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Google releases smart watch for kids

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Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#251

Post by alooPotato »

stavros wrote: post #132
alooPotato wrote: post #117

This reminds me of an idea I've been noodling on for a bit about my kids. I want them to be able to take more risks and be more independent - but counterintuitively, I think this means putting them in a safer environment. For example, I'd be waaaay more comfortable letting my young kids (6yrs old) roam around outside the house if will lived in a safe suburb rather than a city. I think the same is true for this type o…

But that's not taking more risks, that's taking the same amount of risks, just doing more with it.

sure but you know what I mean, they can learn to be more independent if they can do more stuff on their own which i'd let them do if their was a min level of safety

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#252

Post by locococo »

blairbeckwith wrote: post #239
sangupta wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly what I came to say. I need something for my daughter to connect with and/or track her while playing with her friends outside. It is difficult to always be on her lookout, and any other watch tracks them more. I need control to see who they are talking to, chatting with, what apps they use, and controlling screen time. Few kids in her class are already on IG/Tiktok courtesy their elder siblings and I do not wa…

Why do you feel like you “need” this, though? I think that’s exactly what GP is saying – not disagreeing that it might have utility, but that there is a cost associated as well. The world is just statistically not that scary, and it’s good to let our kids make mistakes and get lost and find their way and face adversity and survive. Me and my wife differ in our perspectives on this. She is more of a “safety at any cos…

no freedom is removed from the child. It's a failsafe they can chose to contact the parents when they feel overwhelmed and then the decision from the parent can still be made to not help. If anything children will be given more latitude to be independent. Safety at any cost is a very silly phrase. If something happens to your child and $250 could have prevented it the cost seems very small and the statistics very personal

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#253

Post by locococo »

hehdhdjehehegwv wrote: post #248
stickfigure wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only guess you (and most of the other naysayers in this thread) don't have young children. My wife and I have been looking for something exactly like this for our 6yo. I lost him on a ski slope once over a year ago and I think he's still traumatized. He recently was afraid of going on a class trip because he was afraid of getting lost. This isn't for teenagers. It's for kids that are still attached to mama/papa…

I have young children and manage just fine without broadcasting their location to a Megacorp with a long history of violating children’s privacy laws.

I am happy for you, I am sure the sane logic could be applied to get rid of car and home insurance

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#255

Post by wonderwonder »

Foreignborn wrote: post #249
stickfigure wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only guess you (and most of the other naysayers in this thread) don't have young children. My wife and I have been looking for something exactly like this for our 6yo. I lost him on a ski slope once over a year ago and I think he's still traumatized. He recently was afraid of going on a class trip because he was afraid of getting lost. This isn't for teenagers. It's for kids that are still attached to mama/papa…

This is a bit of projection. I have a child younger than yours and I feel exactly like OP. I’m really sorry about your son’s experience. Getting lost can be terrifying for a kid. But being lost happens (eg I was lost in hunting woods at 8yo), and many commenters have shared their experiences. Being scared and eventually overcoming the fear is a quintessential growing experience. Obviously there are countless caveats…

That's the wonderful thing though, everyone is free to raise their kids as they see fit. Original comment about "I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline" is obviously ridiculous and attempting to shame parents that opt for this kind of device.

Regardless of the choice the parent makes, odds are the kid is going to grow up just fine. There was no need for OP to make an incendiary comment.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#256

Post by locococo »

thinkingkong wrote: post #209
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

Its weird the types of sacrifices we expect kids to make with regards to survival. Like when a school shooting happens we wouldnt event consider banning assault rifles. Those kids dont survive. But if having a tracker on your kid marginally increases their chance for survival in the rarest of circumstances it’s totally out of the question to not have it.

false dichotomy, as a parent I alone cannot ban guns, but the little things I can do to assure my child can reach me when needed I will do.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#257

Post by wonderwonder »

blairbeckwith wrote: post #239
sangupta wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly what I came to say. I need something for my daughter to connect with and/or track her while playing with her friends outside. It is difficult to always be on her lookout, and any other watch tracks them more. I need control to see who they are talking to, chatting with, what apps they use, and controlling screen time. Few kids in her class are already on IG/Tiktok courtesy their elder siblings and I do not wa…

Why do you feel like you “need” this, though? I think that’s exactly what GP is saying – not disagreeing that it might have utility, but that there is a cost associated as well. The world is just statistically not that scary, and it’s good to let our kids make mistakes and get lost and find their way and face adversity and survive. Me and my wife differ in our perspectives on this. She is more of a “safety at any cos…

Did we turn out great or did you turn out great? There are many cases where unsupervised use of the internet or getting lost did not turn out well at all. Why view someone opting into this (my entire family has "find my" enabled on our phones.) Where is the negative? Kids can still be free range while allowing for the parent to know where they are.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#258

Post by vineyardmike »

candiddevmike wrote: post #203
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

The South Park episode Not Suitable for Children touches on this a lot too. Companies are foaming at the mouths to get advertising in front of kids and tracking them to understand what their habits are is really gross.

As my sibling comment points out, society is already pretty effective at advertising to children. I have strong doubts that Google (or others) would derive much useful-for-advertising data about “habits” of children from a smart watch. Especially not data that cannot be acquired elsewhere, easier. That’s to say nothing of the slowly growing body of laws that would prevent this.

I think it’s very plausible that Google thinks $230+$10/mo is already a great business opportunity. I’m guessing the better “prize” is keeping kids from getting their first iPhone in school - most teenagers greatly prefer iPhones.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#259

Post by vundercind »

qwerpy wrote: post #143
reaperducer wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids don't need more tech, they need less of it (and FWIW, most adults, too). There was a "looking back" piece of WGN-TV last week about a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old who rode their horses from Missouri to New York City to meet Roosevelt. Alone. All they had with them was canteens, and a map. Then they bought a car with the money they raised along the way, and drove home to Missouri. Alone. Today you can't get an a…

> using a phone, a water bottle, or both as a pacifier I slowly put my phone down in shame after reading this. But I really love this sentence because of how true it is. Why is it always a phone and a water bottle?

All those recommendations about whatever crazy-high amount of water you’re supposed to have in a day. If you want to even get close, it’s either a few chug-sessions per day, or else carrying water to sip constantly.

… also, it probably helps replace cigarettes as an oral fixation, which is what everyone used to use.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#260

Post by loughnane »

Foreignborn wrote: post #249
stickfigure wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only guess you (and most of the other naysayers in this thread) don't have young children. My wife and I have been looking for something exactly like this for our 6yo. I lost him on a ski slope once over a year ago and I think he's still traumatized. He recently was afraid of going on a class trip because he was afraid of getting lost. This isn't for teenagers. It's for kids that are still attached to mama/papa…

This is a bit of projection. I have a child younger than yours and I feel exactly like OP. I’m really sorry about your son’s experience. Getting lost can be terrifying for a kid. But being lost happens (eg I was lost in hunting woods at 8yo), and many commenters have shared their experiences. Being scared and eventually overcoming the fear is a quintessential growing experience. Obviously there are countless caveats…

Same. 15/10/8 kids here. These are bad.

A sibling comment said “everyone is free to do what they want”. I agree with that, but that doesn’t make everything good.

In general I’m struck at how many people’s sense or “right” leans so hard on what’s available for sale.

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