The Importance of Parental Supervision

This article is a bit different from most of the Internet privacy articles in this blog, however, a particular news story prompted me to write this (Utah Mom’s Facebook Check May Have Saved Son From Shooting Plot).  The article appeared on The Huffington Post site on April 8, 2014.   While many parents are realizing the importance of supervising and monitoring their kids when they go on the Internet, there are still many parents who don’t see the point of this.

Obviously, one parent in Salt Lake City, Utah is thankful that she chose to monitor her son’s social media.  If she didn’t do this, she, and possibly many other parents, would be mourning the loss of their kids.   The mom, who was not identified, saw threats made to her son on his Facebook page and called police.  When police went to the school, they found two teens sitting in a car near the targeted victim’s high school.  In the car, they found a gun, a loaded magazine, marijuana and a bong.  The two were immediately arrested. 

Another trend developing are kids going to answer sites asking how they can get away with having social media behind their parents’ backs.  In order to have a social media account, a child must be at least 13 years old.  We already know that some parents help their younger kids open accounts, but there are some who don’t feel their kids are mature enough at 13, so they won’t allow it.  Some parents will monitor their kids’ social media and will take it away because they have seen posts they don’t approve of.  Here is an example of the types of questions being asked (this particular example was found on Yahoo Answers) by the kids whose parents either won’t allow it, or have taken it away because of inappropriate, on-line behavior:

I want my Facebook account back?

Ok so I am 14 and my dad has confiscated my Facebook account because of a past incident and I have understood my mistake but he won't give me my password.  I really want to add kids from my school.

Update 1: No need for anymore answer because i am making a new one and i doubt my dad would find that out unless i tell him that i would not tell so soon.

Here is the answer that the 14 year old chose as the Best Answer:

I see your update, but have to answer.

This is not a very smart idea. As a 14 year old, I know you think parents are stupid, but they aren't. Your dad will find out about the other account and then you will not only lose Facebook, but you will lose other privileges as well. You will no longer be trusted.

You don't say how long your dad has been holding your FB hostage, but you need to give him some time while you show him you can be responsible. He didn't delete your account, so he is going to give it back, you're just "grounded" from FB for a while. Sneaking around isn't helping your case. In fact, it's hurting it.

You need to have an open discussion with your dad and show him that you realize your mistake. You could also go over the linked article and check out the guidelines. Discuss them with your dad and see what the two of you can come up with as a compromise so he will allow you to access your account again.

But, if this just happened, you could wait a while before adding people. It seems that you really learned nothing from all this.

Voice of reason, right?  Well, the 14 year old made this comment after choosing this answer:

Google Glass: Innovative or Creepy?

In 2012, Google began testing and demonstrating a new product that they call “Google Glass”.  Google Glass is a device that is a very small display screen and it is made to be worn either by itself, or hooked on to a pair of glasses or sunglasses.  The device will show the user the time, give directions, search the Internet, send messages and take photos and videos.  This is all done hands-free.  Just speak and Google Glass will do as you ask. 

  

Since its debut, there have been around 8,000 Glass wearers.  Last year, at SxSW (an annual conference featuring music, films and interactive technology), Google Glass was seen everywhere.  The same was true of this year’s conference.  People are curious about what it’s like, but most find it pretty creepy.  But, why is it that most people find it creepy?  After all, it’s just a small piece of glass that sits near the wearer’s eye.

When you see someone wearing Google Glass, whether they are sitting across from you at a table or simply walking past you on the street, you never know what they are doing on the device.  They could be reading texts, doing research, or they could be doing nothing at all with it at the time.  When someone walks by you wearing Google Glass, you would never know if that person has just taken a picture of you or even shot a video as you were approaching each other.  This is what makes it so creepy.  In fact, many people feel uncomfortable even coming close to someone wearing Google Glass.

Google Glass makes people so uncomfortable that some have been told to leave stores, clubs and even meetings at work if they didn’t remove the device.  Wearing Google Glass at an airport could cause problems as could driving while wearing the device.   In fact, Cecilia Abadie was the first person to get a traffic ticket while wearing Google Glass.  She was initially stopped for speeding in October 2013, but when the officer saw that she was wearing Google Glass, he added a ticket for the violation “monitor visible to driver”.  Ms. Abadie took the matter to Court in January 2014 and was found not guilty.  The officer had no proof that the monitor was turned on at the time of the incident.

When it comes to discussion groups about Google Glass, there are two views:  Google Glass wearers love the device, but those interacting with them don’t like it at all.  In fact, they barely tolerate it.  In social situations, non-wearers get a feeling of paranoia because they feel they are always being “watched”.

What’s odd about all this discomfort is that those who say they don’t like the feeling that they are being recorded by Google Glass wearers don’t think twice about being recorded other ways; like with a smart phone or security cameras.  Of course, the difference here is that with a smart phone or security cameras, you always know when you are being recorded.  With Google Glass, you would never know.  So, I guess the feeling of unease isn’t from the fact that they could be recorded, it’s from the not knowing if it’s happening or not.  

Google Glass wearers don’t see an issue with each other because they know how the device works.  However, if you have never worn Google Glass, and you are talking with someone who wears it, all you see is this small piece of glass and you can’t help but wonder if your conversation is being recorded.