Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare

When you see everything your children do, what are you still missing? And what will it cost you?

In a near-future United States, surveillance technology’s the hottest trend in high-tech parenting. Children have their every move monitored from birth thanks to repurposed military drones and contact lens digital cameras that show life from your child’s perspective. But in the aftermath of a tragedy at his son’s high school, one father must contend with the dark side of his reliance on these innovations.

Putting a Black Mirror spin on We Need to Talk about Kevin, Patrick Barb’s Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare captures every parent’s worst nightmare as reimagined for the digital age. This lean, propulsive novelette examines the duality of technology—how it brings everyone closer, but also creates artificial barriers between us all. From its mysterious beginning to its inevitable, tragic ending, this tale of horror enabled by technology unveils secret after secret.