Guardian Life & Style (US) • Jan. 7, 2026, 6:04 p.m.

<p>A campaign group of health professionals is urging parents to stop surveilling their children. I couldn’t agree more</p><p>News just in: the sky is blue, water is wet, and tracking our kids’ every move with phones or AirTags is causing a “deeply concerning” increase in anxiety among young people, according to more than 70 psychologists, doctors, nurses and health professionals who <a href="https://www.generationfocus.org/sign-our-letter-on-tracking/">have come together</a> to urge parents to “reconsider whether the surveillance childhood we are sleepwalking into is really benefiting our children”.

They add: “We are implicitly telling them that the world is unsafe,” and warn that constant monitoring prevents kids learning the skills and developing the autonomy necessary to navigate real life.</p><p>“It’s so normal to want to keep our children safe,” says Clare Fernyhough, co-founder of campaign group Generation Focus. “But there is no evidence that tracking makes them any safer.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/07/we-live-in-a-surveillance-culture-but-why-would-i-want-to-track-my-son-or-husband">Continue reading...</a>

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