The solution to poor parenting is not an app.
but it could be PaaS
Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
61–70 of 98 posts
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#62If you thought your kids didn't like you before, wait until you install something like this on their phone. Emotions are weird, if you're sitting around worrying about your child then you need a hobby. If it's really a problem that your child goes somewhere without texting you if you asked them to then don't let them go out next time. If they are in college and don't answer your calls, then leave them alone, find som…
Of course, a parent could also install an app like this as part of a long process of discussion and negotiation wherein the child repeatedly blows off commitments to check in, blows off even lenient curfews, and struggles to hold up his or her side of the agreement. Maybe you think that's unlikely, and maybe it is. But assuming that all parents should share your attitude and that they'll all experience your success at childraising (I assume you've been the parent of a teenager?) is absurd.
I have no plans to use the app (my oldest daughter is 5), but there are plenty of good reasons a sane parent might want to. As well as plenty of bad reasons.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#63If you thought your kids didn't like you before, wait until you install something like this on their phone. Emotions are weird, if you're sitting around worrying about your child then you need a hobby. If it's really a problem that your child goes somewhere without texting you if you asked them to then don't let them go out next time. If they are in college and don't answer your calls, then leave them alone, find som…
>What if your significant other installed a similar app on your phone? Would piss you off, right? //
Attempting to equate spousal (or similar) relationships with parent-child relationships suggests you either have no clue about how adults in such a relationship should relate to one-another or you have no clue about parenting.
I've never said any of those unwanted idiomatic phrases but can still see a place in which I would want a child who relies on me to buy their phone and/or keep them safe to be coerced to respond to a contact request.
>In every other situation it's not that critical that you hear their voice //
That doesn't appear to be the point of the app, the point is to coerce a response instead of allowing a person to ignore you but keep using the phone you purchased.
Suppose my child has absconded, ie gone off without telling me where they're going, I'm about to start my shift at work. Do I miss work and try and find them, or do I use this app and "force" them to respond indicating they're safe & well? This app means you can give your kid a smartphone but enforce a usage pattern coterminous with a single-number phone if required. Having a smartphone isn't some sort of inalienable right for a minor.
If you're an adult (eg at university) then buy your own phone and refuse to let people install apps on it; or not, your call.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#64I should come out with an app that disables this app, and charge something like $5 for it.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree the app isn't a solution to disicpline problems, but the problem of a child not calling back is not really a discipline issue. If you have proper trust and be sure to not over-check the child, this isn't as much of an issue - 'hey, that's my mom, she doesn't usually call, i better answer this' is Very easy when the kid has proof. It is also pretty easy to talk to a child to see why they might not have called…
I don't think you or jpfielding have any real experience raising kids. That's pretty clear from your smug assumption that children are reasonable people who will see the error of their ways if only their parents took the time to explain it to them and pander to whatever way the child wants to go about subverting parental authority. Let me clue you into reality. When kids pop out, they are uncivilized savages. It take…
How ageist of you. Teens are savages and not really people, so it is totally cool if we walk all over their autonomy as people and dehumanize them.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#66Products like this are great, as they teach children how to get around stupid arbitrary restrictions from a young age, so are less likely to end up as drooling passive consumers poking at a tablet and more likely to become hackers.
>more likely to become hackers //
Isn't it only the ones who are already likely to become hackers that will circumvent the devices in relatively complex ways? Curtailment of liberties is entirely normal for us as it's a simple aspect of our environment.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#67Products like this are great, as they teach children how to get around stupid arbitrary restrictions from a young age, so are less likely to end up as drooling passive consumers poking at a tablet and more likely to become hackers.
My mom installed a program on our computer when I was younger that only let you use it for a limited amount of time (my limit was usually 30 minutes a day). We broke through that thing so many times that the company gave us a refund and hired me as a "security contractor" to find ways around it. I found a few that they never figured out how to beat - for example opening a document in Word, typing some stuff, and tell…
It's because companies that sell products like this sell what makes a good sales pitch; they don't understand that things need to actually work as advertised.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#68Products like this are great, as they teach children how to get around stupid arbitrary restrictions from a young age, so are less likely to end up as drooling passive consumers poking at a tablet and more likely to become hackers.
Exactly! I learned what a BIOS is and does the first time in my life the moment my parents put a BIOS password on the PC. My first rough workaround was to open the case, remove the CMOS battery and reset a pin. Then I found an easier workaround using the DOS debug tool to trigger a BIOS reset with the IO ports 70 and 71 :)
I used to write my BIOS password on a piece of paper and stick it inside the case. It was only there to prevent casual snooping.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#69I find the negativity about this surprising.
I live in a low income area - you would wish many parents around here cared this much and would helicopter their kids. I fear many of them are doomed from the start.
I think this app is a last resort measure, not like a block on computer use but if the kid is being bad about something to get them to respond.
Re: Ignore No More – lock your child's device until they call you back
#70The perfect app for helicopter parenting, be sure to tell your child you don't trust them as they leave the door. I'm sure this would be a good product commercially. The FAQ is a bit jarring, most of it seems to be self praise.
>The perfect app for helicopter parenting //
Alternatively the perfect app to allow you to let your children have freedom to go out by themselves but still to coerce response when it's needed.
It seems a reasonable quid pro quo to me - I give you this tool which is the pinnacle of consumer communication devices but if I need to talk to you then it's locked until you respond.
Doesn't it mean that children who aren't so trustworthy get the benefit of being allowed out when otherwise they wouldn't?