Slashdot Mirror
Would You Put a Tracking Device On Your Child?
Hugh Pickens writes "In 2007 businessman Russell Thornton lost his 3-year-old son at an amusement park. After a frantic 45-minute search, Thornton found the boy hiding in a play structure, but he was traumatized by the incident. It spurred him to build a device that would help other parents avoid that fate. Even though most statistics show that rates of violent crime against children have declined significantly over the last few decades, and that abductions are extremely rare, KJ Dell'Antonia writes that with the array of new gadgetry like Amber Alert and the Securus eZoom our children need never experience the fears that come with momentary separations, or the satisfaction of weathering them. 'You could argue that those of us who survived our childhoods of being occasionally lost, then found, are in the position of those who think car seats are overkill because they suffered no injury while bouncing around in the back of their uncle's pickup,' writes Dell'Antonia. 'Wouldn't a more powerful sense of security come from knowing your children were capable, and trusting in their ability to reach out for help at the moment when they realize they're not?'"
You mean like, I don't know, a phone?
Just buy them an iPhone, with Locate on, long distance off, and Find My Phone on.
And a case with a strap that connects it to their belt.
Problem solved.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I have a tracking device on both of my kids actually. It is Google Latitude and they both know it is on (they turned it on) and they use it to find my wife and I as well. I just used it a bit ago to make sure my son was at school. It is handy and simple. As long as the kids know how it works and set it up themselves it is a good idea.
everything controversial can be made acceptable by saying it will protect the children. Well you know what? fuck the children, we dont need any more of them, and who cares if we lose a couple a year? thins out the population.
I know the pronoun likely is attached to the nearest noun, but I can't tell if Russell Thornton was traumatized and therefore built the tracker, or if the child was traumatized. Really, from the structure of that sentence it really seems like it is Russell who was traumatized.
The risk isn't worth the lost of privacy. If we teach our kids it's ok to be tracked anytime and always, it won't be long until all the kids wear government mandated trackingdevices. Which they get to keep to wear when they grown into adults. So no. It's not worth it, the risk is so small, don't do it. Keep an eye on your kids, make sure your kids know when to kick, bite and scream, but don't go tracking them with hardware. It's stupid.
Kids need to learn how to function without relying on parents, and if you do things right it will help dramatically when your kid is now 18 and headed to some faraway place for college. While 3 is probably a bit too young, by about 8 or 9 the child should be able to go places on their own. And a kid who is never ever lost when he's between 3 and 6 years old is a kid that is probably being watched too closely.
The secret is to do so in stages. For example, my folks wanted me to get used to traveling without their help: At 3, they were still taking me most everywhere. At 6, I was now responsible for walking to school with an older neighbor's kid. By the next year, I didn't have to stick with the neighbor's kid anymore. In theory, something really bad could have happened to me, but the only real challenge came from traffic, not crime.
I am officially gone from
I don't know if I'd put a tracker on my child. Maybe. but I do have a Tagg tracker on my dog.
I get a text alert anytime she leaves the "home zone" (which ranges to about 1/2 block from my house). The dog hasn't escaped from the yard since I started using it, but it's good peace of mind just in case she does - I can track her down easily and even if I'm at work, I'll know immediately if she gets out.
There are definitely privacy concerns, for example, anyone that looks at our Tagg activity will know when we're on vacation and where we are, and can pretty easily guess what time we go to work and what time we come home.
The Tagg device itself works very well - it's about the size of an adult's watch and is small enough to snap on the dog's collar. The battery lasts for about 2 weeks because the home docking station emits an RF signal that tells the device when it's in the home zone, so it doesn't waste battery power trying to get a GPS lock or talk to the cell phone network while the dog is at home. Even when the dog leaves the home zone, it doesn't use the GPS unless you explicitly request that the device be tracked through the website or smartphone app. When you request tracking, within a few minutes the device reports its GPS location every few minutes. If the device becomes detached from the dog's collar, it will notify you and report its location. It uses Verizon's cell phone network, so only works within cell phone range.
I think one of the reasons there's an obesity epidemic in the U.S., particularly in children, is because parents are scared sh*tless to let their kids outside or out of their yards for fear that something bad would happen to them. So they end up staying home and watching TV or playing video games...leading a sedentary lifestyle and eating. It was quite a bit different many decades ago when I was a kid. So I think that having a way to track your kid isn't a bad thing if it will give parents peace of mind and allow kids to ride bikes and exercise more, the way dinosaurs like me did when we were kids.
Or you could, you know, be a better parent and keep closer tabs on your little precious bundle of joy. Or just not have them if you can't handle the responsibility.
But I'm sure I'll be modded into oblivion by said parents.
I would have no issue whatsoever with putting a tracker on my child. For anyone under the age of 18, the parent is ultimately liable for their actions. If my kid gets in a car crash and it is their fault, I have to pay for it. If they break a store window for fun, I have to pay for it.
However, such a tool should not be a "why is my kid 5 minutes late?" type of tool. I would only use it in emergencies. For example, curfew is 11 pm and by 7am the next morning, they are still not home. Or my child walks home from school and usually gets home about 3pm, I call them multiple times and the school does not know where they are, I would use such a device. Also, I would love a feature that let me know when they left a certain radius or approached a certain area. Certain areas being the known criminal enterprise areas.
There is a difference between being "big brother" and using technology to enhance your parenting.
sudo make me a sandwich
'Wouldn't a more powerful sense of security come from knowing your children were capable, and trusting in their ability to reach out for help at the moment when they realize they're not?'"
Sure, when they're 16 years old. Throw a four-year-old out in the middle of a large crowd of unfamiliar people and rational thought is the last thing you can expect. That's why it takes a rational adult to calm them down and ask "Are you lost?"
I wish I could be that parent that never loses their child, but I'm a realist and accept that it can happen, so these tracking devices sound appealing to me for use on very young children who are as of yet incapable of rational, level-headed responses to scary situations like getting lost in a shopping mall.
I wouldn't stick it on my 16-year-old's pants when he or she starts driving. That's a different situation involving a (hopefully) much more mature and logical person. Not to mention I probably don't want to know where those pants are at certain moments. ("GPS Location Update: on the floor at boyfriend's house")
When my son is 3 years old, he'll be on a leash at an amusement park. Seriously. They make harnesses just for this purpose.
Don't get me wrong - when he's older, I will not be a helicopter parent. But a three year old is just a baby that can run. Fast. And if he's anything like I was as a kid, I'm in for big trouble.
:wq
I'd want one for when the kid becomes a teenager.
Back in the olden days, when my kid was very small and most phones didn't have GPS, she carried one of those mountaineer walkie-talkies with GPS when we were on vacation. She had fun playing with it and it helped guarantee that we could find her when she got lost in a crowd. Later when she got better at identifying her position, she carried a smaller walkie-talkie strapped to her wrist. (The first day she wore it, she wandered off during a parade and got separated from us. She called and said she was by "the big lemon" -- a lemonaid cart a few blocks away.)
Later, she carried a smartphone with GPS turned on. I periodically looked her up in Latitude, called her when her position was not where I expected. I did this because she traveled a lot between 12 and 18, to tutors, night classes, and various school functions.
Now she's 18, has her own car, and the GPS in her Bionic is routinely turned off, because, apparently, it's no longer my business to know where she is. I have learned to accept this. She will turn on the GPS if she gets lost or has an equipment failure, and I can then pinpoint her position and send help or go myself.
Regarding having the satisfaction of getting un-lost yourself, there is truth to that. At six or seven, she was quite proud of the fact that she was able to identify her position (the big lemon) well enough for us to reconnect with her. (That may not be the best example.) She liked knowing where *I* was (I keep gps on all the time) through Latitude, and enjoyed using this knowledge to find me. More recently, she called me, said she was lost trying to drive to a friend's house, was very frustrated, and wanted me to go get her. As it was 11:00 PM on a work night, I was reluctant to do this, as she had gas and wasn't in danger. She figured it out on her own and was quite proud of herself afterwards. (The solution, by the way, was quite clever: The problem was a hiccup in Google Maps, which steered her to the wrong place when she entered a certain address. She tried an address close to her goal, and that worked well enough to find her goal.)
So yeah, I recognized very early on that my daughter doesn't have the instinct to cling to a parent, and as a result, we were early adopters of technological solutions, upgrading as new solutions became available. These days it's hard to find a phone that *doesn't* have GPS. Parenthetically, I'm all for giving a kid a cell phone (one of the cheap ones) at an early age. For her to be able to contact me in emergencies trumps other considerations.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
No thanks. I think I'll stick with teaching my kids to find a specific location we both know and stay there until I find them. Or, better yet, teach them not to wander off. Better still I'll not ignore my kids while we're in a busy public place where they can easily wander off in the first place.
I know, it only takes a second, and I've "lost" a kid (not my own) for the longest 5 minutes of my life, but it's still better than using technology to track everything. There's already enough invasion of my and my children's "privacy" as it is.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
True, but children don't have a lot of liberties to begin with. Can they get a license to drive a car (under 16)? Can they buy and consume alcohol, or cigarettes legally? Can they vote? Can they legally work at any age? etc.
Children should be micro-chipped until they are age 18 with GPS tracking. After that they are considered an adult and should be allowed to have it surgically removed. Of course , as some one who does not have children after watching the red-necks breed where i live, i also think they should also be put on leashes , not allowed in any public area including grocery stores, malls, movie theaters, or any where else i may want to go and not have to see your disobedient kid putting its disease infused hands all over everything.
I have tracking devices on my children.
The device is made by Apple.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I used to work for the company (Zoombak) Securus acquired. During testing of our device (originally, designed for medium/large dogs), I had my son (who has ADHD) wear our device while on a Scout trip to the middle of a large National park. The device communicated via SMS over T-Mobile's network. It worked well and I knew his location throughout the entire trip.
When the economy turned, people began using the devices not for tracking their pets, but other people (usually, spouses, girlfriends, etc) without their knowledge. (We used to laugh at some of the names users gave their devices). Some used the device to stalk and kill their intended victims. That's the down-side to their use.
The primary difference I see in their new device is the one feature we wanted to see added to ours - that is a button to send an alert. They also improved the ability to obtain a location even when a GPS signal could not be obtained. Given the recent events where kids have been abducted and killed - the moment that somebody realized there was a problem, their location could be ascertained. Hypothetically, if the girls had these devices, they might still be alive today.
If you have been to a large amusement part and lost sight of your child, being able to pull out your smartphone and find your kid is a blessing.
It's good to see they are getting some good press on this.
I think a tracking device is bad because it induces a false sense of security. It's not so much about where your kid is, it's about what he is doing.
From my experience watching over my now 6 (and a half !) yr old nephew, losing sight of him is not really an issue per se. I've lost track of him a handful of times over the years - how far can a kid go in 10 seconds ? VERY ! Those instances only served to motivate me to watch him more closely, which is useful for the really dangerous stuff: not stopping at crossings, not staying on the sideway, climbing chairs/tables when you can't even walk, finding the adults fussing over you when you get close to an electrical outlet a lot of fun...
I'm betting the ratio of kids hurt or dead because of being lost/kidnapped to kids hurt/dead because of not being watched closely enough is one to ten thousands. Let's not get the issue wrong, especially when "fixing" the wrong issue can lead us to falsely assume that the real issue is fixed, too.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
If the hunt isn't challenging, the kill isn't satisfying.
The tracker needs to go on mom and dad. Ask any 3 year old and they'll tell you "I never get lost but mom and dad get lost sometimes and they freak out when they do"
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
I don't see a downside to GPS tracking your kids. We use GPS on our smart phones to find directions to places in our direct neighborhood. It's ubiquitous. The whole "Children need to find out how to get unlost by themselves" is complete luddite garbage. Children are entering a future where this kind of technology is intrinsically linked to their development. Keeping them inside of a tech-free bubble, just because the parents never grew up with the same technology around them ("And they turned out fine!") is just as bad as brainwashing them into religion at an early age, and yet it's something I often hear from my friends and co-workers who are in the technology industry. I also often see it here on Slashdot whenever someone poses a question on what technology they should introduce to their kids.
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
I was actually talking to my Mom the other day...laughing about when I was about 2-3yrs..I wandered off from her, and got lost in the dept store...and they had to call over the intercom for her to get me.
She said I never would wander off after that, and if I acted bad, she would tell me she was leaving..and I'd cry and promise to act right..etc.
But, not long after that, I'd guess when I was about 1st grade...when we'd go to the mall, she'd leave me in the toy section or the book section and I'd be happy there till she was done. A couple years later, she'd let me wander the mall to look at the book stores, etc......
I can't believe things are that much more dangerous now, are there? I often wonder, instead of more 'craziees' out there...if it is just more sensationally reported due to needing to fill up 24/7 news?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
My parents didn't need one, why should I?
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
hehe... I have one on my wife, time to time she wonders how i show up in malls where she is shopping.
More to the current, topic, I think this question needs to be asked from parents, slashdot crowd, al though teksavvy is, IMO the wrong crows. My views on parenthood changed after having my own. Instead of being pissed at parents with cranky kids in flights, I now sympathise with them.
As a parent, I wouldn't mind having one on my kids. I don't know the statistics, but its like thunderstorm, you wouldn't send your kid out in one, however unlikely, so given then choice, I would like something to track them easily.
I have tracking devices on my children.
The device is made by Apple.
Your iPad is not your child.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Would You Put a Tracking Device On Your Child?
The answer to that is an emphatic, "Yes and No." Slightly off-topic, but I think it is important to keep these thoughts fresh in our minds, in the current context:
The answer to that exact question is, "Yes." I might put a tracking device on my child, if I chose to, for my own reasons, under my own authority and control, without coercion or consideration by society, government, or any third party.
But do not confuse that with the question, "Would I consent to allowing someone else to put a tracking device on my child, or would I put a third-party-controlled tracking device on my child?" The answer to that is a very tenuous, "Maybe, but I need a lot more information and some serious legal accountability."
Even more hazardous is the question, "Would you consent to society mandating that children wear a tracking device under a third party's control?" The answer to that is an emphatic, "No."
Ubiquitous tracking is presumption of guilt. In my nation, the government is not authorized to create such a law. Let us not slip down the slope by failing to restate those limits early and often.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Sure, it needs to be asked from parents - but you'll still get a skewed view. So much learning comes from making mistakes, I fear if you take away the ability to make those mistakes you will end up with people who don't have the right appreciation for the consequences of their actions.
+1 Disagree
It's called an iPhone. Your kid will carry it willingly, no stress, no questions asked.
Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...
Ripley did it before South Park -- she found Newt in the alien nest because of the tracking device. That was what, 1986?
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
What they really need is shock collars. See, you take the collar and you put it on the parent's neck. If the child strays too far away it activates.