e SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN

     My favorite CBC morning show had a segment about supervising your children electronically. I knew that development in this field was on going so it shouldn't have surprised me at how highly developed supervising children by internet has come. 

     So your kid has a phone and daddy has the supervisory program and away we go. You know where the kid is at all times and if he/she is not where they're supposed to be then all hell breaks loose. 

     So with this program you know where the kid is in the school. You know if he/she is in the right classroom. You know if he/she is at  Freddie's house and not George's house. You know if the child is walking home and exactly where he/she is. 

    So the question is , is this much supervision necessary? Is this much supervision good for the child? Does this take away the good old discussion with parents about responsibility? Does this give kids a chance to learn to be independent? When do you stop following little Johnny? 

     There must be some way around this rigid supervision and trust me kids will find it. So you've given the kid an opportunity to practice being devious. 

     My kids grew up in the seventies and were free range kids. They look back at the fun they had and the responsibilities they learned. 

      I grew up in the 40's on a farm  with very little supervision. We were active all day and had many learning experiences. 

     I'll admit that I was a devious little fellow. That characteristic in me is whirling around to see how I could beat the system. 

     When my brother and I were growing up on the farm we quite often roved around the country in some Dad's car. Dad got tired of us coming home late. One day he said, " If your not home by ten PM, I'll put a knife in the door and you can't get in the house." We'd lost the key to the house door so a knife was used. 

      My brother carefully left his bedroom window open above the garage roof. Easy , peasy. He got in the house. I just went to the door and found that it was not locked. 

     So there is much more to think about with electronic supervision and raising children.