Every parent, “parents” differently.
Some don’t at all and some hover constantly.
But Latch Key kids disappeared thanks to Silicon Valley and it could be a big problem for America’s future.
Everyone remembers that kid growing up, the one whose Mom always seemed to be hovering wherever you went.
Parents wanting to know what their kids are up to is a tale as old as time, but has the snooping and tracking gone a little too far when technology has given parents the ability to track their kids?
Every parent, “parents” differently, but there’s growing consensus that constant surveillance is detrimental to kids.
Some parents are more “free range” and let their kids do, for the most part, what they want.
Then there are those parents who are now referred to as “helicopter parents” – the ones who seem to be hovering just above their kid’s head at all times.
As technology has progressed so has parent’s ability to monitor their kid’s every move and now some are saying this isn’t such a good thing.
There is an entire generation of kids growing up right now that don’t know what it’s like to not be “surveilled” by their parents.
They’re used to parents who can find their GPS coordinates by simply looking at an iPhone.
Verizon’s GizmoWatch tracks kids and alerts parents if the child ventures beyond the “geofence” they have set, at which point they can call and say, “I see where you are!”
Sounds very similar to the electric dog fence most people have in their front yard.
Life360 is an app that touts a parent’s ability to make sure their teen is “safe at all times.”
Sounds a bit eerie.
Most people over the age of 35 remember a time when the only way a parent knew where you were was when they found your bike at one of the neighbor’s houses.
Kids had more freedom, parents seemed to communicate with other parents more frequently and there wasn’t this constant need to know exactly what your child was doing every second of every day.
These new “technological advances” are not just making the next generation comfortable with having someone watch their every move, it’s making them uncomfortable to not have someone watching them.
Last year The New York Times ran a piece where they asked kids to tell them how they feel about being tracked by their parents.
Many of the kids that answered said they were glad their parents kept tabs on them, while others didn’t say they were glad but said it didn’t really bother them.
An entire generation is okay with Big Brother.
Of course, there was a group that said they felt like they had no freedom and were always being watched, and that is what some psychiatrists are saying is the root problem.
“Really the only difference between an iPhone and an ankle bracelet [monitor] is that one is in your pocket,” says Oregon psychiatrist David Rettew.
We are living in a time where children are being taught to think the world is so dangerous that they are never safe unless someone is watching them and that’s just sad.
The current society is so determined to track children that they’re not even giving them a chance to learn good decision-making skills, which doesn’t bode well for the future.
This age of technology is becoming more harmful than helpful to children.
How can we ever expect these future generations to embrace freedom if we’re depriving them of it?
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
