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Comment by wiz21c | Hacker News Reader

I don't like it. That's showing kids that automated surveillance is acceptable.

Now, I'm sure they will not find that very funny, so that may be an opportunity to teach them what automated surveillance is about...

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I respect your viewpoint. I look at it more as a modern form of "you can go outside to play when your homework is done". Parenting is really hard in March 2020. Many of us are working at home and our children are glued to their ipads watching who knows what on youtube. Many parents can't be 100% present during work hours.

I don't think it's so bad. This is not the same as omniscient surveillance by the state or intrusive monitoring by ad networks. I think it's perfectly fine if you explain precisely to your child how they're being monitored, and why. There need not be anything surreptitious or nefarious about it.

If I would let my kids decide what's for dinner every day we'd eat pancakes 7 days per week with candy for desert.

Funny, that's what your government thinks about you!

Good you take that example. that's exactly the kind of stuff my son brings on and on and on. And each time, I (not my computer, spend some times explaining that he has to expand his tastes bits by bits, that if he doesn't do it it'll become more and more difficult, etc. That's a bit exhausting a times but it pays (we're looking at an ROI on a scale of ten years here :-) ).

But that little discussion we have reminds him that I'm the parent and that I do that for n good reasons. He also has a space to disagree and sometimes I just cook what he loves and take care of doing it exactly how he wants it.

A computer is 10000 light years away from that, AFAIC...

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