Tracking watch for DD

[FancyMauveDreamer]

I’d like to get my 11-year-old DD a watch with an in-built tracker, so I can track her whereabouts (make sure she gets to school/home safely).

Has anyone used these before, what are your experiences? Any recommendations?

Don’t know about a watch but if she has a phone we use Life360, DD feels safer being tracked.

I'd recommended Life 360 as well. Ive used it for donkeys years. It's really good and it's free.

I don't think these devices are helpful. They give an illusion of security but don't actually do much. Teens for example say they are going to X's house, then leave the watch/phone and go elsewhere.

Also giving your kids the feeling they need to be tracked is not healthy.

She’s got a retro Nokia, so can’t download apps.

I’m not worried about her deceiving me of her whereabouts, it’s more about peace of mind that she’s got home/school safely while I’m at work.

Could you please elaborate what you mean about it not being healthy? I thought it shows I care about her, but I’m open to other views if I’ve missed something.

We used a tracking watch when my son first started travelling to school independently - because I wasn't super keen on getting him a phone too early - but quite frankly it wasn't great. The GPS wasn't as reliable as a phone (seems to be an issue generally going by reviews) and the buttons were small so if he wanted to send a message it was generally garbled and made little sense - and the audio was also a bit shit. We ended up just swapping to a phone.

We use an Xplora 6play for my 9 year old. You have a parent app which controls the contacts, set school hours and track when you want to. You can set safety zones, so I get an alert when she arrives and leaves the school area.
It’s been working well for us and I like that unlike most phones there are no games or apps.

I'd say it makes her fearful of the world I don't think it would help with anxiety

Is she happy to be tracked? Since my dds have been driving we all have each other on iPhone find my friends thing just in case. But this is fully consensual and they also track me and DH.

a smart phone seems like a less intrusive way to track each others. A watch kind of feels like slapping a tracker on her through lack of trust. With smart phones you can all track each other and it’s actually kind of useful when you’re out somewhere and get separated or go off to different things but want to find each other again.

Yes, I spoke to her about it and she said she doesn’t mind. She said she wants a new watch anyway so might as well get one with a tracker.

Do you think people who choose not to track their children don't care about them??!

Of course you care.

But do you really want to send the message, every single minute of every day, that you need to surveille your DD because you're afraid she'll be lost or harmed?

I understand your anxiety about your DD, but tracking her wouldn't change the odds of something terrible happening, whilst also sending the message she can't manage the ordinary things.

Teach her to text you if the bus is late.

I don’t think it’s about tracking every single movement. It’s good to get an alert to say my child has arrived at school when she bikes in and if she’s out and about in the evening I can check to see where she is. I’ve explained to my daughter that although the watch will tell me where she is I will not be checking her every movement. I don’t need or want to. The main function of the watch is to call/message so I can contact her and she me if needed.
I think it’s all about how parents talk to their children about things. I haven’t made my daughter fearful by her having the watch.
I have taught younger students though who have been afraid of not being able to track their parents movements which I think is worrying.

Don’t track her. Simple.

Apple Watch? AirTag?

We’ve got this too for my 8 yo son. It’s brilliant he’s had it for just over a year now and no problems at all it’s saved him a few times when his bike has broken or his older brother left him. He just rang us.

DS has had an Apple Watch since he was 8. Great tech.

I never tracked DS as I felt it undermined trust and growing independence. Schools ring you if they don't turn up (happened a few times when the school bus was late) and he would text me when he got home from school. Socially the deal was he had to tell me where he was going and if that changed I needed a prompt update. He was good at that as he usually needed picking up in the evening. He knew if he was found to be lying then we would introduce tracking. I find it weird when adults track each other, be they partners or adult children (which seems to be a legacy thing).

DS has an XPlora watch which is good although he was just allowed out properly alone for the first time and didn’t come back on time!! So maybe he’s not old enough for that - but the watch is good! The ‘safe zone’ is too large as we have woods by our house, so watch could say he was safe home but he could be lost in the woods. So I need to see if I can reduce that.

Can somebody please explain to me why you would track a child doing normal things? I just don’t understand.