LG's new wearable is a child tracker that lets parents listen in

[Dietrichw]

Source

Source2

 

 

Apparently, LG's been working on a wearable other than the G Watch specifically for helicopter good, protective parents. It's called the KiZON wristband, and it comes in a couple of cute designs aiming to entice kids to keep them on the whole day. After all, if it doesn't stay on, moms and dads won't be able to use the device (with GPS and WiFi) to monitor their locations through a phone or a tablet all the time. KiZON has functions other than serving as a tracker, though -- kids can press its One Step Direct Call button to contact a pre-configured number.

 

It also works vice versa, but parents get an extra perk: if the kid doesn't pick up within 10 seconds, the device puts the call through and lets them listen to what's going on through the built-in microphone. The device will apparently last for 36 hours on a charge and parents will be notified via phone if the power falls below 25 percent. Its features might sound a bit excessive to some, but easily-concerned parents will be able to get one in the third quarter of 2014 when KiZON lands in North America and Europe.

 

Even easier to play hide the sausage with this, it just straps on! and Luke can listen if Linus hides it in his pants again

 

 

 

and for those people, it has a spec list 

 

• Memory: 64MB RAM / 125MB ROM
• Battery: 400mAh
• Size: 34.7 x 55.2 x 13.9mm
• Color: Blue / Pink / Green
• Network: 2G / 3G

[Psykomantis00]

Whoa, if you don't answer in 10 seconds it listens in on the conversation? That's crazy. Make it 30 seconds at the very least. 10 seconds is not that much time. 

[miyabwah]

This seems only a little bit excessive.. And like it's for paranoid parents.

[qwertywarrior]

this is not a good way of parenting

u need to gain your child's trust

if he/she  ever found out it will create a big barrier between them

[AlwaysFSX]

this is not a good way of parenting

u need to gain your child's trust

if he/she  ever found out it will create a big barrier between them

Not that hard to trust your child if you instill decent values in them so they're not completely clueless.

[mr moose]

This has it's place,  Don't be too quick to dismiss it until you have kids.  In reality it is not too different to when I give my son a two-way handheld radio when they go walkabout when we are camping because its a safety device for communication and not about a trust.

[DeViLzzz]

Ok the wrist band devices look a little big and obvious.  If you want to create something to monitor your children when they are really young and you want to let them out in the neighborhood to play have them wearing devices that look like or are watches or bracelets that would look like something people would usually wear.  Yes I think monitoring can be taken too far but in certain situations I can see where this idea from LG would work but it is up to parents to use it in the right circumstances.  As for the parent(s) being able to listen in after ten seconds I can see situations where this would be critical so don't frown on it too much.  I think this is great for monitoring younger or slower children but for older kids you need to trust them and let them make mistakes and learn to be adult like.  Eh anyway so tired ... eh I think I made it clear here where I think this is good tech and bad tech.

[ZacDaMan72]

Ok the wrist band devices look a little big and obvious.  If you want to create something to monitor your children when they are really young and you want to let them out in the neighborhood to play have them wearing devices that look like or are watches or bracelets that would look like something people would usually wear.  Yes I think monitoring can be taken too far but in certain situations I can see where this idea from LG would work but it is up to parents to use it in the right circumstances.  As for the parent(s) being able to listen in after ten seconds I can see situations where this would be critical so don't frown on it too much.  I think this is great for monitoring younger or slower children but for older kids you need to trust them and let them make mistakes and learn to be adult like.  Eh anyway so tired ... eh I think I made it clear here where I think this is good tech and bad tech.

Moto360. I'm sure paranoid parent apps will come.

[totjup5]

That's really disturbing and creepy as hell. Parents need to calm the Fuck down so that their kids can grow up.

[KamiKatze]

.

[MagnetSh0CK]

If I was my parent...I would never want to hear my conversations

[mr moose]

That's really disturbing and creepy as hell. Parents need to calm the Fuck down so that their kids can grow up.

Clearly not a parent.   Times are changing and a device like this could be the difference between them going out to explore the world without mum or dad behind them and still safe because they can call for help.

 

Daniel Morcombe may even be a live today if he had one of these.

[ijKs Snow]

I have a 2 year old son, and I checked on a website to see how many sex offenders were in my area. It wasn't pretty.

 

Word of advice to parents. Don't check, because you will sh.it your pants when you do.

 

Personally, if I didn't have a kid I would laugh at this device, but now that I'm a parent.. I do want to keep track of my kids until they are old enough to defend themselves.

[LAwLz]

Oh for crying out loud...

The world is safer now than ever and yet we keep being more and more protective about our children.

Calm down... Just because your kid doesn't answer in 10 seconds doesn't mean you should start listening in on their conversations.

 

 

I have a 2 year old son, and I checked on a website to see how many sex offenders were in my area. It wasn't pretty.

 

Word of advice to parents. Don't check, because you will sh.it your pants when you do.

Why would that make you scared?

Not all sex offenders are child molesters. You can become a registered sex offender for buying a prostitute, urinating in public, incest, bestiality etc. I don't see how those would make you fear for the health of your child.

Just because some woman had sex with her dog, some man paid to get a BJ from another consensual adult or some person urinated in an alley while drunk doesn't mean they are out to abduct and/or molest your child.

I guess it's only human to throw all your logic and reasoning out the window when it comes to protecting your child...

[NICKT]

People are shitting their pants over this and it's like, why?

 

Calm the fuck down guys, this is a good idea, sans potentially the whole "listening in on your child" part which does breach a factor of personal security, but I wouldn't really picture this device being used on teenagers and the like, more like young children who would benefit greatly from having a device like this in certain situations.

 

I find it funny, people a generation ago complain about the things we brought with ours, now here we are and you're all bitching about everything new because it challenges your way of life. Start valuing things based on their merits and purpose and not because it's not how you did things and you think it's unnecessary.

[mr moose]

Oh for crying out loud...

The world is safer now than ever and yet we keep being more and more protective about our children.

Calm down... Just because your kid doesn't answer in 10 seconds doesn't mean you should start listening in on their conversations.

 

 

I'm not sure what age you think this is aimed at, but to me it seems very much a 7 and under type deal.  Which is great for the area I live in and the particular needs of my kids. 

 

Whilst the crime rate is going down in my area, the severity and insidiousness of crime is getting worse.   This stat from canada shows how different areas can effect crime severity,  while some areas are doing really well, there are still areas (most likely low SES) that are getting worse.

 

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/legal51a-eng.htm

 

And from Australia this quote,  While it is still an aggregate fall in reported crime there is still no research about unreported crime.

The rate of crime reported to police for kidnapping/abduction and blackmail/extortion increased marginally between 1998 and 2007. However, the aggregate crime trend shows a decline.

 

[samuel]

Now the cheating wife version please! )

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Not that hard to trust your child if you instill decent values in them so they're not completely clueless.

Easier to teach those values yourself

[Akolyte]

this does seem kind of excessive.  But I can see this coming in useful for a 5 year old kid, if they decide to go down to the park, there are all kinds of bad stuff that can happen.  

[LAwLz]

I'm not sure what age you think this is aimed at, but to me it seems very much a 7 and under type deal.  Which is great for the area I live in and the particular needs of my kids. 

 

Whilst the crime rate is going down in my area, the severity and insidiousness of crime is getting worse.   This stat from canada shows how different areas can effect crime severity,  while some areas are doing really well, there are still areas (most likely low SES) that are getting worse.

 

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/legal51a-eng.htm

 

And from Australia this quote,  While it is still an aggregate fall in reported crime there is still no research about unreported crime.

This device won't protect against that though.

Any kidnapper would just throw the armband away. It's not a discrete little device they won't spot.

At best this device will give the parents a false sense of security while not doing anything good. At worst it will distract parents from the real dangers and make them pay less attention to their kids.

 

Unreported crime statistics is irrelevant in this conversation because it's safe to say that pretty much every single child abduction in the civilized world is reported.

[mr moose]

This device won't protect against that though.

Any kidnapper would just throw the armband away. It's not a discrete little device they won't spot.

At best this device will give the parents a false sense of security while not doing anything good. At worst it will distract parents from the real dangers and make them pay less attention to their kids.

 

Unreported crime statistics is irrelevant in this conversation because it's safe to say that pretty much every single child abduction in the civilized world is reported.

it's not just about abduction though what about a child getting lost, had an accident and they only have to hit a button on the device to call for help, And if a child feels threatened or scared or endangered then they can press the button on the device which will at the very least alert people to an issue sooner rather than later.  In the case I linked earlier Daniel's parents didn't know there was an issue until he didn't return home a the agreed time, had he been wearing one of these they would have known there was an issue the minute he was taken, even if they know nothing else that is better than nothing and may just have been enough to save his life.

[Puppet]

This device won't protect against that though.

Any kidnapper would just throw the armband away. It's not a discrete little device they won't spot.

At best this device will give the parents a false sense of security while not doing anything good. At worst it will distract parents from the real dangers and make them pay less attention to their kids.

 

Unreported crime statistics is irrelevant in this conversation because it's safe to say that pretty much every single child abduction in the civilized world is reported.

 

I kind of agree with this, it's not going to prevent the rare event of a child abduction etc.

 

And if there's one thing worse than having something like that happen to your child, it's listening to it.

 

Nice wearable baby monitor though, will be good for letting kids play in the garden and stuff but again it's not going to prevent accidents, just alert you to them faster.

[mr moose]

I kind of agree with this, it's not going to prevent the rare event of a child abduction etc.

 

And if there's one thing worse than having something like that happen to your child, it's listening to it.

 

Nice wearable baby monitor though, will be good for letting kids play in the garden and stuff but again it's not going to prevent accidents, just alert you to them faster.

 

by that logic then we shouldn't give old people emergency call buttons either, because it won't stop them from having a fall or heart attack.  As a parent I would rather have early warning that something is wrong than no warning at all. And again, it is not just abductions that can happen.

[Puppet]

by that logic then we shouldn't give old people emergency call buttons either, because it won't stop them from having a fall or heart attack.  As a parent I would rather have early warning that something is wrong than no warning at all. And again, it is not just abductions that can happen.

 

Yeah that's what I was talking about and it would be especially good for kids with an illness, something like epilepsy maybe...

 

It was just the abduction thing, I did think of that Madaline Mcann case and maybe if her parents had this that they would have known sooner, but to be honest they should have been keeping a closer eye on her.

 

Wasn't saying it's useless or weird because you are spying on your kids, it's clearly for a young age group... I doubt they have much personal stuff that they don't want to share anyway... 'I like blue'... 'I want to be a fireman'... 'I'm 6 and ¾'... 'Damn it now they know' :lol: 

[LAwLz]

it's not just about abduction though what about a child getting lost, had an accident and they only have to hit a button on the device to call for help, And if a child feels threatened or scared or endangered then they can press the button on the device which will at the very least alert people to an issue sooner rather than later.  In the case I linked earlier Daniel's parents didn't know there was an issue until he didn't return home a the agreed time, had he been wearing one of these they would have known there was an issue the minute he was taken, even if they know nothing else that is better than nothing and may just have been enough to save his life.

Daniel would have been murdered even if he wore this. They might have known that their child was murdered sooner, but it would not have prevented it.

The criminal would just rip the thing off their arm and throw it away. What are they going to do then? The criminal won't just stand there like a fool waiting for everyone to arrive to the place where the kidnapping happened. The corpse of Daniel were found almost 30 miles from where the kidnapping happened.

 

What you have to remember is that these incidents, while horrible, are extremely, extremely rare.

Your time and effort would be better spent worrying about your child getting struck by lightning.

 

Projecting all your fears about kidnappers onto your child is harmful. Children has to be able to make friends without feeling that you are watching over their should at all times.

A study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies showed that children with overprotective parents are more likely to suffer from depression and are in general less satisfied with their lives. The extreme case of this being Hong Kong Kids.

 

 

I am all for giving kids phones. I got mine when I was about 7 or so and it was very useful.

I could call if I wanted to info my mom about something, like change of plans or something like that. Don't pretend like it will save your kids from being abducted though because it won't.

I think you should teach your kids to inform you about things. I don't think you should spy on your kids because you are worried something bad might happen. This device leans far more towards the latter if you ask me.