Tethered By The Electronic
Umbilicus
Recent advances in cell phone technology and marketing are helping
parents maintain an electronic umbilical cord. New cell phones are equipped
with a host of services that enable children as young as six or eight
to carry the device with programmed communication capability for reaching
just their parents or any other recipient as programmed by the parent.
Further, with other cell phones equipped with GPS (Global Positioning
System), parents are now able to track the location of their teenaged
son or daughter, in real time within a few meters of accuracy. However,
as parents use technology to keep their kids closer, fact is, the kids
may be slipping further away.
Cell phone technology may provide a false sense of security. While
a young child may be able to communicate more easily, no amount of technology
can compensate for judgment. Kids may still place themselves at risk
and communication devices provide a means for assistance only after
the child may have fallen prey to harm. As such, parents are still well
advised to have meaningful discussions with their children with regard
to where they are going, when they will return and who will provide
for their supervision. It is the pre-planning that can mitigate the
risk of harm in the first place. Further, no number of electronic devices
can ever replace feeling connected to your child as through the relationship
itself and relationships can only be developed on the basis of actual
time spent in each other’s company.
As for teenagers, this is notably the time when children are seeking
to differentiate themselves from their parents and forge their own identity.
An electronic umbilical cord simply is not “kewl” and smacks
of trust and control issues. The collective moan in the background is
the sound of all youths cringing at the thought of their parents so
keeping tabs on them. Give a kid a cell phone with built-in GPS and
you may increase the likelihood of the device floating in the river
or being mysteriously lost time and time again. Youths are well adept
at outsmarting their parents when it comes time to increasing their
independence. It may well be that your youth will strike a deal with
a friend to keep the device at their home whilst actually out for a
night on the town. Can’t seem to raise your kid when you call.
Umm sorry, I guess the music was too loud.
If you are determined to deploy a cell phone with GPS technology, best
to approach it from the point of view of mutual safety and concern.
And as always, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
As important as it is to know where your kids are, it may prove even
more important for them to know how to raise you. Hence this sword cuts
both ways. Want your kid to carry the GPS, then you might as well too.
As a role model you are demonstrating that the issue really is one of
safety and concern, versus trust and control.
As media news highlights child abductions, young driver car crashes,
youthful misadventure leading to injury and death, parents are more
frightened for their kids well-being. Further, as more families rely
on dual incomes and more single parents are required to work, children
are left unattended in greater numbers. We used to talk of “latch
key kids” in these circumstances. Now it’s being tethered
by the electronic umbilicus. Either way, there is precious little that
can ever compensate for time spent directly with the kids. Through time
spent directly with the kids, we transfer our own value base, improve
their sense of worth and know firsthand of their safety.
Relationship first, devices second
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