and components, like any other person, and if he is small in body – it does not mean that his dignity is smaller or that his mind is narrower. In the words of the Honorable Justice Cheshin: "A small man is a man, he is a human being, he is a man – even if a man is small in size. And a man, even if a small man, is entitled to all the rights of a big man."

This work will examine whether children's right to personal protection by a responsible adult can be preserved and examined on the basis of trust only, or alternatively technological aids such as cameras are required to examine the safety and security of helpless minors especially from birth to three years of age. The starting point is that the right to protection, security, and education is one of the basic rights a person has. The child who is under a responsible adult during the hours of the day who is not his parent, must be under constant supervision, which as stated it is a complete stranger.

The question is whether it is possible to rely only on the kindness of the responsible adult, or alternatively it is desirable to create guarding and protection mechanisms for the child, with the ability to prevent and enforce cases in which conduct is not beneficial or even violent.