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GPSing Your Kid is Crazy!
Filed under: Gadgets, Opinions
"You take the family to the food court. Your wife and Pete head for tacos. You and Danny want Chinese. You look up at the menu. You look down to see what Danny wants. But you don't see Danny. Every parent knows that feeling. Imagine if he were actually abducted ..."
So goes one of the ads for the tsunami of new mobile devices, chips, apps and alerts that promise to keep track of our children's every move. (And that's not even the scariest ad, which ends with a guy pulling up his pants in a dark alley where a boy is cowering. Let's hear it for humanity!)
Leaving aside the bizarre proposition that in the time it takes dad to choose between the egg roll and wonton soup, his son has been abducted from a public place without anyone noticing, what else is this ad doing?
Lying. Like all these new surveillance technologies, it is promising "Peace of mind." Which is sort of like a shipment of mosquitoes promising "A good night's sleep."
Oh, it does sound reassuring at first: At last, here's an easy way to keep an electronic eye on our kids and make sure they're safe! But what really happens is this:
- Now that we can track our children's every move, we start to think maybe we should. (Sort of like once we could buy our babies those black and white, brain-stimulating mobiles, it started to feel like it's just something a good parent does.)
- Once we think we should track our kids, it means we also start think that this makes sense -- that our kids are quite possibly in danger any time we're not with them.
- Once we start thinking that, we feel our job is to keep them under constant surveillance.
- And once we buy into that, we begin living in a constant state of fear, only assuaged by a glance at the GPS tracker. Phew! He's still there!
But what happens when we can't get our fix? When, somehow, our kid's cell phone loses its signal for a bit, or he wanders off his path home to buy a Gatorade, or he forgets his backpack on the bus and our signal shows him speeding to Pervert Town? We freak out! He isn't where he should be! We can't reach him!
Our minds leap exactly to where that ad about Danny did: "Imagine if he were actually abducted." So now we are nauseous with worry every time we are not in constant contact with our kids.
That's peace of mind?
Peace of mind comes when we pretty much believe in our kids and our community. These apps and trackers devices destroy that sense of trust.
And by the way -- they don't even prevent "the worst" from happening. They just go along for the ride. So the real point of them?
Not peace of mind. A piece of your wallet.
Related: Girl Let Off a Wrong Bus Stop NOT Molested and Left For Dead
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 5)
9-21-2010 @ 2:04PM
dougalcandy said...I totally agree with this article. This is going a little far with the "helicopter parenting". Soon there will be separate dormitories for the parents to live in when their children go away to school!
Sounds crazy, but there are already articles being written talking about parents who get over-involved in their children's college lives, IE talking to their professors about grades, getting copies of syllabus, calling them to wake them up for class! We have to teach our children to live in the world and adapt to it, not make them fearful of everyone and everything! It's a sad world when no one trusts anyone else and people cannot enjoy simple pleasures, like walking home with a friend after school, stopping for a soda, or for a walk in the park. Lenore is right on the money when she says that GPS will do nothing but make parents nervous when their child is not "where he is supposed to be". Kids wander, stop at the store, stop at friend's houses...all part of being a kid. And how are you so sure that your child is really with the GPS--kids are smart and learn the system--just leave the GPS with a friend, or behind a bush at the park, and presto parent thinks one thing, child is off somewhere else! Just like with cell phones...very nice to be able to contact your child 24/7, but very easy for the child to say he or she is where he is "supposed to be", but really isn't.
We are already raising a generation of young adults who are unable to function on their own as adults after college. What do they say now, 26 is the new 18? Young adults who can't make it in the real world, can't make decisions, can't deal with failure or rejection, and now who are probably fearful of the world they must make their own way in.
There was an article in LI Newsday yesterday about some schools in Long Island where if a child pays for lunch with a special prepaid card, the parents can track what their child had for lunch that day. They can also block their child from buying certain foods. A lunch GPS! Now the child can't even be trusted to choose what he wants for lunch--a little excessive.
My husand and I raised a daughter who is 19, succesful, bright, doing well in school, able to handle herself in any situation and is not afraid to experience the world around her. In fact, she wants to do it all on her own, and, in fact be an adult. And for that, I am proud of her. No GPS required!
Reply
9-21-2010 @ 7:53PM
Alicia said...In defense of myself (my generation is hopeless and I sadly realize this) I was raised by a mother who firmly believed in independence and self-sufficiency. Because of her, this college student drags her own butt out of bed every morning and is anywhere between a half hour - hour early for class every morning and doesn't need reminders to do her homework or talk to her teachers. The most my mom does for me? Handle the financial aid paperwork, mostly because I feel like I'm invading her privacy by asking for her tax information. Not all of us are stupid and incapable of caring for ourselves, so there's some hope.
9-22-2010 @ 12:34AM
BTDT said...Keep in mind that you're not the only one who can track your kids with GPS.
9-23-2010 @ 11:19AM
Kole said...I think it is a great idea! Every child should have a radio/mic/gps/camera collar on so that we always know what is going on. Also if we get them accustomed to it now, then we can just leave them on well into the future. Thereby pre-tracking criminals. Because the whole future of our children is going to be a fight for life with the way this world is headed. Get what you can while you can Http://www.savecreatively.com
9-21-2010 @ 4:29PM
mrfiero said...As a grandparant that has lost a 3 year old girl to a tragic accident, one this device would have saved, I can't help but feel like we don't do enough to protect our children. in my case, grandchildren. When they are at my home, I watch over them. I train them not to run into the road between the parked cars to get the bouncing ball. I warn them not to talk to strangers. I tell them that only a fool does something because someone "double dog dares" them to do it, when the "darer" him/herself won't do it, and they know it's wrong, dangerous, or could cause some damage to someones property. Kids do not think like adults. They NEED to be monitored. They need to be watched. Thats our job. If you pound a nail with a wrench and it bends the nail, don't blame the nail when you could have used the hammer you had. Use the tools you got to do the job you need to do. It may seem like overkill, but people said the same thing about automobiles. "I don't need no dang autowhatists. I have a horse and buggy." Would you turn off your electric, your indoor plumbing, your telephone, just because we used to be able to get along without them? NOT. It's a tool. A tool we hope we don't need, but will be damn glad we have it if it turns out we do need it.
Just my opinion.
Reply
9-21-2010 @ 5:00PM
Brooke said...I completely agree with grandparent mrfiero! When will we stop living in hind sight?
9-22-2010 @ 6:51AM
Deb said...First, let me say how sorry I am for your loss as I too have lost a grandchild. GPS to track kids? GPS in your car? GPS in your cellphone. I think we are losing sight of the bigger problem....our right to privacy. Raise your child the right way, teach them to be independant, make them just a little "fearful" of the world in general and they will be fine. That's how I was raised and it worked fine for me. That's how I raised my children and doing the same for my grandchildren. We let too much of the government, and yes, the govenment tracks us with this technology, into our lives just to "protect" us. It's sad really that parents are willing to give up their privacy just so that they don't have to take responsibilty for raising their children, Just saying.
9-27-2010 @ 5:15PM
Raechele Wilson-Doran said...I'm with you!
9-21-2010 @ 4:47PM
mrfiero said...As a grandparant that has lost a 3 year old girl to a tragic accident,
one this device would have saved, I can't help but feel like we don't
do enough to protect our children. in my case, grandchildren. When
they are at my home, I watch over them. I train them not to run into
the road between the parked cars to get the bouncing ball. I warn them
not to talk to strangers. I tell them that only a fool does something
because someone "double dog dares" them to do it, when the "darer"
him/herself won't do it, and they know it's wrong, dangerous, or could
cause some damage to someones property. Kids do not think like adults.
They NEED to be monitored. They need to be watched. Thats our job. If
you pound a nail with a wrench and it bends the nail, don't blame the
nail when you could have used the hammer you had. Use the tools you
got to do the job you need to do. It may seem like overkill, but
people said the same thing about automobiles. "I don't need no dang
autowhatists. I have a horse and buggy." Would you turn off your
electric, your indoor plumbing, your telephone, just because we used
to be able to get along without them? NOT. It's a tool. A tool we hope
we don't need, but will be damn glad we have it if it turns out we do
need it.
Just my opinion.
Reply
9-21-2010 @ 8:42PM
Parent said...Amen to that. I don't know what tragic incident you had, but God Bless your Grandaughter.
9-21-2010 @ 5:13PM
Matt said...Everyone who abducts a child will forevermore just take the kid's cell phone and throw it away.
Reply
9-27-2010 @ 5:14PM
Raechele Wilson-Doran said...GPS is not limited to cell phones, and if the criminal throws it out, at least the cops have a lead to where the child was abducted, not to mention possible finger prints on the phone to find the abductor.
9-21-2010 @ 5:45PM
localwoman said...Dying to know what carrier has the scary ad mentioned....
Reply
9-22-2010 @ 1:30AM
bloodsacrifice37 said...Good question Localwoman. I have searched the net for over an hour and can't find a thing except the amber alert commericals and other commercials just advertising. Must be something they are showing in the UK.
9-21-2010 @ 8:54PM
You Are Hot Baby said...I had GPS on my daughter's phone when she was in high school. She didn't know about it. I couldn't sleep this one night and decided to make sure she was at her friends' house where she said she was. I found her driving around with a bunch of kids at 2 a.m., called her and told her to get home. She arrived home fifteen minutes later and two hours later the car with the kids in it was in a horrific accident. So, I can't say I agree with this article.
Reply
9-22-2010 @ 9:34AM
gary said...why was your daughter out at 2 am in the first place?
9-22-2010 @ 1:32PM
You Are Hot Baby said...Exactly. It was a mother's gut feeling and believe me, she didn't ever do it again. She's 22 now, beautiful and much smarter.
9-24-2010 @ 3:31PM
gpo said...Why didn't you call the parents of the other children in the car? You turned your back on the other children and the accident is just as much on you. You could have stopped it.
I know the parents of the children my kids hang out with and I know they would want me to tell them if their kid was doing something they should not.
9-29-2010 @ 5:59PM
Kate said...You're implying that it was the teenagers fault that they were in a horrific accident. How are you to know that they were driving recklessly and not just the victim of fate? What happened to your daughter was a very, very lucky thing, assuming its true at all, but that should not mean everyone should monitor their kids constantly. If you had a gut feeling you simply could have called her and told her to come home. If she had happen to had her phone off/low battery/ out of signal area then the tracking would have been pointless.
9-21-2010 @ 8:43PM
GPS-Mike said...Thoughts from someone who sells GPS tracking devices...
"Peace of mind comes when we pretty much believe in our kids and our community."
What community these days can be trusted?
These "evil" people can drive to anywhere and everywhere our kids go.
I do however agree with the cell pone trackers "going along for the ride" idea.
Whenever I sell a parent a system I explain the importance of the "panic" system that goes along with it.
What this does is proactively protect our children in case of an emergency. With a simple flick of a switch mounted by the cars blinker the car sends a panic message to the parent/guardians cell phone. At that point I usually tell my customers to call the child and set up a code... "everything OK", "yes going to Cassie's house for a few hours" Means I'm in trouble send help.
Its not a matter of false security, its a matter of safety...
Why shouldn't we know where our kids are? Just like my commercial clients tell there drivers, If your not doing anything wrong theres nothing to worry about!
Reply