the older i get the more it's terrifying to me how much child surveillance is normalized. scared for your child's mental health? here's more tools that will make them feel even more watched at all times. child is experimenting with their gender identity while away from you? we made it this other adult's job to surveil them for you. kid is "enjoying" their "free time" instead of doing homework? we've put parental controls on the things that they like so that you can monitor their private time. like can we fucking stop
And then it smoothly and naturally transitions to surveillance of adults
Even my homeroom teacher (when I met him years after graduation) said that he's appealing to parents not to overuse the virtual tools.
It's stressing out the kids to know that they're being monitored 24/7.
And to further emphasis this he said that it stresses him out as well. according to him every time he's grading tests or homework he's nervous because there's a substantial % of parents who seem to be WATCHING at all times. He uploads a bad (or below average) grade into the system and his phone is IMMEDIATELY ringing because a parent feels the need to ask questions about said grade.
Now imagine you're a teenager - dealing with one of the most stressful phases of your life - and your parents are acting like this.
Female coworkers of mine were guilty of being such parents. They'd spend time at work, logged onto school sites with their work PCs and watching their kids' school records in real time.
Trying to explain to them how this practice is bad on multiple levels was like talking to a brick wall.
