Strollerderby : camera

Should Cameras be Allowed in School Bathrooms?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:30:00 GMT

How would you feel about sending your daughter to a school that had cameras installed in the girls’ bathroom? Not good, if you’re anything like Anthony White, who withdrew his 14-year-old daughter from a Wales school after he learned that the girls’ bathroom had been equipped with cameras to prevent “horseplay.”

I can understand White's outrage. The school’s response to his concerns about his daughter’s privacy seems so willfully ignorant as to be creepy. Officials claim that the cameras were installed due to reports that soap and paper towels were being misused (the horror!), and the bathrooms are now much cleaner.

"Toilets can be areas where misbehavior occurs," officials calmly explained to the outraged father. True, but I would argue that hidden cameras in teen girls’ restrooms can also be “areas where misbehavior occurs."

Photo: BBC

New Dad Forgives Guy Who Stole Camera With Birth Footage

JeanneSager — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:35:00 GMT

I'm not sure whether to say awwww or ewwww on this one.

A thief in Greenville, SC walked off with a video camera bag he found in the hallway at the local hospital. But when he saw on the news that the guy who'd forgotten the bag had used it hours before to record the birth of his second child, the thief went to police and turned himself in.

The new dad, identified by a South Carolina news station only as Darius, has opted not to press charges.

This despite Darius' need to hit up the pawn shops in the area to find and eventually buy back his wedding ring, which had been cutting into his skin when his wife was squeezing his hand during labor. The new dad had put the ring inside the camera bag, and the thief pawned it before turning the camera over to police. The camera itself was intact, and footage of the baby girl's birth and moments of the couple's son's life have been restored.

It's nice to know some people still have a little mercy, making this an "aww" moment for Darius and his family. It could be the holiday spirit. Then again, who isn't feeling benevolent when they have a little hand wrapped around theirs?

As for the thief, beyond the fact that stealing what doesn't belong to you is NEVER right, the fact that he apparently made the grab while walking with a woman and three kids (his own?) makes him that much more of a scumbucket. Who commits a crime with the kids in tow? And who doesn't know that a camera in a hospital was probably used to record some pretty intimate moments?

Would you be feeling this benevolent?

Image: Playmobil

Hunter Shoots Through Trailer Wall, Kills Toddler

Babywearing Moms New Pain in Motrin's Side

Baby Dies After a Game of Airplane

They Say: Lead Bullets Make Game Risk for Pregnant Women, Kids

Disaster Girl Strikes!

Kelly Mills — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:32:00 GMT

No one can look more terrifying than a kid. Demon-children make the best monsters, maybe because there's something so terrifying about looking innocent but being heartless. Like Disaster Girl. She scares me.

Okay, now Disaster Girl is actually a picture of a kid with a Mona Lisa-like smaile and sinister expression near a fire. Now folks have photoshopped her into many tragedies, documenting her reign of terror. There's a couple here, but you should totally check out the full gallery. And maybe even make one of your own. Mwah ha ha.

When Legos Become Art

Video of Baby Panda Playing

Pregnant Woman Apprehends a Thief

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT

The first thing 32-year-old Nadine Bevis did after she found out that she was pregnant was—stop a knife-wielding thief. Perhaps pregnancy hormones contain some crime busting agents.

Driving home from the doctor’s office, Bevis saw a man grab a boy’s bike. She immediately pulled over, got out of the car, and rushed toward the would-be thief. Even though the man was carrying two knives, Bevis was too pissed to be scared. “I can still see the boy’s poor little face,” she said. “He couldn’t catch his breath he was crying so much.”

Bevis blocked the assailant’s path, said, “Smile for the camera,” and snapped a photo of the man, named John King. Two other passersby then tackled the man to the ground, disarming him and restraining him until police arrived. King has admitted to the robbery and now faces a lengthy prison sentence.

The 14-year-old victim, who was very shaken up by the attempted theft, has said that he hopes he gets a chance to thank his real-life guardian angels in person.

Although Bevis realizes she was putting herself in danger, she has no regrets about intervening. “Too many people stand by and let this happen—I wasn’t going to be one of them,” she said. “Otherwise thugs will think they can get away with it.”

Not if there are any expectant mothers around, they won’t.

Image: Flickr