Tracker for High School child

[nosmartphone]

Hi After some recommendations.

As username suggests, DD does not have a smartphone for high school. She has a new NOKIA which she can make free calls and free texts unlimited on. Sensible child and she's happy with this. Phones are banned in school anyway.

However, I could do with some sort of way of tracking her if for whatever reason she doesn't come out on time/phone dies etc (doubt it as it's got 5 days battery life!) Her school is 9 miles away, not on a bus route so I have to collect/drop off but also have another child 3 miles from that school to collect after her.

Her phone will not take apps so the likes of Life 360 not an option.

I have an android phone so can't so Apple Tags.

Is there anything suitable for android that works in the same way? I've had a quick google but can't work out whether the tags would work out and about or they're only suitable for finding your car keys in the house!

Any recommendations would be appreciated thank you.

if she really has asked you to put a tracker on her then there are versions of air tags that work for Android. I have one on my air pods, a Chipolo. No idea if it would work in your location though.

Absolutely not. For so many reasons.

Check out Panorama this evening at 8pm.

Thank you, this is what I was asking. I saw Chipolo as a suggestion.

I'm the sensible parent on here

with a healthy dose of smug superiority. 🙄

Look on amazon there are plenty there I've got one for DS but he DOES have sen and will be going to a sen school most likely out of area and relying on school transport no point in a phone he can barely read and write

I'm hoping either the phone or the tracker will connect.

Is that really true, everyone you know tracks their kids? How - with their phone? I actually think that is really quite shocking that it's so casually accepted

Not really. I'm the one getting grief which is frankly bizarre.

I'm trying to do the right thing now we all know (hopefully) how damaging smartphones are to a developing brain. If you don't know, suggest you watch Panorama this evening.

How's a tracker going to work if you can't get a signal then?

I have a Samsung Smart Things fob for my cat. It picks up 'pings' from other users phones so doesn't show live location as well as a smart phone. But it is handy as shoes general whereabouts.

Teenagers don't need to be tracked.
It's a ridiculous invasion of privacy.

The teenage years are about building trust ... trackers do not help build trust.

So you come up with a plan. Like we all did when we were kids.

Most likely, that she waits at school or meets you in a specific place in the village, or whatever.

You make sure she understands that being late is for true disasters only, and when it happens you give out to her so she doesn't do it again.

Maybe I'm naive because I don't have secondary aged DC yet, but no I don't think you're asking a perfectly reasonable question or employing sensible parenting by tracking your DC.

lol at texting being old fashioned!!!!

As an aside I assume there's a good reason she isn't entitled to free transport which is a statutory requirement?

I'd have loved to have had a tracker in my backback as a teenager. Would have saved me from lying injured in the road for over 2 hours. Parents didn't know which route home I'd walked and it was before phones.

Behave yourself. I'ts not an invasion of privacy. She's 11. Her whereabouts are my concern.

My kids go to school in a black hole of network. No phone contact or life 360 etc will connect until they are 10mins walk out of the gates (and I'm not rural!), so it's a bit of a non issue if the network is sketchy.

She needs to learn if she wants you to pick her up, she'll need to keep her phone charged.

If she can't manage to do this, buy her a portable charging bank as a PP suggested.

This tracking nonsense is totally invasive.

Of course her whereabouts are your concern, nobody said otherwise.

But tracking your kids leads to them NOT making sensible decisions because they know that mum is watching and will jump into help them ... guiding your kids through the teenage years mean helping them to become responsible, deal with problems and difficulties ready for when they become an adult.

Tracking and following and being there to sort out every little problem or issue is not going to help your child mature into a well rounded adult.

Just my opinion, obviously completely different to yours which is fine, no need to getting snippy with those of us who disagree that tracking is necessary.

Do school not put on transport for those living further away? I used to get on a school bus for a similar distance.

I don't think that trackers will work if you don't get a good mobile signal so I don't think that's a good idea anyway.

If she's sensible like you say, she'll understand that if there's a problem, or is delayed or early, she's to wait at school and ring you.

Well maybe there was no need for those of you who disagree that tracking is necessary to participate in the thread at all?

Hope you find some tech that works OP.

I track my kids...
but surely the answer here is that she walks a pre-arranged route? Which is what you should agree anyway if you know there's no signal on the route (as then neither a phone nor a tag would work)

if you don't want her always walking the same route you decide on two or three and she lets you know which one she's taking before she sets off.

You are quite right. It's not any different to Life 360 on a phone.

It's only intrusive if you don't tell her.

My kids know and consent to Life 360 on their phones.

Just do the same with your DD. Tell her it's there.

I suggest an air tag.

I remember a thread in Relationships where so many people thought tracking their husbands and being tracked by their husbands, was perfectly normal.

The general excuse given was, 'So I can put the kettle on when he's nearly home' 😳🤣

Given your updates about rural signal then in addition to something like an air tag a good agreed back up plan about agreed routes and what to do if you are late are a good idea as well.

I'm sure you will have that sorted though.

Lots of us share things like Life 360 with family members for those sorts of reasons.

Incredible to think that we are all different. Amazing isn't it. 😀👍