June 27, 2005
Paedophile fears over school sports videos
As thousands of children prepare to compete in sports days this summer, the NCPTA called on headteachers to review their policies on videoing school events, reports the UK Daily Mail.
Some schools have chosen to ban video cameras from sports days amid fears that pictures could end up in the hands of paedophiles.
The NCPTA said this had upset many parents who wanted to record their children's achievements.
But the organisation warned that video cameras and mobile phones were "indiscriminate" in who they pictured, adding: "Children's privacy and protection cannot be guaranteed."
NCPTA chief executive David Butler said schools themselves could video sports days and other events while banning individual parents from making their own recordings.
Parents could then buy the official videos at cost price directly from the school, which would retain the master copy, he said."
While this would not solve the problem completely it would allow schools to "edit out" images of children whose parents had not consented to them being pictured."
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