education
Should parents track their children? Mark S. Steed discusses issues surrounding surveillance parenting We’re a month into term and the four-year-old Reception girl has started catching the school bus for the first time. She enters the building in her shiny new school uniform weighed down by her oversized backpack, touches the device on her wrist and says, “Mummy, I’m at school.” “I know, dear – have a very good day,” comes the reply. Welcome to the next chapter of helicopter parenting. Parents here in Hong Kong are turning to technology so that not only do they know where their children are at any point in the day, but they are also able to communicate with them. To some extent, we should not be surprised.
24 | EXPAT PARENT
This latest trend just fills the gap between the video baby monitors, which allow parents to keep an eye on their sleeping children whilst catching up on their latest box set, and parents tracking their teenagers on their smartphone using the “My family” settings.
Children’s GPS trackers There is a range of wearable devices designed for children on the market, but, essentially, they are all simplified smartphones with a GPS tracker as part of their functionality. The devices are lightweight and are designed to connect with the parent’s smartphone and allow parents to track their
children in real-time. Depending on the model, other features are also available: 1. Two-way communication – Parent and child can contact each other at the press of a button. 2. Alerts and notifications – Child GPS tracking devices come with different alert and notification settings. Parents can choose whether they want location updates every five minutes or every 10 seconds. 3. Panic button – A child who is lost or scared can simply press the panic button and the device will contact the parent or other designated adult.
