Digitally leashing your children

TeenArriveAlive (or TAA as their fans call them) have just introduced their new "spy on your kids and don't let them have a life" service, also known as their GPS program.

Here's the pitch:

TAA’s patent pending GPS and voice-response technology allows you to locate your teen or other family member 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Whether you’re on vacation in Europe or having dinner at a local restaurant, you can check on your child whether they are driving to a ball game, riding in a friend’s car, or hanging out at the mall.

I'm all in favor of increased safety, and of giving parents additional reassurance in these hectic times, but this is a wee bit overboard to me. First of all, it creates bizarre dynamics for the family, as kids have an even tougher time building real trust to/from their parents (but I'm not a child psychologist, so I won't dwell on this). The bigger issue is that it's just too easy to fool, and if that's the case, then why bother? If you haven't figured out how you'd get around this marvelous "technology" it looks a little something like this:

Boy#1 has a TAA phone, but really wants to go "make out" with Girl#1 (who, thankfully, was not given a digital leash by her parents). Boy#1 gives his phone to Boy#2, who is heading to the mall for a few hours... Boy#1 now free to join a rock band and become a hooligan.

Over the many years I've spent doing product design, I've always stayed true to one mission while creating product functionality: do not attempt to do with technology that which can be done better without technology. In other words, if you cannot actually solve a problem by some digital means, it should generally be left alone until you can...

Links

Teen Arrive Alive - Saving Lives... Rewarding Teens

Yahoo! story