Spring Break
E-parenting
1984 cometh a few years late
The Daily Campus Ed Board
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Opinion
Does the thought of having your every step monitored give you the chills? What about knowing that every interaction you experience during the day, every movement you make in a specific direction, and your exact location from Friday night can be tracked by Mom and Dad all the way back in California? If you're like the average teenager struggling to gain freedom from your parents, the idea of having a computer chip implanted inside of you is more than you can fathom.
RFID (radio frequency identification) chips have been used over the years to keep track of pets, as well as disabled people, but never have they been used as a way for parents to keep track of their maturing children. Frighteningly enough, it seems some parents have overturned this rock and are injecting their babies with mini-computers to track their actions.
With one of these chips in you, your immediate location can be pinpointed exactly. That means no more sneaking away from parents, lying about going out on school nights, and especially fibbing to your significant other about a night you claimed you were sick at home. Along with your sense of privacy, your dignity is now in jeopardy.
We have heard of parents doing this with newborn babies as a way to protect them, but what happens when these children grow up? Can you imagine Grandma turning on the computer, and seeing a little dot labeled "Bob" hanging out at the new strip club downtown?
There is no doubt these little chips will create more drama than benefits. As children grow up, they are expected to gain a sense of independence and freedom from their parents to prepare them for entering the real world. We're confused as to how a child is supposed to accomplish this if its parents do not trust it and must rely on a computer to know the truth.
If a parent needs a computer to monitor his or her baby's whereabouts, it is almost worth questioning if the parents are the responsible ones. Maybe they should have been the ones chipped as a way to prevent them from making irrational decisions. While parenting has spiraled out of control thanks to celebrity mothers and other shenanigans, there is still no excuse for children to be hooked up to an alarm that sounds when they cross the picket line.
Chipping your children is just another excuse for parents to slack off while their child is growing up. It is also a great way for a child to increase stress levels and raise its mother's paranoia when she discovers her son is at Tommy's house on Friday night rather than Johnny's.
Parents need to go back to forming a sense of trust with their children and leave the chips inside their pets. College students are not babies. We deserve to have a sense of privacy, and the peace of mind knowing we are not always being watched.
RFID (radio frequency identification) chips have been used over the years to keep track of pets, as well as disabled people, but never have they been used as a way for parents to keep track of their maturing children. Frighteningly enough, it seems some parents have overturned this rock and are injecting their babies with mini-computers to track their actions.
With one of these chips in you, your immediate location can be pinpointed exactly. That means no more sneaking away from parents, lying about going out on school nights, and especially fibbing to your significant other about a night you claimed you were sick at home. Along with your sense of privacy, your dignity is now in jeopardy.
We have heard of parents doing this with newborn babies as a way to protect them, but what happens when these children grow up? Can you imagine Grandma turning on the computer, and seeing a little dot labeled "Bob" hanging out at the new strip club downtown?
There is no doubt these little chips will create more drama than benefits. As children grow up, they are expected to gain a sense of independence and freedom from their parents to prepare them for entering the real world. We're confused as to how a child is supposed to accomplish this if its parents do not trust it and must rely on a computer to know the truth.
If a parent needs a computer to monitor his or her baby's whereabouts, it is almost worth questioning if the parents are the responsible ones. Maybe they should have been the ones chipped as a way to prevent them from making irrational decisions. While parenting has spiraled out of control thanks to celebrity mothers and other shenanigans, there is still no excuse for children to be hooked up to an alarm that sounds when they cross the picket line.
Chipping your children is just another excuse for parents to slack off while their child is growing up. It is also a great way for a child to increase stress levels and raise its mother's paranoia when she discovers her son is at Tommy's house on Friday night rather than Johnny's.
Parents need to go back to forming a sense of trust with their children and leave the chips inside their pets. College students are not babies. We deserve to have a sense of privacy, and the peace of mind knowing we are not always being watched.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
pooja
posted 2/07/08 @ 2:39 AM CST
very true!!! if a parent needs a computer to monitor his or her baby's then it is almost worth questioning if the parents are the responsible ones...:)
children should be given enough space so that they can express their mind and action freely :). (Continued…)
pooja
posted 2/08/08 @ 3:40 AM CST
children should not be monitored.they should be given enough space so that they can express their mind and action freely:)
we at www.goodparenting. (Continued…)
Katy
posted 2/09/08 @ 12:22 AM CST
You are absolutely right. A monitoring device may seem reasonable for "safety" reasons, but it's just parents looking for ways to slack off on their responsibility. (Continued…)
indian moms
posted 3/29/08 @ 6:05 AM CST
Parents must play a pro-active role. Children deserve their own space.
Not every step, but certainly they should be some minimum monitoring.
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