Surveillance Gadgets for Watching Your Kids

Recently this week, I was watching The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet (NBC) and saw a segment on surveillance opportunities parents can use on their children. Todd Morris, a surveillance expert, provides Mike and Juliet with the more popular item parents use for surveillance.

The first item showcased was a keyboard blogger. What this nifty little contraption does is record each keystroke that your computer uses in sequence. This is an easy way to find out passwords and user names to the websites your kids go to, such as Myspace or Facebook. Also you can see exactly what your kids are saying to their friends and possibly predators through instant messages and e-mails. Could be a great way to check up on significant others as well. Not bad for a device that costs around $50.

A second crazy contraption is a way to access information on your children's cell phones. This involves taking out the SIM card that is in the cell phone and linking it to your computer. These SIM cards give out information about what was said in current text messages and DELETED text messages as well as numbers called and received.

And no surveillance would be complete without parent's own GPS tracking system. This particular GPS system has been or has been attempted to be placed in backpacks, purses and even shoes! This is an easy way to find out where your kids are at all times, as well as see how fast they are going!

Last but not least, how do you know if it is time to talk to your kids about sex? Well, why not test certain areas of your house or their cars to see if sexual activities have been taking place. Mr. Morris shows the Mike and Juliet show a kit used by investigators in rape cases that has recently been put on the market for parents to buy.

In my opinion, this show both disgusted me and excited me. On one hand, the technology we are coming up with nowadays is out of this world. I realize that a lot of these products have probably been around for awhile, but just recently they have been brought into the regular consumer world which astonishes me.

On the other hand, this just shows that parenting styles are becoming a little too lazy. Since when is it okay to spy on your kids, even if you are looking out for their best interest? How far is too far?

I understand that there are a lot more situations nowadays that your kids can get into, such as talking to someone they don't know online. This can sometimes turn into a more trusting relationship and make its way to texts or calls on phones and e-mails.

Obviously, what easier way to see who your kids are talking to online then spy on them.

Whatever happened to being open and honest with your children? Why is it too hard to get through to them that there are online predators out there that are looking to take advantage of younger kids?

Maybe it is because both parents are working now, and don't have time to get into a deep relationships with their kids. Maybe it is because parents are working longer hours, have more things to do, and are already stressed out about other aspects of their lives that they want an easy fix to protecting their children.

Whatever the reason is for parents to use surveillance on their kids, does it make it right? Does it make it right in certain situations?

If you have tried everything to get through to your kids and are still expecting that they are lying about talking to possible predators on the internet and on their phones, than I believe you can look into it. BUT, not until you have tried everything you can, like openly talking to your children.

You always see commercials on TV about being there for your kids and letting them know about the dangers of drugs and the peer pressure that goes along with. Why would talking about sexual predators be any different?

Get to know your kids, let them know the dangers of online and what has happened to other children in the past. Talk about articles you read in the paper or online so you can start dialogue about the subject. I believe this is the best way to get through to your children, rather than spying on them and losing their trust for who knows how long. Even if it is for their best interest.

Since when does surveillance take away from good old fashion open dialogue with you children?

Be their friend. Be their parent. Make sure YOU are part of the people that they trust, NOT these online predators.