[quaintdev]

And then when they finally break free they don't have any feedback mechanism that they had since childhood. This can go both ways. They might turn out to be model citizen or your worst nightmare.

People raised children for 1000s of years without any technology. I bet we can do that too.

[guilhas]

I don't disagree, but we didn't had a choice and now we have. How much guilt is a parent going to have in, the unlikely situation, that something unfortunate happens and that it could have been prevented by this device?

[philomath_mn]

Possibly -- but we're looking at a smartwatch to give our 7 y.o. _more_ freedom. If he has a way to call home and we can check on his location, I'm much more likely to set him loose in the neighborhood.

Something for us to think about, though.

[umanwizard]

What stops you from giving him freedom even without a smartphone?

[ksenzee]

In the US, the biggest danger to free-range kids is nosy neighbors, who are convinced kids out wandering alone are in danger of… something! Kidnapping? Sex trafficking? Darned if I know. But it’s a huge problem to those of us who want our kids to be free to walk to the corner store. My kid had a woman call the police on him at age 7, in a safe suburban neighborhood, when she wasn’t satisfied with his answers about why he was out alone. Having a phone would have helped: he could have called me right then. (As it is, he ran away before they got there, and I still chuckle wondering what the cops thought about the whole thing.)

[philomath_mn]

I am pretty comfortable with him moving around w/o a cell device but it would give my wife peace of mind (which is fair). Plus the convenience of calling him home without driving around.

[throwaway2037]

    > People raised children for 1000s of years without any technology. I bet we can do that too.

I love these comments. So, no vaccines for you and your kids, right?

[4ggr0]

> So, no vaccines for you and your kids, right?

Depending on the person, the answer you expect might not be the actual answer you get...

[throwaway2037]

Correct me if wrong, but the anti-vaxxer movement is limited to Americans. I never once heard any other nationality talk about it, except to make fun of loonies from the US. In many highly developed countries, you cannot go to public schools without evidence of many vaccines.