Comment on Parents turn to smartwatches for their children amid global phone screen-time pushback
natryamar@lemmy.world 5 weeks agoA smartwatch seems like an interesting way to keep in touch with your kid/keep track of them. I guess it could be abused like anything else though.
Why do you need to keep track of your kid? Are you ever in a situation where you don’t know exactly where they are and for some reason need to?
My kids know where they can go, when they need to check in, and what time they need to be home. They know my phone number and can call me using a trusted adult’s phone. It’s really not an issue.
I’ll reply to you once, because i feel it needs to be said.
Other people, have other lives, in other places, with different kids. That gives them a different situation to yours. The fact that you and yours can/can’t do a thing doesn’t mean others can/cant.
Thank you
Fair.
I can only speak for my situation and my kids, and compare that to what I see in articles. I also can’t help but look at the stats and see rising rates of depression and whatnot that seems highly correlated to the proliferation of “helicopter parenting” and social media, which tug kids in opposite directions.
So I’ll speak up about my experience, which I think is a practical alternative to what I see on social media being pushed by groups selling products that feed on FUD.
And that’s also very fair, i tend to agree with you where parenting is more educating than helicoptering.
However cities are different, countries are different, norms even, and what might work in Paris, might not work in Dallas, or in Helsinki.
Also some kids might enjoy having the ability to talk to their parents and don’t see it as an infringement on their freedom, because it’s also how you act on the information you’re given. Others might not. You might even change your opinion if your circumstances change too.
I’d say, had you said - for my particular situation - I wouldn’t have batted an eye.
All that said, kids making mistakes and being kept far from monitoring and social media is a good thing 🤓
And thank you for being cool about this 🤩
We were all kids once. You know as well as anyone that kids bullshit their parents all the time. Just because your kid might tell you where they’re going, doesn’t mean that’s where they’re going.
Sure, and that’s how they learn. When I catch them (and I have), they lose my trust, which means losing privileges for a time until that’s rebuilt.
My kid took a bike outside of the agreed area, so I took the bike away (partially disassembled) until they rebuilt my trust. A week or so later, I put it back together and told them I’m going to trust them again, and it hasn’t been a problem since. I didn’t put a tracker on the bike or anything, but they now know I’m serious about consequences. I’ve since expanded the area they’re allowed to go because they’ve earned my trust, and they’ve asked when they want to go outside the area (I usually say yes). I explain why the rules exist, and I’m pretty reasonable about being flexible.
I’d much rather they learn that when they’re young instead of getting used to working around filters and whatnot. Teach them discipline and consequences of making poor choices, if you keep the training wheels on too long, they’ll never develop it.
Bruh I don’t even have a kid yet. Also, this could be for peace of mind if the kid is in a position where they can’t ask for help from someone else.
When you do, I hope your opinion changes because:
So I reject the premise. If a kid isn’t safe without a phone, adding a phone won’t make them more safe.
We went talking about a phone we were talking about a smartwatch…
glimse@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
My nephew has one and I kind of love getting random “have you seen cheetozard” messages from him.
natryamar@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
What is that lol
glimse@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
this thing
natryamar@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
That’s amazing. I want to have that kind of relationship with my future kids/nieces/nephews.