Should you GPS TRACK your Children?

[nicklmg]

Learn more about the Snowfox Trackerphone: http://geni.us/Q8AnWBS

 

Buy GPS Child Trackers on Amazon: http://geni.us/ddZX

 

We truly live in a connected age where devices like the Snowfox Trackerphone allow you to keep an eye on your kids from afar. But is this a fantastic safety measure, or is it "helicopter parenting" taken too far?

 

 

[Natsoup]

Taken too far. Kids won't be allowed to be kids anymore. I may only be 22, but if I had a gps strapped on me for all of my years before I left home, I would be a much less interesting person than I am now, that's for sure.

[Megah3rtz]

Reminds me of a commercial on the GTA IV radio

[3NMa]

I don't think u should gps track ur kids. I don't feel safe when everything is connected like that and someone potentionally could hack the tracker and ur kid too

 

 

Plus I don't like the fact that evryone keeps track of me. They are gonna put cameras on my sugarfree school now, and I really, really hate it. That means that they will have evidence of me eating choklate every day

[goodtofufriday]

7 minutes ago, ScootsMcgoots said:

I could see this going wrong in  a myriad of ways.

Depends where you live. City kids like in new york arent let out to just play by themselves all day

[trag1c]

[PiGHamM3R]

... So weak ...

 

Hm -- Well, I'm not a father (yet) so perhaps input from the parents in the crowd (also looking at Linus) would be better.

 

However, with the world going to shit quicker than "Idiocracy" predicted; I'd be more inclined to GPS track kids to a certain age, there is a time to cut the umbilical cord; and looking for older people suffering from a myriad of diseases that cause memory loss, this would be interesting for retirement homes & older people in general.

 

You want to know where little Sally is at, especially if you lose her at a public event (or Walmart); but if Sally is now 21 and at a party with lots of alcohol, you *shouldn't* be tracking your young-adult (cue over-protective parents, inc. mine)

 

However, should it fall into the wrong hands, such as a predator, this could prove very harmful and really cause issues down the line -- or to not even track a child but let's say a spouse, or your car, or some other valuable target.

[corrado33]

15 minutes ago, Natsoup said:

Taken too far. Kids won't be allowed to be kids anymore. I may only be 22, but if I had a gps strapped on me for all of my years before I left home, I would be a much less interesting person than I am now, that's for sure.

I disagree. A GPS will allow parents to let their kids be more free. If the choice for parents is "Not let my kid go play" or "Let my kid go play with a tracker" the latter is definitely better.

[kurtstir]

20 minutes ago, nicklmg said:

Learn more about the Snowfox Trackerphone: http://geni.us/Q8AnWBS

 

Buy GPS Child Trackers on Amazon: http://geni.us/ddZX

 

We truly live in a connected age where devices like the Snowfox Trackerphone allow you to keep an eye on your kids from afar. But is this a fantastic safety measure, or is it "helicopter parenting" taken too far?

 

 

Only for kids ages 0-5

[trag1c]

I hate helicopter parents. They create children that are inapt at everything they do. They possess no problem solving skills as there can be no problems to solve with helo parents. They never can fend for them selves or make any decisions on their own.

[King_of_Oz]

16 minutes ago, Natsoup said:

Taken too far. Kids won't be allowed to be kids anymore. I may only be 22, but if I had a gps strapped on me for all of my years before I left home, I would be a much less interesting person than I am now, that's for sure.

I agree. In the 60's, if you saw a kid walking alone down the street, that would be fine. Nowadays, you would call the police or something.

[corrado33]

22 minutes ago, Natsoup said:

Taken too far. Kids won't be allowed to be kids anymore. I may only be 22, but if I had a gps strapped on me for all of my years before I left home, I would be a much less interesting person than I am now, that's for sure.

And again, I'll note that times have changed. Back in the day neighborhoods looked after each other. If people saw a kid crying on the side of the road, they stopped and asked what was wrong. Now-a-day that'd almost never happen. People were nicer back in the day. At least that's how the media has portrayed it. I wouldn't know for sure, I wasn't there.

 

I grew up surrounded by farms. I played in the woods my whole childhood.

[Zagna]

Translating a review I found from a .fi web shop

Quote

One touch connection between 80 year old mum and son. Recommend. When my mother wants to talk to me, she presses the button and I can call her back with my smartphone and she can respond by pressing a button and talking to the Snowfox. Being blind she is unable to use a phone but she can press a button. Incredible device.

I think this has its own uses and I believe one day this device will save someone's life.

[trag1c]

9 minutes ago, King_of_Oz said:

I agree. In the 60's, if you saw a kid walking alone down the street, that would be fine. Nowadays, you would call the police or something.

I was raised in a small town till I was about 12 (moved away in 2008.) My friends and I would be riding quads, dirt bikes, skidoo's, shooting paintball and airsoft guns. We would often have an older siblings with us but that was about it. No mother or father anywhere in sight. No cellphones, no gps. We were always playing in the dense brush of northern Alberta. But now I see parents with kids that are on a harness and leash...

[King_of_Oz]

1 minute ago, trag1c said:

I was raised in a small town till I was about 12 (moved away in 2008.) My friends and I would be riding quads, dirt bikes, skidoo's, shooting paintball and airsoft guns. We would often have an older siblings with us but that was about it. No mother or father anywhere in sight. No cellphones, no gps. We were always playing in the dense brush of northern Alberta. But now I see parents with kids that are on a harness and leash...

Yeh, those leash things are sad.

[Tieox]

No.

 

 

[samcool55]

Well, it all depends on the situation, but i think i know a reasonable compromise.

 

If the kid is really young and barely understands the concept of "stranger danger" use the tracker.

Once the kid is old enough to properly understand risks being alone outside, discuss what he/she would like.

If the kid doesn't want the tracker anymore, that's fine. If the kid wants to keep it, also fine.

 

Just make sure they understand the purpose of it and that they will have to get rid of the tracker eventually because you can't take care of your kids forever...

 

I think they are usually old enough around the same age as when they get their first mobile phone.

Also, be transparent. Don't just ask them where they have been, show them all the info you have, in the end it's important they know what you know about them.

 

 

[SageOfSpice]

29 minutes ago, MacHiver said:

First!!!

I don't think u should gps track ur kids. I don't feel safe when everything is connected like that and someone potentionally could hack the tracker and ur kid too

 

That's absurd. You can't hack children.

 

 

Overall, I guess... It depends.

I think it's smart for very young children, but unnecessary for older children.

If you need to track older children, you can just do it through their smartphones, anyways.

 

 

[Granular]

You could have gone a little into the ToS of the thing.

How responsible you are with the data doesn't matter if the company is peddling it to advertisers and handing it out to 'security' agencies.

[FlightRisk]

If I pretend for a minute we live in an imaginary world where people don't abuse things.

Speaking as a non-parent, I think this is a great device for younger children just learning to walk that enjoy running away. Or perhaps for slightly older children at larger events with large crowds e.g. a concert. I would almost want a revised version of this without the GPS, simply so you could give it to your child so they can contact you in an emergency without the potential issues of handing them a smartphone. I guess you could potentially get a cheap basic phone though, I'm not too sure on the functionality (battery life) of that one.

 

Back to the reality that people abuse things. This opens so many opportunities for abuse between; companies selling even more of your data, security breaches of data so predators could have a lot of sensitive location data or even the old over bearing parent. I just don't think the benefits outweigh the potential risks so that I would use one, especially with how easy it would be for a predator to disable the device in its current form.

Ultimately I am not a parent, so I am going to reserve the right to change my opinion should that ever actually happen.

[elkenrod]

13 minutes ago, FlightRisk said:

Back to the reality that people abuse things. This opens so many opportunities for abuse between; companies selling even more of your data, security breaches of data so predators could have a lot of sensitive location data or even the old over bearing parent. I just don't think the benefits outweigh the potential risks so that I would use one, especially with how easy it would be for a predator to disable the device in its current form.
 

 

Good points.  I'll also add that as people come to rely on devices like this more, and actually parenting less, the likelihood of shenanigans increases.

 

[| Rembo |]

i think it's fine till like the age of like 12 ish

[Razor512]

For that device to be useful, it really needs more functions. The problem with alert devices, is that they do not ensuire that you will receive help immediately when you are in danger. Thus you need to be able to protect yourself until help arrives.

 

It needs to be redesigned to have 2 hot-swap batteries, and a built in tazer, with easy to replace cartridges. Thus if the kid is confronted by a violent criminal, he or she can taze them until the police arrive. A dual battery hot-swap system will ensure that fresh batteries can be installed without interrupting the tazing. Thus it will initially have 2 batteries in, and while tazing the criminal, the kid can ready an extra battery, then as son as one cell is drained, it can be easily ejected, and a new one inserted, as the device smoothly alternated between the batteries.

 

The a sense line can also be present so that once the police arrive, if they want to continue tazing the criminal, they can deploy their tazer, and the detection of the new current source, will cause the cartridge to instantly disconnect.

 

If that can't be done, then at least have them keep a small can of pepper spray.

 

Remember, when you are in immediate danger, the last thing you want to deal with is the fact that help may be 10-20 minutes away.

[wiLD0kl]

I wonder what children think of this these days if you ask them.

 

When I was young, I hung out with the neighboring kids, so my mom always had to call, or walk around, to find out where I was at. I had nothing to hide. It was always 'dinner's ready' or 'we're going somewhere'. A tracker or a cell phone would have made my mom's life easier. It was only around 13 that I found it to be nagging. At which point, I'd know how to put a phone into airplane mode, or just leave it at home.

 

I think I would be for giving my (hypothetical) children decent tools in being able to contact me. And with their permission, for me to contact them. For everything else, like keeping them safe, gadgets like these would give me very little peace-of-mind compared to maintaining mutual trust with my children, living in a community I can trust, and teaching my children how to interact with strangers.

 

I'll probably ask my parents what 9-year-old me would have thought of this, but me looking back now, it's cool.

[Wyzzy Moon]

I think its fine as long as you discuss it with the kid and both agree. Never force it and the kid should be able to not want it. If you explain why you'd like it it would be like "ow your going to a friend? Take you phone(because kids nowadays have phones) i want you to be reachable" but than "ow take you gps tracker"

 

I can super duper see this beeing used for evil but having this product not exists wont fix that. The tech is here, not using it for good wont stop the bad guys from using it for evil.