A group of parents are raising concern about a camera recently installed in the bathrooms at Tauranga Girls’ College.

They believe this measure goes against the privacy and the rights of the girls at the school.

“Even when the camera is not right in front of the cubicles of the toilets, we do not feel good knowing our daughters are being observed in a private space like the bathroom,” says one of the parents who asked SunLive to not mention his name for security reasons.

“Our daughters do not just use the toilets at the school, they use the lobby of the bathrooms to change their clothes from time to time and I do not want anyone watching them while they do it."

Tauranga Girls’ College principal Tara Kanji says the cameras installed at the college, including the one in the toilet, are part of the security system adopted for the school and approved by the board.

“We have had some deliberate damage done in our toilet block and this vandalism has been at a terrible cost to potential learning and teaching resources.

“To address that and unwanted gatherings, we placed a camera in the lobby of that toilet.”

Another concern for parents is, who monitors the cameras and who has access to the material collected by them.

“We would like to know if there is a person behind the cameras all day, who can access the footage and what happens with the videos recorded daily of our daughters,” says the parent.

This is apparently the range of view of the camera in TGC bathroom.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to protect the school from some inappropriate behaviour and this is not a hidden camera, says Tara.

“The camera, along with improved lighting has resulted in a reduction of damage in the toilets area, there is good signage to identify it and we do not monitor it constantly, we just watch the videos when something unusual happens.

“Other schools have taken a proactive approach to addressing damage and unwanted gatherings in toilets, we are pleased with the outcome.”

These security measures have been adopted not just for schools but for other institutions to prevent vandalism and criminal behaviour alongside the city.