Tim Sweetman is a 20-year-old freelance writer, blogger, and student who lives near our nation's capital,
Washington D.C. He is much more widely known by his "code-name," Agent Tim. This name also serves as
the name of his popular blog, which has received well over 750,000 visits since its debut. Contact Tim 
I found this story intriguing.
Donna Butler’s 18 year-old daughter hit the road with a friend for a trip that would take about two hours each way. With her daughter’s friend behind the wheel, Donna wasn’t exactly comfortable. But she had a secret weapon: global positioning system, or GPS, enabled in her daughter Danielle’s cell phone.
“I told her to call me when she got there, and after three hours, I hadn’t heard from her, so I was concerned,†says Butler. “So I tried calling her first, and when she didn’t answer, I pulled her up on the computer. She was where she was supposed to be, but the car at that point was clocked at 90 mph.â€
That’s right: Through the GPS monitoring system, Donna could tell exactly where Danielle was, what direction she was going in, and exactly how fast.
“The first thing I did was send her a text message that I was not happy with how fast they were going, and if that car exceeded 70 mph again, I would come up there and get her,†says Butler.
GPS monitoring is just one of many secret agent gadgets available to parents these days that lend a hand in both ensuring their kids’ safety and enforcing the rules. Experts give WebMD a look at the hottest spyware technology providing today’s parents with a technological edge.
An added feature to these GPS phones is a specially programmed keypad.
â€The phone is set up with designated dial,†says John Cunningham, director of communications for Wherify Wireless. “There are only five buttons on the front, and the parent can program those buttons so they only dial specific numbers.â€
I’m just wondering when the teens will figure out how to manipulate this technology.
May 9th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Oh, pretty soon, I suspect.
I’m glad my Mom isn’t so techno savvy…
On one hand, that would be really annoying, having your parents control everything from a remote location…they could just use it to make your life miserable, even if you aren’t doing anything crazy like travelling at 90 mph.
However, I suppose it’s good over all, because it can protect teens safety, and if you’re not doing anything wrong when you’re out away from your parents, there should be no reason for them to exercise their GPS power anyways.
May 9th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
I kind of thought of this story like this: God has a whole lot more technology than mom or dad now has. In other words, he’s watching you ALL the time. He knows everything you do–kind of makes you want to do things a whole lot differently?
I think it’s sad parents actually have to have these systems. They shouldn’t have to worry, but unfortunately, their need for this device is real.
May 9th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
That is the sad part Tim.
I read your post and was laughing a little bit. And then I started thinking, “Man, that’s terrible.”
It’s a downhill road. You watch… next, there will be a:
Remote Punishment: This newest technology allows you to give your teenagers a 6000 volt shock when they get into trouble. All from the comfort of your personal computer!
May 10th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
David – That’s good, remote shock.
It is sad however that parents have to do this. The goal for every teenage that wants to be godly should be that their parents could let them “loose” and have perfect peace that they wouldn’t get into any trouble.
Tim, you got it right on the head. God is omnipresent, everywhere at once, and he can see everything we do. We will give account for everthing we do someday. That’s where the fear of the Lord comes in. “The continuel awarness that I am in the presence of a holy, just and almighty God, and that every thought, word, action and attitud is open before him and being judged by him. ”
~Sparky
May 10th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Tim: True, true. We should want to behave for God, not just because we “have to” or else our parents will use GPS and find us out lol.
David: Although, I’d love to see some people I know get an electrical shock when they like, started smoking or something. Or decided to go cause a ruckus and steal buckets from a popcorn store. Not that GPS could tell whether they were stealing or not, but if it could, that would be…so funny.
May 10th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Nice post.
i was chuckling through the whole thing, I thought along the same lines as tim did.
May 11th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
And guess who else can check where people are using GPS tech? The government! Gotta love the “big brother” angle to this. I don’t know if that is even legal!
May 12th, 2006 at 5:02 am
This technology stuff is really something…..
But it is sad that parents have to resort to things like this because they can’t trust their kids.
May 12th, 2006 at 9:51 am
>Remote Punishment: This newest technology allows you to >give your teenagers a 6000 volt shock when they get into >trouble. All from the comfort of your personal computer!
As a parent I like this shocking idea.
If this GPS phone thing had been around when I was a teen, I would have “forgotten” my phone most of the time. But then, we weren’t addicted to constant communication either.
Hey Tim, I thought you quit this blog so I haven’t read it in a long time. Glad to see you’re (back?) (still here?).
May 12th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Oh yes, I’m still here and have never stopped. Why’d you think I’d left? Hopefully it wasn’t the April fools day joke about my quitting!