By
I’m the mother of two
constantly moving, always excited little boys who live year-round in the
mountains. In spite, or perhaps because of where we live, I’ve yet to
lose them in a public place. Friends back in the real world recount
stories of the sickening, heart-wrenching moment they lose sight of a
little one for a few moments in Tesco. I’m told it feels like hours and
there’s no doubt I still have this parental rite of passage to come.
But would I make little Hamish, aged 3, wear a tracking
device while in ski school? Location monitoring for children is a big
deal these days, with one ski school elsewhere in the Alps fitting
devices to all their littlies during their lessons. “It’s so parents can
see where their children have skied” they justify. The cynics out there
(moi? Non…) wonder whether this ‘added extra’ is nothing more than a
marketing ploy, pulling on the heart strings of modern parents and
fuelling paranoia.
One of the most popular GPS watches on the market sells
itself as ‘ensuring your kids are safe when out of sight’. But how can
this be possible? Last time I checked, my smart watch didn’t have the
super hero powers required to stop me skiing off a cliff in a whiteout
and I’m fairly sure the kid’s version doesn’t either. And then there are
the arguments about limiting children’s privacy and personal freedom,
which I tend to agree with when it comes to older kids and teenagers.
So interested...READ ON