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...it's a parent's responsibility to know where their little one is - they shouldnt be relying on technology to do that for them.
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I've always had mixed feelings on this kind of suggestion. Isn't using technology an effective method of fulfilling the responsibilities of a parent? Medicine, hygiene, gas/electric home comfort, baby monitors, car seats (cars!)--aren't all these "technologies" employed to provide the means of good parenting? Are using these technologies a sign of laziness?... I know, these are far different from tracking devices, but still... In the nineteenth century and earlier--and even well into the twentieth century--young, unmarried women were granted access into the public sphere without their parents only if they were with an escort. Cell phones with built-in tracking features (the kind you can't disable) will be the escorts of the twenty-first century.
Things have changed. Parents no longer have the time to be the parents of the old days... can you imagine that it was once "normal" to have only one parent in the workforce while the other was, well, a parent? I'm proud of the progress we've made with the women's liberation movement, but what have we gained with women's equal share of the work outside of the home? Wouldn't it have been great if it meant that the father could cut his workweek in half because, hey, the mother is now sharing the load of the out-of-home labour... now -both- parents can be, well, parents.... you know.... share the load in both realms.... wishful thinking!
Now we have two parents each with a 40+ work week (generally), which means that many hours of "traditional parenting" are being diverted into earning an income. There's no going back because a dual income is often earned in deterrence of poverty.
Using tracking devices, while for some may be lazy, for others is a solution to a problem (and can be bought in exchange for their labour). I hear what's going on with teens these days; my wife is a 7th and 8th grade teacher and I know people with teenage children--personal tracking devices are yet another technology in a fast-paced, fragmented world that has become dependent on communication tools to foster any semblances of community. If we have problems with the technology, realize that there are deeper problems at its roots.