Watching Kids Via Mobile Phone 315
Joe the Lesser writes "This BBC article says how parents could soon keep a much closer eye on what children are up to on their way to and from school thanks to a mobile monitoring system. It will send text alerts to their mobile phone if the child deviates too far from that route or takes too long getting there."
Whatever (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Whatever (Score:4, Insightful)
"Hey, are you going straight home after school?"
"Yeah"
"Can you drop my phone on my doorstep on your way?"
That would have been my method at least...
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Whatever (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Whatever (Score:2)
Re:Whatever (Score:5, Insightful)
Give the kids some responsibility and some space. Let them grow. Otherwise they will be thrown in to college or the real world with the need for responsibility for their first time. I've seen it happen, and believe me, it is not pretty.
From the article: (Score:2)
So, the kid turns the phone off, leaves it at a friend's house, whatever.
That's not the point (Score:2)
Little kids *not* at much risk of abduction (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Whatever (Score:2)
Of course, the problem comes when your kid gets old enough to decide he doesn't want to be monitored any more. That'll be an interesting discussion with the parents.
Re:Whatever (Score:3, Interesting)
"Let mummy see your face"
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:WW2 (Score:3, Insightful)
Like the freedom to get snatched while walking to school? As with any information utensil, it's only as invasive as you make it. Something like this appeals to me as a father of a young daughter. I wouldn't use it to track where she's going, only to alert me if something "went wrong". What they fought for in WWII is to allow me the freedom to utilize this tool if I think it necessary.
children's rights? (Score:4, Insightful)
This is just begging for waterproof-testing, dogbiteproof-testing, bullyproof-testing, backingcaroverproof-testing, and fireproof-testing. I can understand the acceptability for much younger children, but by the time we get a single friend with a driver's license the "leash" idea is dead in the water.
You celebrate that the government doesn't have the right to put a radio collar on you, yet you jump at the oppurtunity to put one on your own child!
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Re:children's rights? (Score:5, Insightful)
A parent has an obligation to be informed of their childs where-abouts, and safety. Governments do not raise children, parents do. Parents care about the well-being, which is exactly why he said he would use it as a notifier if something went wrong.
This is a good thing.
If your parents don't trust you at 16, I would say it has something to do with you, not them.
My parents trust me (Score:2)
Re:My parents trust me (Score:2)
Then why do you care? This is not about childrens rights, it's about parent and child relationships.
why I care (Score:3, Insightful)
I care because I read George Orwell's 1984, and I saw that as a possible future.
No one gives a shit about parent and child relationships so long as they aren't physically or sexually abusive. In 15 months, is it likely that I won't give a shit either? Do any of us care about the plight of o
Re:why I care (Score:2)
Neither is letting your child play video games constantly, or sitting to close to the TV, or letting them eat too much junk food. For that matter, any junk food. It's not your responsibility or right to tell anybody what is right or wrong when it comes to raising children.
I care because I read
Re:His opinion should matter... (Score:3, Insightful)
You realized you shouldn't because you were given the chance to come to that decision like a human, not tethered to your parents 24/7.
Trust works both ways. Parents who subject their children to this kind of treatment show that they are the ones who have problems with trust.
Re:children's rights? (Score:3, Interesting)
If your parents don't trust you at 16, I would say it has something to do with you, not them.
I would dispute that, as I know a couple of parents who have serious control issues. That said, it doesn't matter who's to blame: this 'kid' is going to be an adult in 2 years and he needs to get some freedom and responsibility whether he can handle it or not. Better to screw up royally while still a minor than wait til you're legally an adult.
Re:children's rights? (Score:2)
However, if they get into a situation and there in real trouble, I'd like them to be able them to let me know. They may not be able to let anybody know there notifing me as well.
Its one thing to find out yor kid went to a friends house to drink a beer, its another to find out there going north on the I-5.
*I-5 - interstate freeway number 5, for you non-usa'er.
Re:children's rights? (Score:2)
It's like most of my personal positions as a Libertarian. I believe the homeless and the disabled should receive SOME form of aid; I just don't think it should come from my pocket at the point of a gun. That doesn't mean it
Re:WW2 (Score:2)
mobile phones can be tracked.
Your assertion that WWII was fought to allow you "the freedom to utilize the tool if I
think it necessary", is both ludicrous and myopic. The _main_ reason the USA entered
WWII was because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. Any other grand ideals
were secondary.
Re:WW2 (Score:2)
What did people do before cell phones? Cars? Things are worse since 9/11. If people continue to need more and more constant input to make sure "nothing went wrong," they'll grow dependent on it. That's where trust comes into play; it won't exist. We will continue to bury ourselves in our homes and offices, co
Re:WW2 (Score:2)
Life is risky. There's a lot of stuff you can do to decrease that risk, but we've gone too far.
Monitoring your kids like mental patients on a walk in the park for the day is just wrong. It also tells them they're not to be trusted, they belong on a leash, and that you're not willing to give them a chance to prove that they can handle responsibility. I say, give them that chance, even punish them for failing, b
Re:WW2 (Score:2)
Like the freedom to get snatched while walking to school?
Well, most abductions are done by people the kid knows, like a dad in the midst of a nasty divorce, so that won't help. This may help with your random sicko, provided he doesn't have the presence of mind to look for bugs, but random sickos don't account for a whole lot of risk. That said, I think this stuff is fine until the kid turns 7 or 8 - provided the kid knows why it's there. I can't imagine subjecting a high-schooler to this sort of treatmen
Re:WW2 (Score:5, Insightful)
I never had this problem with my parents. They always trusted me, I'm pleased to say, however, I'm not here to discuss me. There are a million ways to get around this, such as
"Rules are meant to be broken"
-Some wise soul
I take for example spy software that my best friend's mother put on his computer. He wasn't computer savvy enough to bypass it, however, if I had had such software on my computer:
1. I would hate my parents, and feel resentful towards them.
2. I would do my best to bypass this with things that are available here [peacefire.org].
Don't people realize that spying on your kids will only make them want to break the rules? If I knew that my parents were the type that would spy on me while I'm at school, then I would refuse to have a cell phone.
This seems to me to be something for overly paranoid and protective parents that think they can't trust their kids, and need to know at what second of the day their kids are doing anything.
-Dae
Re:WW2 (Score:2)
Um what freedom's being taken away? It's not a mandatory service.
Here's a tip for everybody: If it's optional, then it's not a rights or privacy problem.
Re:WW2 (Score:3)
Re:WW2 (Score:3, Insightful)
Move Over Big Brother (Score:5, Funny)
Can I use it.. (Score:5, Funny)
This Just In: (Score:5, Funny)
This worries me (Score:2, Interesting)
This is a bad usage of this kind of technology.
Re:This worries me (Score:2)
Re:This worries me (Score:3, Insightful)
Then they required implants to get discounts at the grocery store. But I buy all my food at the froofy vegan store so I was silent.
Then they required implants to carry a gun, but didn't think I could successfully revolt against a tyrannous government so I was silent.
Then they required implants to drive a car, but even working the required 72 hours a week I couldn't afford my own vehicle so I was silent.
Then the government
Re:This worries me (Score:2)
sure, just like it's a small step from making your kid eat vegetables to soylent-green world. get a grip.
Obligatory Simpson's reference (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory Simpson's reference (Score:2, Funny)
Anyway, as I was walking along the rim, I
Re:Obligatory Simpson's reference (Score:2)
Oh great, another creationist who doesn't buy into Darwin's theory of natural selection.
=)
Screenshot of it! (Score:5, Funny)
Honesly, you can barely tell he has it on!
Would this work for congressmen, too? (Score:4, Funny)
1984 is almost here! (Score:2)
Good and Bad.. (Score:2)
The bad: As a citizen I hardly want a system that knows my whereabouts at all times. Hey, maybe those phone booths on the corner will be useful yet!
Effects on kids? (Score:5, Interesting)
I understand parents being spooked by news reports of kidnappings and related badness, and wanting to protect your kids from the bad things in the world. I agree with this.
I just worry about the effects of too-close monitoring like this on kids. What kind of adults do you get when the kids are raised with this kind of monitoring/oversight?
Are they going to be too dependent on someone swooping in to save them when they mess up, and not self-reliant? Possibly too accepting of governemnt oversight of their every move? Too scared to deviate from an established pattern for fear they'll have to explain to someone that fact that they just felt like doing something different that day? (Admit it, you've "lived up to" expectations that you found limiting before, haven't you?)
Maybe they'll be amazingly good at evading monitoring and doing what they like anyway?
I don't know. I doubt we will know for quite a while. But I worry about it.
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
*shrug* there's a happy medium for most of these things, which society can never settle on.
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
I worry about the kinds of adults you get when kids are raised with no monitoring/oversight.
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
I worry about the kinds of adults you get when kids are raised with no monitoring/oversight.
You mean yourself? Or have you forgotten that oversight is possible without tracking your kid's every movement? That's how we got along before all of this, and it worked out pretty well.
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
That's funny, I worry about the kinds of adults you get when kids are raised with too much monitoring/oversight.
All about context and maturity (Score:5, Insightful)
A child's ability to deal with a situation is dependant on many factors. Their age, their maturity, and their experience, their education. My job as a parent is to provide increasingly challenging responsibilities to my children so that they can try, make mistakes, and learn in a controlled environment. It is up to me to make sure that they are ready for the next "phase", and monitor their progress, and catch them if they fall. The end result, hopefully, is that around 18 or so, they can function in the real world without supervision, and will make decisions that will help them reach their goals (and stay out of trouble).
Believe it or not, as kids are striking out on their own in more and more areas in life, they want and need to know that their parents are backing them up.
Anyway, a tool like this would be ridiculous for a 17 year old, but it might be perfect in middle school. They say they are going somewhere. They may or may not be testing their boundries. This device would sure beat following them around.
Good parenting involves controlled risk, safe consequences, and constant learning. Pretending that they are adults at 13 is perhaps the worst crime a parent can commit.
-Donut
Re:All about context and maturity (Score:2)
I seem to remember that 13 was about the peak time for my "parent's arn't cool" phase. If you are using this device to spy on your child instead of to keep him/her safe expect it to be destroyed or spoofed after the first time you say, "You said you were going to Jimmy's house, but you really went to Jill's house."
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
I understand parents being spooked by news reports of kidnappings and related badness, and wanting to protect your kids from the bad things in the world. I agree with this.
I just worry about the effects of too-close monitoring like this on kids. What kind of adults do you get when the kids are raised with this kind of monitoring/oversight?
I also wonder what today's kids will be like as adults. I notice that parents today seem to be much more paranoid about their children. When I was growing up, parent
Re:Effects on kids? (Score:2)
The kind that vote for dubya and Total Information Awareness.
Excellent! (Score:5, Insightful)
Between that, net nanny and the V-chip I can enjoy having kids by spending time where it's needed (i.e. not with them).
Thanks for these wonderful time saving inventions.
uggghh... (Score:4, Insightful)
The next step... (Score:5, Interesting)
"This BBC article says how governments could soon keep a much closer eye on what their citizens are up to thanks to a mobile monitoring system. It will alert law enforcement officials if the person deviates too far from the government approved route or takes too long getting there."
No, I'm not a paranoid/delusional freak. I just thought it's something to think about. I highly doubt that will actually happen, but hey, technology is improving. Let's see where it will take us, and let's see when we can log onto the net and see where it is taking us (literally).
Re:The next step... (Score:2)
Re:The next step... (Score:2)
Why would they have to send a cop, just send a ticket (it's cheaper).
They have that NOW! (Score:2)
But they have that NOW!
Technology is already in place to track any powered-up cellphone, including high-res locaion and speed if it's within cellshot of three or more bases. (Maybe two or more.) Doesn't require a fancy phone
Think of the Children of the Corn! (Score:3, Funny)
Besides, Iowa cornfields are no place for cellphones.
Won't somebody please think of the Children?
Too easy to get around (for the kids)... (Score:2)
Hell, I switch mine off every chance I get already. Sometimes I lose battery, or get out of area... would this report back to the parent as "your child is kidnapped, please panic now" ??? Besides, my kids won't get their own phones until they are well into the ages where I feel safe that they can manage their way home. (They won't be getting a TV in their room, or their own car, or anything else these s
Profoundly old story (Score:2)
I know there were products on the market a year ago that offered the same service, but can't remember the company name off the top of my head.
Anyone find an older reference?
Preparing them for the Future (Score:2)
I think that policing your children like this is going to sow more distrust than anything else. And, by teenage thinking, as long as they are going to get blamed for stuff they are not doing (distrust=blame in teenland), then they may as well do it. You would be, in effect, reinforcing the cycle of poor choices.
I realize that the article expressly states that the system is designed for 8-12 year olds, but it wo
kidtracker ? (Score:2)
Stop The Madness! (Score:2, Insightful)
Children as Products (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe by the time my children get around to having children we'll have mobile phones that can completely rob our children of free will. Hell, since we're already starting to design them from birth maybe phone triggered on(wake)/off(sleep) switches as well. Anything to keep us from actually having to waste our precious time or assume any sort of responsibility for our kids - that's what technology and the government are for!
Re:Children as Products (Score:3, Insightful)
In this day and age when parents are afraid to do something as basic as spank thier child, it is about time that someone came out with something to help even things out.
Please Dont Tell My Wife !!!! (Score:5, Funny)
...about these things !
I can just imagine, "Honey, stop by the grovery store, and the cleaners, and gas station, oh, and I'll be monitoring your progress so don't get 'lost' on the way..."
[shivvvvvers]
Re:Please Dont Tell My Wife !!!! (Score:2)
You need one of two things: some balls, or a divorce.
I make my wife cook and clean in a nightgown and high heels. It's the natural order of things; you just have to explain it to them the right way.
Pay attention to your kids! (Score:2, Insightful)
Yet...they have time to program their Sprint "Orwell's Friends and family" plan and change the parameters every time their kid goes to the mall.
<free advice> Invest the time in your kids rather than their phones! </free advice>
Location monitoring (Score:2)
cell phones - as mentioned, you are always pinpointed by cell
credit cards - purchases link you to a database in real time
ATM - smile, they get your picture, too!
wireless networking - your MAC address is a unique ignature
The interesting part will be to find out who is getting exempted from the databases. For example, the US Congress has a history of exempting themselves fr
Pink Floyd said it (Score:5, Insightful)
Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true.
Momma's gonna put all of her fears into you.
Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
What we do to our kids, they will eventually turn around and do it to us.
Really bad (Score:2)
This is just the beginning (Score:2)
Re:This is just the beginning (Score:2)
And governmental abuse. I think it would be a matter of one rotation of good ole Cesium-133 before somebody put out a jamming device. Maybe it would screw with the reception on the handy but a missed phone call or two is worth a shot at MaryJane's pink bits.
Normally I would Say SHUT UP... (Score:2)
He has about a 2 hour each way commute to work and currently has a webcam set up at his home to watch his wife and kids while at the office. This way he can see his child grow up and communicate via IM also...
Phones? Myself, I prefer... (Score:2)
Just like the Simpson's technology (Score:2)
Automated voice from console: "Car gone. Car gone."
Wiggum: "Sheesh, we KNOW it's gone, now where is it?"
Automated voice (louder,faster): "CAR GONE! CAR GONE! CAR GONE!"
Does This Story Mean Slashdot... (Score:2, Flamebait)
And why call this a "rights online" issue?
Children don't have the same rights as adults. Adults are responsible for their kids' behavior. If a parent has reason to believe a child is going somewhere and doing something he/she isn't allowed to go, this phone gizmo makes a lot more sense than tieing a long string on the kid.
Re:Does This Story Mean Slashdot... (Score:2, Funny)
GPS (Score:3, Interesting)
Remember, folks, Big Brother begins at home
hmm.. (Score:3, Funny)
A cultural trend? Irresponsible parents? (Score:2)
All this mind you, when the most popular shows on television are disguistingly vouyeristic (be it just sexual -- a lot of it these days revolving around who so
This is the future... of oppression. (Score:5, Insightful)
Parents do things to children that would be unconscionable on ordinary citizens, or even the worst criminals.
Think about it. Think of the uproar that would occur if the government:
- Drugged undesirables with adult 'ritalin'.
- Tracked our movements to make sure we were in the right place at the right time.
- Removed the right to free speech like they do at schools. (even though the supreme court ruled that the right to free speech did not end when students and teachers entered the school doors)
Just something to think about.
Give your parents a heart attack (Score:5, Funny)
Eventually, the monitoring system will be combined with GPS data so that parents can track the location of their precious children at all times.
This leads to some interesting possibilities for teenage pranksters. Imagine the look on Mom's and Dad's faces when, just before leaving on his three-day camping trip, little Johnny sends his cellphone to China by FedEx.
Awesome idea, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Two years later...
I open it and it says,
"Why not try a tasty burger from 'Flinging Freddy's' only 2 blocks away."
Call my cynical,
--Joey
I wonder... (Score:2)
Protect your kid now! (Score:2)
LoJack for Kids (Score:2)
ready for corporate camp! (Score:3, Insightful)
This makes sense... (Score:2, Insightful)
Bumper sticker: My junenile delinquent is screwing your honor roll student.
Psychological Repercussions (Score:3, Interesting)
Picture a child, who...
Was this you when you were young? Would you really be a better person if you had done these things? Would you be happier? My vote is NO, as I spent all of high school doing most of these things and was ready to kill myself freshman year of college, when I was given an ID card, a room key and told to fend for myself.
My mind drifts to Jonbenet Ramsey as I wonder why American parents have such sterilized, plastic-molded ideals for their children.
If this bothers you, you're too old (Score:3, Interesting)
They seem unbothered by monitoring. They just assume that everything is recorded somewhere, and that's the way things work. They'd like to be able to track their friends via their cellphones. They spend a lot of time updating each other on where they are, and think it would be easier if they didn't have to call to ask.
This gives you a sense of where things are going. Location as a public record.
Re:Sounds good to me (Score:2)
Re:Sounds good to me (Score:2)
The adventure of prepaid phones allows people of any age to carry a phone without running up any bills (phones are cheap, and all the kids do anyway is send SMSes which are relatively cheap).
It's not unusual for kids to get phones right around turning double-digits...
Re:Sounds good to me (Score:2)
What about cellphone cams? (Score:2)