Would you put this on your child??

I saw a similar item advertised on TV, and I had to Google it.

Child GPS Tracking Watch >> HOT ITEM - AS SEEN ON TV >> Child GPS Watch | Child GPS Tracking Device | Child GPS Tracking Watch

It's a GPS watch that lets you track your child's movements. :yikes: You can set up electronic "safe zones". It's exactly like those e-fences for dogs. Except instead of shocking your child, it sends you an alert that they've left the safe zone. You can track your child's location on a cell phone or on the computer.

It comes with an "adjustable steel reinforced wrist band and patented locking mechanism". Aww, how nice. And if your child somehow does get the lock undone, it sends an electronic alert that the device has been removed.

Good gawd. I'm all for keeping track of your child, but I don't think that locking the equivalent of a prison anklet on them is right.

Thoughts?

I might put it on a toddler, but not a school aged child. Aurelia is so fast, and so friendly with strangers I'm always terrified someone might snag her and run. I would never ever put that on an older child though. And especially not a teen/preteen. That, aside from being morally wrong, just screams I don't trust you!

This. If I had a kid, I would probably put one on them until they were older. You may laugh at it now, but that first time it even HELPS finds a child who has gotten lost or, god forbid, been kidnapped....

I can see why people would use them but I personally wouldn't. Especially not on a pre/teen. Ugh. That would be horrible.

It depends. It sure beats tying an autistic child to a dog and calling it good.

No kids so BACON!!!!

True. I could see the advantages in the case of autism.

AHAHAHA.

"Yo dude, I got this cool band on my wrist! I can't remove it and it tracks where I am at all times and sends those reports to my parents! ISN'T THIS AWESOME?"

In all seriousness, if I had a child and didn't eat it or give it away in a craigslist "free to good home" ad, if it was necessary, I'd use it. It would take a serious delinquent for me to do that, though.

WHat happened to kids leaving at dawn and coming home when the street lamps came on?

I voted maybe. In most cases I would say no, that's way too smothering, but I can see it working for an especially unruly child under 5 years old, or for special needs kids.

I don't have kids, and I know it's impossible to put myself in the mindset of a parent without being one, but imagining myself with a child, I agree with this, especially the last part.
I know that the parent is the "boss" in the relationship, but I also think there should be some balance of trust.

That's a really good point too. It might even be useful for adults in that case, who consented to wearing one. Robert used to care for a client who loved going for walks in the forest, but was prone to bolt because he'd get spooked. There were a couple of times he had to call the police to help find the client and fill out tons of paperwork on the incident. The client hated being lost too, because it was really scary. If he had the option of wearing a tracker while hiking he might have chosen to do that.

I could see me putting it on my daughter, but I want the zap option to go with it. Just so I can say seeeeeeeeeeee even when I'm not here I can get you. HAHA

I can definitely see that on a small child. DH's family had 8 kids in it and one of his brothers was a wanderer. They learned the hard way that if they didn't constantly herd him along, he'd just get away from them and at least once he was completely left someplace.

After watching "Skins" last night, I think I'd put one of these on a teenager.

GOD. WHY DO TEENAGERS DO THE STUPIDEST CRAP?

My thoughts too Sael. if you've ever had to have a search party for your missing child...including helicopters, etc. then I suppose you'd really appreciate having this GPS device.

I can also see where this would be good for the older population--we have had several adults (with dementia) wonder from home only to be found dead as a result.

Would I use this on a neurotypical ten year old? No. Would I use it on my developmentally challenged 18 year old--quite possibly.

We bought a similar one for my grandmother who has alzheimers. She has a horrible habit of going for walks and getting lost. My grandfather will be able to follow her easily now.

I answered no. I did not however think of a highly impaired teenager . . . in that case, perhaps. Otherwise, no. Frankly, I think this thing is obscene. Moreover, its just feeding into the panic about lost/abducted children, and the tendency to treat children as a cross between criminals and animals. (Yes, some kids are criminals, but putting this on them doesn't strike me as an appropriate solution, or even that helpful.) I think its Orwellian, creepy, and a product of moral panic and hysteria. At best, it is a speciality product for highly impaired children and perhaps (though I think very ill-advised) for those totally out of control . . . not something that should be marketed to the general public as a "safety" device.

This is something of a tangent, but this reminded me of an incident that happened recently. A woman with a stroller was getting off the Metro here in DC, when the train doors closed, with her one side and the baby on the other. Cue mass hysteria! Described as "EVERY MOTHER'S NIGHTMARE!!"

Here's what actually happened. At the next stop, several passangers who saw this happening got off with the baby and stood in the next station, guarding the kid and amusing it, until the mother showed up with Metro police. End of story. This, by the way, is exactly what I would have expected to happen.

But my kid might wander off at the mall! Yep, happens all the time. Happened to me as a kid. There is some astronomically small chance that something will happen. Otherwise, someone will find the kid and find you, and there will be tears, and both you and the kid will have learned something. And when the kid grows up you'll both laugh about it (or the kid won't remember, I don't, actually, I'm just told about it).


And here's a thought . . . if your kid is kidnapped by a psycho . . . what's to stop them from CUTTING OFF THEIR HAND to get that **** thing off? Or taking a hacksaw to it? Those people are psycho, not stupid.

I can see how it makes sense in this situation as well.

As for searches for missing children . . . again, the kind you are talking about, with full SAR out there . . . are really, really rare.

And CHewbecca, Teenagers do things that stupid because they are teenagers.

but if you are part of one--believe me, the panic of that doesn't leave you.