"News just in: the sky is blue, water is wet, and tracking our kids' every move with phones or AirTags is causing a deeply concerning increase in anxiety among young people, according to more than 70 psychologists, doctors, nurses and health professionals who have come together to urge parents to reconsider whether the surveillance childhood we are sleepwalking into is really benefiting our children."
"We are implicitly telling them that the world is unsafe, and warn that constant monitoring prevents kids learning the skills and developing the autonomy necessary to navigate real life. It's so normal to want to keep our children safe, says Clare Fernyhough, co-founder of campaign group Generation Focus. But there is no evidence that tracking makes them any safer. It's also a staggering invasion of privacy. I would never track my son I'm his mother, not his Big Brother."
"I tried it once and that was more than enough. In the penultimate year of primary school there was a class trip to Lille. Some mums suggested going in together on a multipack of AirTags, and without really thinking I agreed, and put one in his backpack. On the edge of my seat I watched, more gripped than by every Traitors final ceremony combined, as his little dot inched painfully slowly towards St Pancras station where it remained, for ever."
More than 70 health professionals link ubiquitous tracking of children with phones or AirTags to rising anxiety among young people. Constant surveillance communicates that the world is unsafe and obstructs development of autonomy and real-world navigation skills. There is no evidence that tracking improves children's safety, and the practice represents a significant invasion of privacy. Parental impulses to monitor are understandable but can trigger obsessive behaviour and severe distress. Continuous monitoring prevents children from learning to manage everyday risks and from building emotional resilience and independence.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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