I've raised two daughters and a son, and I might have done it when they were very small, but I would have stopped long before they were 18. In fact, our cell phone provider offers the option of being able to do exactly this through their phone and I made an active decision not to use this feature with my son. From the day they were born, we have raised them to leave home, and I can't do that looking over their shoulder everywhere they go. Were there times they weren't home and I was seriously worried about them? Sure. Was there risk involved? Sure. But there is also risk involved in knowing where they are every minute - the risk that I will misuse and abuse that knowledge to control and manipulate them, to rob them of the opportunity to make their own decisions - and their own mistakes - to do things their own way, and develop a personality independently of mine - in short, to rob them of the opportunity to mature and make their own way.C-dub wrote:If there were a way to implant something in my daughter that wouldn't harm her in any way that would allow me to track her anywhere in the world and show me vital signs I would do it. Of course, there would also have to be the capability to remove the device at my daughters request once she turned 18y. How many parents wouldn't do this to be able to track their kids if they turned up missing? Paranoid? Maybe. She's my baby!skub wrote:C-dub wrote:Other than being able to get $$$ for the school by saying that the student was there, when they can only prove that their badge was, I don't see too much downside to this. I'm sure there is, but I'm not seeing it yet. I do think the benefits will far outweigh the negatives.Barbi Q wrote:What's the harm in tracking people without permission?
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Haven't thought deeply about this, but it sure makes my spidey senses tingle. One downside that immediately comes to mind is that it conditions the coming generation to have their every movement tracked by "the authorities".
We started this journey of raising kids 30 years ago, and in the time since, I have only known of two situations in which people we knew lost children to foul play. In neither case do I think a tracking device would have prevented the foul play, although, in one case, it might have helped them find the body sooner. On the other hand, I have known of more situations than I can count where the parents controlled their children's lives in minute detail with the result that the children were crippled in their ability to deal with life as they moved into adulthood. And this without the technological benefit of being able to track their every move. I have no doubt that even the best intentioned parent would misuse that information to the detriment of their children and the parents relationship with those children. And if well intentioned parents are at risk, just imagine what school administrators will do with that kind of information.