Parents turn to tech toys to track teens

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | July 9, 2006 | Janine DeFao

[Ben Mugged]

Paige White was surprised when her parents figured out soon after she started driving last year that she'd gone 9 miles to a party, not 4 miles to the friend's house she'd told them she was visiting. It seemed to her almost as if her car was bugged.

It was.

Paige's parents had installed a device in their daughter's SUV that can tell them not only how far she's driven, but how fast and whether she's made any sudden stops or hard turns.

"I was kind of mad because I felt it was an invasion of my privacy," said the Los Gatos resident, now 17.

Parents, some of whom feel outmatched by their offspring in this tech-savvy world, are using a growing number of gadgets, software and specially equipped cell phones to track kids' driving, read their instant messages and pinpoint where they're hanging out.

~snip~But cyber-snooping is simply a new tool, experts say. It doesn't resolve the dilemma parents have grappled with for generations: How much free rein do you give children so they can learn the lessons they need to grow up and be independent?

~snip~

Proponents of the new technology say it can help protect kids -- whether from predators lurking online or their own bad driving. But while there may be gains, monitoring also can take a toll.

"The bottom line is, surveillance will cut down somewhat on potential risk behavior kids will engage in, but it is at a cost," Wolf said. "To the extent that you do surveillance, you are potentially interfering with your kids developing responsibility for their own lives."

[Not A Snowbird]

"Alternatively she could learn to TAKE her privacy back. Find the chip and change the data. Never let the parents suspect their information is compromised or they might actively pay attentions.

I'm willing to bet tampering would be detectable by a parent with a bit of savvy. My daughter would do it once, then she'd lose her keys. My car, my rules.

[FearlessFreep]

take = Would take

[Not A Snowbird]

As a teen I take a car on a roadtrip that I wouldn't trust to get me across town today.

LOL! You too? I ditched class one day and ended up in Los Angeles (from the San Francisco Bay Area) in a VW Thing.

[Ben Mugged]

say that in the long run these parents are doing their kids a disservice. Placing bugs in a kids car won't teach them to act responsibly when they become an adult

I raised two girls in the Bay Area. My eldest was given a small car to drive to school since it was a fair distance and there were no safe bus rides. I found out years later that she was skipping school at least one day a week and taking a carload of kids to Santa Cruz for the day. Exactly what lesson in responsibility did she learn from that experience?

[mtbopfuyn]

My kid, my car, my cell phone, my computer. Bet your fanny I have the right to check on what my kids are doing. I used the History key on the computer to check before they figured out how to hit delete. Then I went to Spector Pro and told them about it. I've also been known to record telephone calls when the mom antenna goes up, and they know about that as well. They'll be driving soon and I'm planning on putting a device on the car, too. They also know that it's not that I don't trust them, it's that I don't trust what might be on the other end of the emails.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Dad, is that you? My first car was a 71 VW Type III that ran like hell - until I rebuilt it. That was dad's idea, and after I invested all that blood, sweat and tears in fixing that car up, I never mistreated it.

[pageonetoo]

My solution is to get a car so crappy that my daughter doesn't dare try to drive it more than a few miles.

In 1993, my then 16 yo daughter wanted a car. I found her a 1973 Cadillac Calais, with 63,ooo miles on it. It was literally a one-little-old-lady-drive-to-church-on-sunday car, that her son inherited on her passing.

Daughter looked at the land yacht and deiced it was too big to drive. She then took it on the road, and to school the next day. After fitting five of her friends in it at lunchtime (all with seatbelts), they made it to McD's, only to not be able to get into a space...

She bought a roller skate after that (Ford sonething), and has always regretted ever getting rid of that 9 mpg behemoth caddie...

Hers was same color 4-dr)

[FearlessFreep]

NO doubt. Dad called my tires "May pops."
Cause they may pop at any time.

[Not A Snowbird]

My eldest was given a small car to drive to school since it was a fair distance and there were no safe bus rides. I found out years later that she was skipping school at least one day a week and taking a carload of kids to Santa Cruz for the day.

Dad? Is that you?

[sageb1]

"I guess it sure beats actually having conversations with your kid."

They had one. She was allowed to use the car because she told them she was going 4 miles to a friend's house.

[dead]

I guess it sure beats actually having conversations with your kid.

Especially since it would be rather pointless to have a conversation with your kid when she's driving a car you're not in.

Or you could try talking really really loud.

[philled]

"I was kind of mad because I felt it was an invasion of my privacy," said the Los Gatos resident, now 17.

As a minor the only privacy you should expect is that which is given to you by your parents. But, this does set up liberal conundrum time: What if instead of going four miles to a friend's house she went six miles to an abortion clinic? Then would it be a violation of "her right to privacy" as decreed by the SCOTUS?

[L98Fiero]

"I say that in the long run these parents are doing their kids a disservice."

I don't know. I remember being 17 at parties. Unfortunatedly some of my deceased classmates aren't here to say the same.

[misterrob]

If you are under my roof then I get to know where you are. If you are driving my car I get to know where it is going and where it has been.

Don't lie and then go all liberal when you are caught.

[MMcC]

If my parents had put that much effort into spying on me I would have left the day I turned 18 and they would never have heard from me again. Sure parents have the 'right' do do these things, but they are nuts if they try to monitor everything from driving habits, to email, to phone conversations. Let your kid grow up on their own.

[Dinsdale]

It might be detectable, then again the kid might have the password for the computer you use to download the information and hence could 'own' the spy chip that way.

Perhaps someone needs to hack up a version of the client that will never report bad things to parents (the kid would replace the client on the parents computer and then street race with confidence).

It depends on the kid, the parent and the technical staff at the snooping company. It comes down to technical know how.

My parents would have never placed any trust in technical methods to track me. They knew better.

With the net being what it is once one kid figures out the workings of this unit all interested kids will be able to get the information with minimal effort.

[GovernmentShrinker]

No, and Yes. And the notion that a 17 year old has a right to lie to her parents about where she's going in the vehicle THEY paid for is beyond ludicrous. Paige's parents gave her a much-needed wake-up call.

[massgopguy]

So does your insurance compmany.

[reagan_fanatic]

Who pays the bills?

Exactly. I'm a fair Parent, but I expect my kids to do what I ask and obey the rules of the household or else. If they think I'm too restrictive, when they turn 18 they can move out, and when they become Parents of their own and find out what it's like, I'll be there to accept their apologies.

[GrandEagle]

Placing bugs in a kids car won't teach them to act responsably when they become an adult
There is a balance here. It may very well also help them live long enough to actually BECOME an adult.