What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by apparent on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @01:33PM (#50444282)

When was the crossover point, when they stopped hating you for it and started thanking you? And what was the specific thank you about? Not wasting their time with tiktok junk, or helping protect their developing brains from addictive slop?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by SV_BubbleTime on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @02:09PM (#50444787)

Do you call your parents and thank them that you aren’t a lazy drug addict? That your aren’t a prostitute?

When is the last time you wrote a “thanks for not letting get eaten by a shark” card?

Parents don’t get thanked for things that didn’t happen. If you are waiting around for that, you’re in the wrong care taking business!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by apparent on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @02:46PM (#50445349)

Did you read what GP said?

> And now their kids are unmanageable and ours thank us for shielding them.

I'm not looking for thank-you's, I'm just looking to understand what GP meant when he said his kids thanked him.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by 28304283409234 on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @05:04PM (#50446927)

The earliest time they expressed gratitude instead of annoyance at the boundaries was (I think) when they were 13 and 14. Their friends and classmates would be on snap at 04:00am on schoolnights, endlessly argueing and namecalling and drama. The youngest was really gratefull that she could be on snapchat, but only for a short period of time, and never after 19:00.

And this week they both said how thankfull they had so few advertisements in their lives. Because we block with pi-hole and ublock origin, and showed them how online ads work and how to avoid them.

(Sidenote: If you have kids: talk to your teachers and schools and ask to setup firefox+ublock origin on their classroom computer. Or just install 'brave'. All teachers use youtube during classes. With ads. You will be lifted to instant hero status for blocking those.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by encrypted_bird on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @06:49PM (#50447956)

This is completely unrelated, but I just want to say that it brings a genuine smile to my face to see someone else use 24-hour time.

I wish more people would see the value it has in everyday life!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by luipugs on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:20AM (#50451728)

I use 24-hour time personally but to be honest the only thing it's good for is disambiguating 12 midnight from 12 noon.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by encrypted_bird on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @05:17PM (#50459498)

Tbf that's a huge benefit.

And it's not like 12-hour time has more benefits or fewer downsides than 24-hour time.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by paulryanrogers on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @06:02PM (#50447550)

Isn't keeping kids safe, fed, sheltered the baseline for parents and caregivers? People generally don't get thanked for doing the bare minimum.

Thanks to the hundreds of people who didn't punch me in the face or ram me with their car today

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children by apparent on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @06:18PM (#50447697)

I don't think GP described the "bare minimum". Sounds like he went above and beyond to keep bad stuff at bay, and probably took some heat from his kids about it. I hope to be as thoughtful, thorough, and successful with my parenting.

[ Parent | on HN ]