[xyzzy123]

Feels like an interesting trend where a "solution" for parent anxiety (and to be fair, vastly increased societal expectations around what "care" looks like) is proposed to be electronic surveillance.

It's a kid tracker / ankle bracelet in an attractive form factor.

I was a kid in the 80s, city fringe, single parent who worked until 5:30. Honestly nobody had any idea where me & my friends were a lot of the time. Totally acceptable in that era.

The main worry I have about tech like this is, at what saturation of deployment does the norm shift such that it's irresponsible NOT to electronically track your kids whenever they leave the house?

[plandis]

I’m not saying your conclusion is incorrect but the anecdote provided is survivorship bias. My childhood was much the same in the 90s.

There was a case recently where parents were charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, and felony child neglect because they let their 10 and 7 year cross the street unsupervised and a car hit them and the 7 year old died. As a parent if that’s the reality I definitely hesitate to allow my son out unsupervised when he’s a bit older. I can’t imagine losing your son in an accident and then have the state come down on you while you’re still grieving.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/opinion/children-traffic-...

[kridsdale1]

That happened because they were Black. (The state force, I mean).

[bibimsz]

they were White as much as black

[trumpdong]

Blacker than the amount of blackness the state can tolerate.

[jkestner]

I'm thankful I live in one of the several states with "free range" laws to protect parents from this. https://letgrow.org/states/

[pjmlp]

I rather have the boomer / genx childhood from me and my parents, really don't get this helicopter parent attitude.

Yes, accidents do happen, kinds can't be surveilled 24/7 anyway.

[johncole]

This is a fantastic option when the only other viable option is to get them a phone. They can text parents, they can be tracked, but they can’t watch stupid YouTube or TikTok videos, and they can’t participate in 95% of the stuff that harms kids at that age.

What’s become the “irresponsible norm” is to not give your kids a phone, which is crazy, because it’s just giving tech companies the ability to manipulate kids.

[mox1]

Or its a phone alternative for younger kids that keeps an actual phone out of their hands, allows for worry free communication while they roam the streets and is backed by arguably the most privacy focused of the big tech companies…

(disclosure: my 8 and 10 year old have them, works great for everyone involved)

[lubujackson]

We used to have payphones. You could ask a gas station attendant for directions, or someone on the street. Those sort of options have disappeared or become much less common. If my 11 year old starts asking a random person on the street how to get somewhere there is now a chance I will hear from DHS.

It is a different world now. Not everyone cares about the tracking, though it is nice to have for younger kids who may go on a field trip or with a group of friends and get separated or any number of normal situations.