In discussions about a child locator, some of the professional middle-class par­ents were offended by the mere notion that they would ever use this device, seeing in it something that they feel undermines their own understanding of what it means to be a competent parent. For example, Carol Clark, a white woman from Louisville, Kentucky, […]

Opposition to a child locator among the professional middle class drew on two distinct themes, both of which are in some way linked to the commit­ment to parenting out of control. Elite parents are noticeably affronted bythe notion that they would not always be aware of what their children are doing and what they need; […]

Although I have linked baby monitors and cell phones, it is time to break that link. After all, cell phones are not baby monitors (cell phones, for example, require the participation of two parties), and teens are not infants (and there­fore can resist as well as participate in the use of a monitoring device). More­over, […]

These examples inevitably raise broader, chicken-egg-style questions. Do the more privileged parents want cell phones for their children because along with their children they have defined so many situations as emergencies, including many that others might not define in that way (e. g., a child being hit on at a party, leaving a project at […]

Parenting out of control comes alive through these practices of connection. One white, professional middle-class mother of three waxed sentimental as she explained, “[The cell phone is] a way for [my daughter] to connect when she needs to, or a way [for me] to connect with her.” Another white, profes­sional middle-class mother of three explained […]

If monitoring (parents keeping track of their children’s activities and where­abouts) is conflated with safety across the board, among the more elite parents the notion of safety is frequently expanded to cover a wide spec­trum of situations that become defined as “emergencies” and therefore are thought to require parental responsiveness. Much as the sounds made […]

As the interviewed parents discussed why they have purchased—or will pur­chase—a cell phone for their children, a key theme was that these devices, like baby monitors, help keep children safe.12 Parents said that children with cell phones can let their parents know if they need help, or they can reach emer­gency resources if their parents […]

Almost all the children of respondents in this study had access to a cell phone by age thirteen; some parents bought it earlier, and most parents with younger children said that they would buy a phone when their child hit middle school. There is only a very modest class difference in the frequency of cell […]

Professional middle-class parents suggested that in addition to allowing them to know if a child was in some kind of danger, baby monitors were important devices because they allowed them to be deeply connected to their children, to know what was happening at every moment, and thus to be responsive in a very immediate and […]