You probably remember that when you were a teenager and first got your driver’s license, you had to have a long heart-to-heart with your parents about safety and responsible driving: not drinking and driving, not speeding, and so on.
Now, there’s “Teensurance,” a new service that uses GPS monitoring to implement a host of safety measures. There’s a roadside assistance plan, for instance. The feature that’s getting most of the attention so far, though, is the “Safety Beacon” notification.
According to their website, it will allow parents to set a perimetre that your teen can drive in. “Whenever the vehicle goes outside your preset boundaries,” the website says, “you’ll be notified instantly.” There are also speed “reminders”. If your teen exceeds the preset speed limit you’ve agreed on for more than 30 seconds, you’ll receive a notification.
Teensurance is run by the Safeco Insurance company and is so far only available to US customers of the insurance company, but there are more and more of these types of services all the time, thanks to the proliferation of GPS-enabled devices. There are cellphones you can get for your kids that include GPS tracking technology which let you know where they are. There are even GPS-enabled school uniforms for the same purpose.
Is all this tracking a sensible way to keep kids safer, or is it creeping surveillance that discourages independence? And how long should kids be tracked: until they’re 12? until they leave home? What do you think?
Hi Nora,
I think the tracking technology is great, particularly as the father of a 4 year old girl and 1 year boy. I don’t currently use any of these devices, but when you see children go missing it does beg the question whether we should monitor our children this closely or not.
After reading your post, I revisited my teen years briefly, man, I would have been in huge trouble if my parents had employed this technology, yet I survived and am a reasonably well adjusted adult (as well adjusted as anyone else!). I would have reacted with much more rebellion if I knew that my every move was being monitored by my parents, likely by ditching the phone, car, or even clothing that was tracking me.
After putting a little thought into this, I think that a reasonable contract could be reached between parent and teen (younger children may actually benefit from “open tracking”). I will propose to my children that access to this information be managed by them. They could post a password to the device (car, phone, clothing) in a secure location. This information would be available to the parent if they opened the box/envelope or other item in which the password is stored. For instance, a box with a nylon tie wrap, or “break glass in case of emergency” idea, something that is accessible, but once used cannot be replaced by the parent (as simple as a wax seal or initial on an envelope). This provides the child with the knowledge that their parents aren’t snooping unnecessarily, because they can check their “secure” device when they return home, but in the case where a curfew is broken, or in an emergency, the parent has immediate access to the tracking device. This allows freedom to the teen to the point that they break a rule, then the parent can, as part of a pre-agreed contract, intrude to find them. Could save a life?
Just an idea.
Ken Upton
That’s a really neat idea. It kind of fits in with the potential for more “granular” approaches to managing privacy that some social networking sites (like Facebook) offer, where you can be more, or less, accessible.
I can certainly see the value with younger kids, but I do sometimes wonder if, as kids are growing into teenagers, they’re not really getting enough unsupervised independence. What does it mean to know that you’re being monitored?
On the other hand, yeah, I did some pretty stupid things when I was a teenager!
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