A story from the US on 29 April describes how parents are themselves turning ‘private investigator’ to keep track of their children, using the same devices and techniques that the professionals use.

“From the GPS in the car to the cell phones nearly everywhere, technology is all around us. Now those same high-tech gadgets that kids want so badly can help mom and dad keep tabs on their children,” says the report from KIVI-TV in Idaho.

Satnavs in cars are being used to track not only where the children go, but how fast. Tracking devices are also available for backpacks and even pockets. Add-ons to mobile phones allow parents to monitor who their children are talking and where.

“They can find out who their children have been talking to…read text messages, and can restrict which calls they can get or make.”

Plus, of course, there is the widely-known facility for parental control of internet surfing. Have a new driver in the family?  Using the same device employed by private investigators, parents can see where their kids are going and how fast they're getting there.

One local private investigator is quoted as saying: “I think it's a good deterrent [parents] are monitoring their kids and making sure they are as trustworthy as they want them to be.”

The report doesn’t mention what the children think of being monitored.