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Google releases smart watch for kids

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Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#271

Post by anigbrowl »

Aeolun wrote: post #212
iteria wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a choice a parent can make until someone calls the cops because your kid is unattended. I've had people give me you're an awful parent side eyes for not keeping my eyes on my kid 100% of the time in a fenced in park. Letting my kid walk to school like I did as a kid is just forever outside of my reach if I want to not have CPS called on me. At least if I geotag my kid with someone obvious people will be chill ab…

I don’t understand why people would care about kids that are not obviously lost walking somewhere alone?

There's entire TV channels dedicated to indoctrinating their viewers into a continuous mood of fear and anxiety, probably because it's easier to advertise to people in a febrile state.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#272

Post by Dylan16807 »

locococo wrote: post #245
Workaccount2 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get this, I have an uncanny memory of my youth and have clear memories of the fear that ran through me when I realized I didn't know where Mom was. However, I think this belief that humans evolved to be so sensitive to childhood trauma is incredibly over sensationalized. I'm no worse off in life despite getting lost a few times. Your kid will be fine.

Parents have a lot to contend with as it is. Making live easier by preventing the temporary loss of a child and the anxiety for both parties is a benefit. If anything this gives kids more freedom, anyone not understand this should have a set of kids first.

Learning how to deal with anxiety in limited doses is an important part of childhood too.

> If anything this gives kids more freedom

I hope you're not too optimistic there. If it lets kids roam around outside more, than the upsides massively outweigh the downsides. But that's a very big "if".

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#273

Post by vundercind »

bradfa wrote: post #33
janice1999 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Apple have a children's version of their smartwatch? I was not aware of that.

As mentioned by others in this discussion, Apple does have a way to limit the functionality of an Apple Watch, as outlined: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036

You can do similar things with an iPhone or iPad. Turn off all kinds of stuff entirely, require a request (comes through in the parent’s phone) to override. No Web browsing without asking? Done. No installing apps without asking? Done. Web browsing allowed, but allow-list only? Done. Allow some app, but max one hour per day? Done. Lots of stuff.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#274

Post by smeej »

Aeolun wrote: post #212
iteria wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a choice a parent can make until someone calls the cops because your kid is unattended. I've had people give me you're an awful parent side eyes for not keeping my eyes on my kid 100% of the time in a fenced in park. Letting my kid walk to school like I did as a kid is just forever outside of my reach if I want to not have CPS called on me. At least if I geotag my kid with someone obvious people will be chill ab…

I don’t understand why people would care about kids that are not obviously lost walking somewhere alone?

I don't either, but that won't stop them from calling the cops.

It seems like kids have to be at least teenagers these days for people to assume they're OK to be out by themselves, and even then, some people are apparently wary before the kids are old enough to drive.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#275

Post by ChicagoDave »

Here we go with more helicopter parenting devices.

Please parents...look up the studies on how detrimental it is to hover over every aspect of your child's life. It's not good.

I raised five kids to adulthood with the last one finishing his freshman year of college this year.

None of them had devices until middle school and even then, it was restricted. We made our kids roam around like feral coyotes.

They are absolutely better for it.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#276

Post by XorNot »

tdeck wrote: post #216
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 hope this question doesn't offend, but have you taught your son what to do when he gets lost? Explicitly teaching and practicing strategies like this can help a lot. I was always taught to 1) stay where you are, not try to walk around and 2) approach someone who works at the store and tell them you're lost, your name, and your parents name. I also memorized my address and home phone number. Obviously that doesn't w…

This logic moves right into victim blaming territory real quick though. "Have you taught your child what to do if they get lost?" doesn't fix the fact that you don't know what they'll do till it happens, and then it might be too late.

I'd much rather have a backup system in case they don't do the right thing in case they panic.

I'll also point out that your advice here is statistically unsound: there's the baked in "stranger danger" element - "approach a police officer/approach someone who works at the store". See, no one wants to say "approach literally the first adult you see" because "stranger danger"...but statistically, there aren't a lot of predators around. The longer a child is unattended with no one helping them, the more time an active predator has to spot and isolate them.

But no one can put that extremely small risk that literally the first random adult in a major shopping center is actually going to be one, so we always qualify the advice with "find an authority figure preferentially" (increasing the time they're alone and obviously unattended).

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#277

Post by dlivingston »

tqi wrote: post #223
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…

"This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous" What are the dangers?

Jonathan Haidt explains it best: https://youtu.be/hVEhtix7yWU

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#278

Post by windowsrookie »

Someone1234 wrote: post #74
philomath_mn wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A minor is going to get a phone plan w/o a guardian signing for it? And use it in my house without me knowing? There is a lot my kid is going to do under my nose, getting a smartphone doesn't seem too likely (esp. if he has alternatives like a desktop).

> A minor is going to get a phone plan w/o a guardian signing for it? In the US at least, it is trivial to get a phone plan without being 18 or having an adult sign for it. There is no credit check nor identity check. Just walk into any Walmart and pick up any one of a dozen prepaid kits. These plans require you to bring your own devices, but you can get a used/unbranded smartphone for under $100 and a plan with data…

Exactly, and the MVNO's often have iPhone SE's and Galaxy A series phones brand new for under $100.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#279

Post by wonderwonder »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #270
wonderwonder wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's shaming constant tracking, not anyone that might buy this. And that probably should be shamed.

why? What's the harm with knowing where your minor kids or opted in spouse are?

Honest question.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#280

Post by ksenzee »

zx8080 wrote: post #238
wincy wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really naive take. I tried literally what you’re advocating. And what happened was some busybody lady in my neighborhood kept calling CPS when my daughter would walk to play at a friend’s houses down the block. When I was her age (6) I ranged an entire town on my bike. But this lady just kept calling on us. She’d bring my daughter home whenever she saw her out. It was infuriating. Once we got the Apple Watc…

How did the Apple Watch keep the annoying lady away from your kid?

It’s a lot easier to get busybodies to leave you alone if you can call your mom on your watch. My kid also wanted to roam free at age 7, and he got the cops called on him. He’s in middle school now and still salty about it. If I could have gotten him a reasonably-priced phone in watch format, I’d have done it.
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