Tracker for child - School trip

[StarStripeMama]

Hello my 4 year old is going on their first school trip next week and it’s giving me major anxiety. I know they will be totally fine but it’s an hour away and an all day trip. Can anyone recommend a gps tracker that I can see on my phone, a watch or something for her shoe? I don’t want to sound crazy but it would make me feel better. It won’t be for school but just any school trips? Thanks :-)

Not one person has implied it's not normal to worry about your child on a trip but tracking them is absolutely not a normal response. If you're worried your child will walk off then discuss that with the teacher but tracking them is not reasonable and suggesting otherwise will not help the OP in dealing with her anxiety.

I imagine the incidence of losing kids on school trips is just about the same as them wandering off from the school site itself, i.e. it happens, once in a blue moon, usually because someone's failed to secure a gate or something like that.

Do you drive your kids around? That's probably a greater danger to them.

Some (most) of the responses on here are ridiculously harsh...

There are apps that help track family members, you can even share locations etc on FB and messenger. Tracking isn't a new or unusual thing. People do it for peace of mind and safety...and that is all OP wants. She isn't wanting to track the class or teachers movements or be malicious. She wants to know when her child is traveling and when they are at their destination. Think, for example, she hears of a road accident on the road she knows her DC would be using... She can check and see if DC is anywhere near it so knows if travel time will be longer or, worse, head to appropriate safe point or hospital (without having to wait on communication from police or school)

She isn't stalking her child, she is keeping track of her. Big difference especially considering the child's young age.

My cat wears a tracker collar... By the reasoning on this thread should I consider myself stalking him? No. I'm ensuring he is safe and I can get to him if needed.

OP - if you find a tracker I'd love to know the details as I am definitely interested in one for my children who are starting to do these things.

Tracking a teenager out on their own with their phone is completely different. A 4 year old on a school trip is being closely supervised.

no, the two things are not comparable. I got lost on a school trip at 11 and it took a while before anyone noticed (horrible classmates and old times, still).
It was in a big European city. Different from a gated school which might be left open once in a blue moon.

I think you need to work on your anxiety - maybe some cbt to help you pinpoint why you are so concerned about a school trip that you feel the need to track your child.

You may be worried, but you are being a bit over the top. Balance is needed

It depends on the child, we miss some context. Easy to show off such nonchalance when having a well behaved, complying, neurotypical child. We just don’t know.

Just a heads up that airtags also chirp when they're away from the phone they're connected to, so you run the risk of if chirping randomly when they're on their trip. Found this out when using them in luggage while my daughter was away on a trip (in case she left it on the train), it was chirping at night in her dorm!!

I know it's really worrying when they go on their first trip, I remember being really worried about a school trip to the pantomine when my son was in reception. Honestly, I'd suggest you pop in and speak to the teacher to go through your worries and what their plans are for the trip.

As my kids got older, I just make sure my son knows what to do if he gets separated (from me or on a school trip). We point out the types of people that could help.

Good for you. People will just stop volunteering if they have to deal with this level of neuroticism from parents!

I accompanied my DS on his reception trip and I spent most of the day outside various toilet blocks 😁Teachers and TAs did count them in and out, plus one was in the toilets with them It was very organised.

Op - speak to the teacher or ask for a copy of the risk assessment.

I'll answer your actual question op

The expectations for supervising a 4yo will be very different from an 11yo. The adult in charge will be doing constant headcounts.

Please don’t try to volunteer to go on the trip. That is just tracking by following your child around.
if you continue to feel this anxious it will definitely affect your child.

They won’t get a chance to ‘wander off’ 🙄

Vo.unteer as a chaperone if you are that bothered. But tagging it tracking is way out of line.

AirTag - my kids had an AirTag in their bag at primary, now they are in secondary we can track their phones (and they us). It’s more a practicality really, we need to pick them up from the school bus, or if a school trip runs over. We tag our luggage on a flight too, so we know it’s with us!

My oldest is only 3 so I've not had to deal with a school trip yet, but when I was at school some parents volunteered to help out on a school trip, could you volunteer for the day? Or is it no longer a thing?

I'm always surprised that parents don't track their kids, we track pets, luggage even keys fgs. Why would you not track something much more important to you and vulnerable? Kids go missing all the time.

If you have an iPhone then as people said an Airtag.

If you have an Android then a Tile (Tile Pro you can change the batteries).

You're not being paranoid, they're being naive. It's fine until it's not and then they'll regret not spending £30 to avoid the problem altogether. It's funny because if you said to most people, would you buy a small cheap product to stop your child going missing, most of them would say of course. But the reality is very different and the children become the victims of that.

I think you might be best seeking some medical advice, whilst it's normal to be anxious to be talking about trackers and such like is over the top.

Do 4 year old's go missing all the time? Do you have any stats to back that up?

You're going to cause her some severe issues in life if you don't get help also air tags make a beeping noise every 5 mins when not with the pair paired phone so the teachers will know

It won't give her "peace of mind" if the airtag falls off or is taken off and it looks like her DD had been left behind somewhere!

OP getting your child used to being tracked like this is unhelpful and unhealthy.

There's a thing called Google, you can use it to search for information. My name isn't Alexa or Siri.

Yes! I agree with this. What did the parent say ?

Trackers don't keep people or cats "safe". All they do is let you know where the tracker is.

In what way do you think it keeps your cat safe,?