Teenagers tamed by technology

IT'S every worried parent's dream. Any fears over letting their teenage driver loose on their precious car could be assuaged by a new "youth key".

According to the key's inventor, you can safely give it to the new driver in the house and it will automatically cut the car's performance and limit its speed while they are at the wheel.

There is more welcome news for the worried mothers and fathers of putative boy racers: the key keeps the radio volume low when the windows are open and prevents the car from starting until everyone has their seatbelt on. Who says new technology does not have benefits?

But what else might we develop that will lessen parents' accumulation of grey hairs and worry lines? How about a programme that switches the display on the home PC to a homework page every time Facebook is accessed for more than five minutes? What about an alarm that keeps a teenager awake until dirty clothes strewn on a bedroom floor are picked up and put in the washing basket, or, best of all, a tracking device for bathroom towels that always end up in teenagers' bedrooms – under the piles of dirty clothes?

The possibilities for parent-friendly devices are endless. We look forward to their development.