Our Child Wanted More Freedom. We Decided to Buy an Apple Watch

The line between parental oversight and privacy is tricky in an era of tracking your children, as represented by a pulsing blue dot.

Photo by DFY® 디에프와이 on Unsplash

A few days back, my nine-year-old asked if she could ride her bike to a friend’s house.

This friend’s house is not far, but it’s not exactly walking down the street, or even around the block. It’s less than a mile but, well, almost a mile. She’s been further away from the house with a group of older friends, but it would be the furthest she’s gone alone. It gave me pause. I said no, but also said I would talk to her mom about it, because honestly, I did trust her to make the ride. She’s smart, cautious, and capable.

I have written about wanting to avoid becoming a helicopter parent. I want to trust my kids to be independent, out of sight, and making mistakes the same way I did.

Mostly the same way, anyway. It’s no longer the mid 90s. There is technology at your fingertips to keep an eye on where your child is at all times, if you’d like. You can snoop on their messages. What’s the line between caring parent and privacy invasion?

Anyway, this is all to say: we bought my nine-year-old an Apple Watch.

There were several considerations that went into this undeniably expensive solution.