Not sure where I got this idea from, although this morning as I was getting ready, it clicked at how times have changed. Growing up under a single parent in the 1980's I was very aware of how worried my mum must have been looking after three kids. Until we where into our mid-teens we normally had to check in with her every hour or so. I can only imagine how terrifying it is to be a mum and to workout how to monitor three kids, while at the same time giving them freedom and some form of young life.
Well, things have changed. The world is a far smaller place for Parents 2.0 with tools like Facebook, Google Latitude, Foursquare and smartphones. You can keep a nice tight leash on your little ones and know where they are and what they are getting up to. All you need to do is keep up to speed with the latest technologies.
Facebook Stalking - what are they up to? who are they hanging around with? what do they like?
If you are smart enough to setup a Facebook profile and demand they add you as a friend. You can additionally lie to them and set up a fake profile and get them to add you as a friend. Saying you met them down at the local mall hanging around some Saturday. So, now with your foot firmly stuck in the door you can keep a close eye on what they get up hour by hour. With the majority of young people updating their status 4 to 8 times per day you can be there with them as they grow up. You can also check their galleries for some evidence to use against them and look through their friends to find out the type of people they are hanging around with.
Remember to check their Facebook Likes to be able to start great conversations over dinner. They'll think you are like a new parent with your depth of knowledge of their loves.
Facebook Places hasn't launched in Ireland at the time of writing this, although I can explain it's basic functionality through another similar tool, Google Latitude.
Google Latitude - track your kids on Google Maps.
Google Latitude is a location-aware mobile app developed by Google. Latitude allows a mobile phone user to allow certain people to track their location. Via their own Google Account, the user's cell phone location is mapped on Google Maps.
So, now 24/7 you can monitor where exactly your kid is. You just have to buy them the phone and then at anytime, login in too your Google Latitude account and watch where they are. No more, I'm at me mates, when they're actually at a concert.
There are numerous others tools that do similar things. All you need to do is talk about how cool these tools are and you can really build up a good profile of your children. Get them to gather points using FourSquare. The gain points by logging into locations. You can sneakly turn their Google Web History on and see what they are searching for. Monitor their music likes and videos they watch with MySpace and YouTube. Last but not least, watch their Twitter. They are all mad into tweetingn what they love, hate and do, hour to hour. Microblogging is for the young people because it shares the similar 140 character limit that texting does.. Youmany need to learn texting language to understand what the hell they are talking about.
