If you’ve ever wondered what is up with your kid (and we are sure you have since there isn’t a parent out there who hasn’t at some point), then you might find the idea of implanting him or her with a GPS device ingenious.
Admittedly, the idea of implanting GPS tracking devices in humans is a scary concept, but parents 20 years into the future might find themselves doing just that!
At least that’s what Adrienne LaFrance predicts in the December issue of The Atlantic's “Baby, Monitored”.
This new micro technology will be able to chart, measure, and visualize just about anything that can be charted, measured, and visualized about your little ones. This includes naptime, dirty diapers, crying, etc.
For example, there’s the Starling. You clip it onto your baby’s clothes, and it counts the number of words he or she hears (and, eventually, says) every day.
This piece of technology is based on research that has suggested that babies (and kids in general) who hear more words have a more advanced vocabulary and are more likely to do better on IQ testing.
But is it Truly a Good Idea?
However, it might not be the best idea to barrage your baby’s crib with the latest technology. Sure, it’s useful how a specifically designed sleep-tracking body suit can alert a parent of their baby’s temperature through their cell phone. But what’s scary is that scientists are not quite sure whether having a device enabled by Bluetooth pressed against such a small abdomen for hours without pause could cause health issues down the road. Then there’s the expected risk that the parents themselves will become the problem. LaFrance took the liberty to quote a historian whose belief was that when one has too much information in the palm of their hand (in this case, literally!), it may lead to a type of behavior known as ‘helicoptering.' But, be that as it may, this doesn’t seem to stop the growth of these technologies which have to do with your infants. So it would appear that GPS-tracking microchip implants for people are going to be a thing of the near future, whether we think that is appropriate or not. We might as well make the most of them. They might come in handy, after all, what with parents easily losing track of their kids while staring at their cellphone screens (oh, the irony!)Now, Let’s Take a Look at this From a Completely Different Perspective
Some believe that this is just the next step in the U.S. government’s plan to control its citizens. According to such beliefs, the government is trying to take more and more control of the American people. This may sometimes be for their benefit, true, but it depends on who you are. In more than a few cases, their intentions are more than just a little dubious. So, one has no choice but to be suspicious and question the motives. Well, this second scenario has been “gaining popularity”, as there has been news recently of this people-tracking future. And now this: a seemingly simple concept that sounds rather creepy when taken into more serious consideration. The government’s next step is to enable tracking microchip implementations in children. This is to keep better track of them and keep them safe. All fine and good, but there may be something deeper here.For or Against? You Decide
Steffany Rodriguez-Neely, a mother of three and one of the proponents of microchipping, said that when it comes to saving any child, then there is no such thing as “too expensive”. She believes this is like an extra layer of protection and says that if something as small as a grain of rice could prevent a tragedy from occurring then most parents would be willing to do it. But she doesn’t seem to be taking into consideration just what it could mean for the child him/herself once they grow up. Or even, what it might lead to without the consent of either the parent or the child. Stuart Lipoff, an electronics expert, has tried to make a comparison between microchips and barcodes, albeit unsuccessfully. And no wonder, since in the first case it's in humans and the other on a non-living matter such as supermarket products. He told NBC that when the barcodes were first introduced back in the 60s, people also reacted in an appalled way. This was because they didn’t quite understand the concept. Yet, in this age, barely anyone notices them; they have become so commonplace. Lipoff claims it will be the same with the microchips.Quite a Few Things to Consider
There are those microchips that only work when scanned. But there are also those, used in pets, which are used all the time to GPS-track their location. And this is what is truly concerning. If the same thing happens to people and parents can track their child’s whereabouts 24/7, there is a very real danger that hackers can easily gain access to the same information. The idea of strangers being able to track our child’s every movement, is horrifying, to say the least. But then there’s also the issue that this would be stripping kids of their naturally-given freedom. Since, in their infant stage, they are way too young to decide for themselves whether they want the microchip implanted in them or not, they are forced to live with whatever their parents decide upon. For the rest of their lives.It's Not All Black and White, however
Having numbered all the reasons, there is also another reason why these microchips can prove useful. It’ll make it a whole lot easier to store and retrieve important information about the individual, such as bank accounts, medical records, etc. However, the question remains: Do the benefits overweight the dangers connected to using such a microchip? It appears that the future has caught up with us, and something we would have considered mere science fiction not too long ago, is now an issue that needs serious debating over. Hopefully, each citizen will have the right to choose on this important matter. Source: Washington Post
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