Amsterdam daycare fires intern who shared inappropriate videos of kids on social media

Amsterdam daycare center Kindergarden has fired an intern for posting inappropriate videos of the children in her care on social media. NL Times saw a screenshot of the video posted, showing two children lying on top of each other on the floor with the text “they start early,” and the video also reportedly showed a child imitating a seal.

In a letter to parents, Kindergarden general manager Nicole Krabbenborg wrote that she and the rest of the staff at the daycare center were shocked by the video. The intern, who worked at the Stadstimmertuin branch in Amsterdam city center, posted the video on her personal account. The intern removed the video at the daycare center’s request, but other social media users had already shared it.

“In the video, several children are portrayed recognizably without permission having been obtained by parents. In addition, we are shocked by the content of the video,” Krabbenborg wrote. She didn’t explain what the intern did, only saying she showed “unacceptable behavior” toward the children. Parents informed Kindergarden on Sunday about the 43-second video compilation.

The daycare reported the video to the police, who investigated and concluded that the video did not depict any criminal offenses. Police confirmed to several news outlets that a report was filed by a daycare company in Amsterdam regarding images of children posted online. The police confirmed they did not find a criminal offense based on the footage they reviewed, a spokesperson told AD. Police added that children were not shown naked.

“But for us as Kindergarden, this is really unacceptable,” Krabbenborg said. The daycare terminated the intern’s contract with immediate effect and will “critically examine how this could have happened and what measures we need to take to prevent it in the future.” She said the intern was fired, and may be dismissed from her education program.

However, she also believed that the woman’s actions were not meant to be malicious, and asked people to stop spreading the intern’s name and picture across social media in an attempt to name-and-shame her. "In my opinion, she has been punished enough. I find it shocking what is happening on social media now," Krabbenborg told ANP. She said employees are not allowed to bring private electronic devices into the workplace, and are not allowed to make videos or photos other than those made for parents using the company’s equipment.

It is possible, she said, that the intern was creating the images while attempting to creatively complete a teaching assignment in a misguided way.

Kindergarden contacted the parents of all the children who appeared in the video and also informed all other parents in the Stadstimertuin branch of what happened. “On social media, we post reactions in the comments. And to ensure that the material is not spread further, we ask everyone to remove it if they have it.”