This e-mail arrived the other day: “Many parents lay awake at night wondering whether their kids are making the right decisions when not with them. Confirm Biosciences based in San Diego is putting the control back in parents’ hands. With the new HairConfirm product, a new at home package allows parents to take a hair sample from their kids and find out within 24-48 hours whether or not their kids are drug-free. It can detect drug use as well as usage frequency for up to 90 days. It is also the first offering of its kind to provide a detailed report the amount of each chemical detected as well as results indicating the ranges typically found in recreational, daily/weekend and constant users.”
Not having a rebellious, pot-smoking child just yet, just a daughter whose idea of an illicit substance is bubblegum Trident, this seems rather drastic. What does it say about your parenting abilities that you can’t figure out if your kid is a stoner? Here’s a quick test: Does your teen have a copy of Foghat Live? Yes? He’s smoking pot.
Think about all the other ways to spy on your kids: a device that attaches secretly to your car that records speeds and locations. Hidden software that records every key stroke on their computer.
I suspect the solution is being an involved parent, not Big Brother.