iPhone Lunacy   /   Oct 8 @ 11:06 pm

I stopped reading CNN a long time ago because I felt stupider each time I left the site, but I’m glad other people still check in there occasionally.  Slate’s Double X blog mentions this story about a new iPhone app that tracks the location of sex offenders.

The story starts off with Tracy Rodriguez, a mother in Houston, who uses her iPhone to get “information revealing the sex offenders who live within a 10-mile radius of where her children practice sports or watch movies.” Apparently this mom feels that the app makes her make more informed choices, and she checks it several times daily. I thought this was just a punch line in the movie Knocked Up, not an actual trend.

Does this strike anyone else as absurd? It’s good to be concerned about the health and well-being of your children, but restricting your movements, hour by hour, based on an exaggerated perceived threat, sounds like a personal prison.

What is the cost of this degree of helicopter parenting?  The Double X blogger suggests the cost of her time and the restrictions imposed on her family’s day-to-day habits.  Sounds like this person would also have trouble giving up the (at a minimum) $69.99 monthly expense of the iPhone, even with lower-cost smartphones and plans available.

Here is the original CNN article.