Great moments in Invasive Parenting and/or Stupid Marketing Ideas

[dwenius]

So Verizon Wireless is launching a service to allow parents to track the location of their children by mapping the location of their cell phone.

This is the stupidest idea ever. You watch, the most common bit of social engineering will be: a dozen kids all say they are going to Larry's house to geek out on the Xbox. They meet, leave a pile of phones at Larry's and go cause trouble elsewhere. "Mom, I had my phone turned off so it wouldn't interrupt my game! I made it home on time, what's the big deal? No, I'm not drunk!!"

Comments

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

Okay, this is wrong, on so many levels, it hurts my brain.

When did spying = parenting? When did parents need cell phones to set limits?

If you need your cell phone to look after your kids, maybe you're just too freaking busy to have kids.

How did we ever survive having free reign to go where we wanted to without cell phones, bike helmets, or shoes? The way we treat kids today, it's as if we expect them to keel over any second because something happened.

That, or, the powers that be are trying to get our youngsters so used to constant supervision, that when the government starts doing it, they won't batt an eye.

[canetoad.livejournal.com]

That, or, the powers that be are trying to get our youngsters so used to constant supervision, that when the government starts doing it, they won't batt an eye.

This is the essence of public education. Most youngsters are *already* used to it; what's a little extra cell phone coverage after that?

[kernelpanic.livejournal.com]

It will be used sureptitiously for catching stupid cheating spouses more than for monitoring children. You're right - kids are too smart. Either they're going to figure it out and find ways to circumvent it, or, they'll turn the tables and watch where mom and dad are.