by Christine Tarbet

In this technologically advanced era, it’s easier than ever before to keep tabs on your children. From GPS trackers to cameras, parents can monitor their children’s every move. Whether you really want to or not is up to you. Here are nine ways to keep an eye on your kids, from smart to a little scary.

9. OnlineFamily.Norton.com

Keep track of your kids’ online activity, manage their time spent online, and make sure they can only see age-appropriate material, all from an easy-to-use Web interface. A virtual sigh of relief.

8. Emotion Detector

Move over, Simpsons! The emotion detector is said to be the wave of the future in baby monitors. Researchers are working on ways to analyze and interpret the cries of a baby. (Making moms obsolete? Nah!) 

7. Social Networking Sites

Moms have been using this little trick since the glory days of Friendster. Simply sign up for Facebook, friend your kids’ friends, and watch the tagged pictures and videos roll in.

6. Cell Phones GPS Tracking

Sites like Instamapper let you use your kid’s cell phone’s GPS technology to keep an eye on them for free. Buy your teen her own mobile, and use her naïve excitement to your advantage. Score!

5. Child Locator Devices

Child locators are incredibly popular now with new products popping up seemingly daily. Tag your child, and keep him continually by your side or receive cell phone alerts about his whereabouts. With these devices, your child won’t be able to blink without you knowing.

4. GPS Clothing

It’s one step away from implanting a tracker chip in your child: GPS clothing!  In fact, Japanese schools have already added GPS capability to school blazers so that parents will know if a kid is in the schoolyard... or playing hooky.

3. Keystroke Recorder

Track what your kids are writing, read their chats, view their email conversations, and grab their passwords all by secretly recording every stroke of the keyboard. In other words, your kids won’t be able to keep anything private while they’re on the computer.

2. Webcams

Last November, administrators at a Pennsylvania high school remotely accessed a webcam on a student’s school-issued laptop and took pictures without the child’s knowledge. Which means that parents could theoretically watch their kids 24/7 while they think they’re alone in their rooms.

1. Good Old-Fashioned Snooping

Maybe we’re nostalgic, but there’s nothing like good old-fashioned snooping to keep tabs on your kids. Listen in on their conversations, read their journals, and poke through their belongings. Sound like an invasion of privacy? Well, it’s not any worse than the methods above!

Which of these devices would you use? And which sound absolutely wacky?

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