Nintendo Switch parental control can make up a parent's mind for them

[18]

I'm going to defend the very thing I just said would be the virtual death of me because, admittingly, I can see examples where being able to remotely suspend the console would be handy.

Let's say Mr Meseeks has to go out to a do some last minute and Mr Meseeks Jr is supposed to be doing homework and not playing video game because he was grounded. If Mr Meseeks discovers that Mr Meseeks Jr was playing the switch, and Mr Meseeks Jr knows that he isn't allowed to be playing, then it's definitely a good feature and a bit of a slap in the face for Jr.

The world has remained functional despite millions of kids who sneak-played. It's good for a kid's mental development to see what relatively harmless stuff he or she can get away with - no one will care about that homework in the greater scheme of things. But suppose that Jr. becomes a teenager now. Because of how much he thought his father could observe and control him remotely, he'll end up an unconfident, undaring, quit-while-you're-ahead sort of mummy-daddy kid. Getting away with small stuff is important for growth. That's why parents often know what you're doing secretly but pretend not to - they know you'll learn from it.

 

[JuicyFlare]

I feel like the app will be used by some people as an exploit to hack the switch...

 

[Aura Knight]

Personallly, I kinda enjoy the kind of features given, but I do have a few complaints. For example, rather than logging a person out of a game or even the Switch for a whole day, we could be given the option of how long they are timed out for. I'm pretty sure that is a feature and I didn't see it, but that is something I'd like to have.

 

[Ashkil]

Too much control for a gimmick. Is it really that hard to just check on what your kid plays and how much by, oh I dunno, actually going to within 10 feet of them? And if, as some people might object, the parent is away and needs to do it remotely - they ought not to be able to do it remotely. If no one else is at home to check up on them, the kid should be able to play all he or she wants. That's kind of one of the redeeming factors of being a kid who's left like that.
Also, why buy a game for your kid you'd need to cover his/her eyes for in the first place? If the parents bought it for themselves, they can keep it out of the child's reach as well. If it's digital, the 3DS had a pretty good system of having to input a PIN to play restricted games - only the parents need to know the PIN.

This irritates me a great deal tbh. Kids won't grow if they're tripped up every few feet - remotely now - and given how far into a kid's mental development most parents are likely to use this, it'll give the kid very wrong ideas about how much control his/her parents have over his/her life. If you can't raise them to obey you when you tell them how much they can play, you oughtn't be able to have an on-off button for their hobbies because the former will make them think they did it of their own free will, while the latter will make them feel like something was taken away from them.

Exactly my feelings. The need for parental controls seem to me like parents not doing their work well enough. If my parents didn't want me to see something they told me to go and I would. Parents don't need to monitor their children's activities every minute to be good parents. A large part of the reason I have never felt any inclinations to addictions of any sort is because of the very freedom my parents gave.
Also providing too much control outside of the user not only scares me (privacy wise), it also seems just bad.

 

[Danominator]

All this comes down to is the classic problem of parents ignoring their kids and not being involved with what they are playing and for how long. If you really care about your child, you aren't going to be checking their progress on an app. You're going to converse with them and be a part of your child's life, something that some parents don't actually do. As cute as the commercial is, it is kinda sad that Nintendo had to put this out. Its charming atmosphere doesn't really cover up what must feel like a legitimate threat to younger gamers. If you have a Switch, you have a lot of gaming power at your fingertips. Shouldn't that experience be shared as a family? It would build a lot of more trust than snooping around with another device. Honestly, if my parents had done this were to I have had a Switch when I was a kid, I would have felt like I was entering hostile territory every time I booted up the thing.

 

[Ashkil]

In fact such control leads to bingeing in the thing when outside of the control. Many of my friends have binged on very bad habits like alcoholism and worse simply because of the strictness of their parents. Oppressive parenting always leads to curbing mental growth

 

[Danominator]

In fact such control leads to bingeing in the thing when outside of the control. Many of my friends have binged on very bad habits like alcoholism and worse simply because of the strictness of their parents. Oppressive parenting always leads to curbing mental growth

Exactly my point. When Parental Controls is a thing there is no balance. You either barely play or play excessively. That can be a bad habit for a kid growing up.

 

[Frost]

I could understand it since parents would want to make sure that the kids don't use time when they should be doing homework on games but at the same time I can understand the kids pain of being limited on the amount of time they can play. It is kinda hard to say whether it is good or bad. It would mainly depend on the situation at hand

 

[CJ]

I'm not entirely sure how this works, however, I think this can be exploited by turning the Switch's wireless mode off. There, play all you want. No online play , though ;-;

Secondly, software suspension really is too harsh. What if the child completed a hard level, or spent too long without saving? All that effort is gone, and they'll have a bad day...

Good selling point though, it will attract parents to buy them a Switch instead of a ps or something.