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Sarit Silverman

Cameras alone won’t keep our children safe in daycare

With enhanced care comes improved safety: Early childhood educators and staff need training, supervision, and support
Young kids playing. (iStock)
Young kids playing. (iStock)

Caring for our youngest citizens demands extraordinary dedication, as anyone who has spent time with a room full of active toddlers can attest. In Israeli daycare centers, where one caregiver may be responsible for six infants, nine toddlers, or up to 15 preschoolers, the weight of caring for our youngest citizens has never been more challenging. These high ratios, which far exceed international recommendations, create intense pressure on caregivers, who must simultaneously attend to multiple children’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs.

Recent cases of abuse in daycare centers have left parents questioning the safety of these essential institutions, with incidents reported in cities such as Tel Aviv, Hadera, and Eilat. Official police data reveals an alarming trend of increased cases of physical abuse and assault against infants and toddlers, aged birth to 3, in educational institutions, perpetrated by educator-caregivers, with the number of cases rising from 44 in 2018 to 136 in 2023.

The government’s response of installing surveillance cameras seemed promising on paper, but the continuing and increased frequency of incidents reveal a harsher truth: technology alone cannot protect our children. Bureaucratic hurdles are insufficient to stop harm in real-time; when abuse is suspected, accessing camera footage requires multiple authorizations, formal requests, and weeks of processing time. The recent amendment to the law aims to enhance transparency and offer parents monitoring options, yet these steps do not address the heart of the matter.

The key to truly safeguarding our children lies not in technology, but in the quality of the caregivers themselves. High-quality staff, equipped with proper training and ongoing coaching, are the cornerstone of a safe and nurturing environment. Daycare staff need more than basic qualifications. They require specialized training in crucial areas: child development stages, trauma-informed care practices, positive discipline techniques, and early intervention strategies. This comprehensive training must include practical skills like managing multiple children at different developmental stages, recognizing signs of distress, and implementing age-appropriate educational activities.

Equally important is a robust support system — including regular coaching, mental health resources, and manageable workloads — as a foundation for maintaining the high-quality care our children deserve. This need for psychological support has only intensified in the current climate, intertwining the caregivers’ own war-related trauma with their duty to support children who may be grappling with the loss of family members or the absence of parents on reserve duty. Integrating these supports with comprehensive training and ongoing professional development will provide caregivers with the necessary tools to educate the children under their care.

The conversation about child safety must encompass a broader commitment to enhancing the quality of early childhood education and care. This means implementing policies prioritizing comprehensive training and support for staff, maintaining appropriate child-to-caregiver ratios, and creating environments where both children and caregivers can thrive. While cameras may play a role in accountability, true safety comes from investing in the human element of childcare — the dedicated professionals who shape our children’s earliest experiences.

About the Author
Dr. Sarit Silverman is a senior researcher at the Taub Center, where she researches early childhood and education.
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