Tracking Children

I read an interesting article this morning that had me completely divided in terms of my reactions to the article.  From the NYTimes, the article talks about the surge of new methods for parents to track their children online, in the car, on their phone; essentially on any "smart" device that they use.  Before I get into the meat and potatoes of my opinion (which is a work in progress as always), I think it would beneficial for anyone reading this to take a quick look at the article and form your own opinion.  You can jump right to the article here!   With technology at our fingertips no matter where we go these days, it is getting into the hands of children at younger and younger ages.  As it does, the technology also gets more complex, the potential dangers increasing with it, and the possibility for abuse just a flick of the finger away.  According to the article, there are new companies and programs coming out every month with a new way of monitoring, tracking, or imposing a sort of surveillance upon our children who have access to an Internet ready device.  Some parents jump right on board, receiving copies of texts when their children send one, getting notified if certain words get used on the Internet, monitoring every website that their children visit, and so on.  Others prefer to trust their children a little more and allow them the freedom to figure out the Internet world on their own.  Personally, I can see both sides.  Yet while being able to see both sides, right now I am leaning towards the hands off approach, and here is why. 

To me, and to some parents in the article, it is all about trust.  I feel that their needs to be a certain level of trust between parents and children.  By monitoring every move a child makes on the Internet, what they are texting, and what they are typing online; parents are essentially saying that they have no trust in their child's ability to make their own decision.  Part of the problem arises, I feel, with access to the Internet being granted at too young an age.  We will never be able to fully control our children; all we can do is provide them with the guidance and tools necessary to make their own decisions and hopefully follow the right path online.  We can't just give our children access to the world wide web without teaching them about the pros and cons, the good and the evil, that can be found online.  In order to prepare a child for a life on the Internet, which it seems where more and more children are electing to live, we must start early and teach them.  Once they are ready for the Internet, I feel that we should endow them with a little trust.  Checking in with them periodically as to what they are doing online is necessary I feel, but to monitor every movement all the time is going overboard; unless that is, a given child betrays the trust at which point it may become necessary to curtail usage or increase monitoring.  To start out monitoring everything will only teach our children that they we don't trust them and that every move they make, we will see.  I just don't agree with it.   To continually monitor their every movement online is akin to hiring a P.I. to follow our children around every day, through their school, their activities, and essentially anytime they are not home.  Would any parent do that?  Probably not, but that to me is what full surveillance of our children on the Internet is like. 

I for one feel that the Internet is a great tool, expands horizons if used correctly, and brings friends and family together.  There is also a dark side, but isn't their a dark side to life off the Internet as well?  Aren't there predators everywhere, not just online?  It just seems to me that if a parent monitors every keystroke their child makes and follows every move they make on the Internet, then they should also get in their car and follow their children wherever they go.  If a child goes to school, a parent should hide in the hallway and peek through the window.  If a child is driving to a friends house, a parent should tail them in their own car and make sure their children are doing the right thing.  What parent does that?  (I am sure there are some out there, but seriously, how many can there be).  It all boils down to trust.  If we can show our children that we trust them and we provide them with the tools to make the right decisions, then they should be perfectly OK.  Once they break that trust, a whole set of different rules should come into play, but to start with, trust should be the key factor.  If we can't trust our children, then perhaps we have not done our jobs as parents.  Children will experiment, push the limits, test boundaries, but we should allow them to do that for how else will they learn about the world.  Did we not when we were younger do the same thing albeit without the added perils of the Internet?  Let kids be kids and take action when necessary.  By curtailing what they do, we are simply setting them up for a rude awakening later on.  Perhaps I am wrong, but this is what I feel on this topic right now.  Maybe I will feel different years down the road when my son is older, but I hope I don't.  I want to raise my son so I can trust him.  Such is life though; we never know how or where it will go and turn out.