As parents, we want to know our children are protected at all times, particularly when they are not with us and we don’t have direct control over their safety. A childcare centre is often the first environment our children experience without us, and most parents have many questions when it comes to choosing the right one.
If you’ve already experienced this milestone, think back to the questions you asked and the things you looked for; cost, cleanliness, staff experience, curriculum, activities, toys and resources are among the most common. But did you ever ask about the centre’s security measures? Many of us don’t ask this important question, possibly because we just assume our children will be safe from intrusion. Unfortunately, in today’s world, it is a critical one.
Commonly, centres will have a pin pad entry system and a child-proof gate, but is this enough? A pin pad might seem like a good security measure, but it’s usually one pin number that everybody who uses the centre shares, and no matter how frequently it’s changed, there’s always a chance that the wrong person has it. The answer to a truly secure centre lies in biometrics.
Biometric systems use something that is entirely unique to you, such as your fingerprint or iris, to confirm identity and allow or deny entry to the centre, meaning that only people authorised to be there at any given time can access the space. It’s also easy for the centre to control time and date access, meaning they can grant short term admission, restrict access to certain days, dates or even times, and add or remove access easily. It’s a great option for ensuring the safety of our most precious and most vulnerable members of society – our children.
If your centre isn’t using biometrics, it might be time to ask why not.