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Original poster

Hi want to track my kids?

69 replies

muggymum · 10/08/2017 21:29

Ok I know this seems abit full on and fame me if I require it but I am wanting to purchase a tracker / GPS on my DC.

Nothing sinister, they are both below 10yo. They are rarely out of my sight. However but I was wondering if there was an sort of tracker I could have for them.

I mean I have one for my keys, and one on my car and relatively they don't mean rock all compared to DC. Just something I could slip into clothing or in shoes.

Is there such a thing?

OP posts:
Original poster
muggymum · 10/08/2017 22:00

Thanks magic. My one and only only concern is then being snatched. I've never let one of them go to shop or park alone

OP posts:
LML83 · 10/08/2017 22:01

There is a watch on Amazon for kids. Around £20. You also have to pay £5ish a month for a sim card.

The watch can make or receive calls from 2 numbers (mum and dad).

I plan to get one for my 7 year old DD more so I can tell her dinner is ready come home rather than take one year old ds out to look for her. But the GPS is a great feature too.

My DD is delighted at the idea as it can phone!

MannersMaketh · 10/08/2017 22:02

Darling, I furnished my two little devils with iPhones, then added them to my family account. With one little push of the button on Find My iPhone, I can see the little sods... or at least where they left their phones.

Hope this helps.

Ysolla · 10/08/2017 22:04

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Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 10/08/2017 22:05

YANBU to want to, but I think YWBU if you actually did. For playing out the safest way at age 6 is to watch them. Set them limits of where they can go (a lamppost each side of the front door and not to cross the road worked for us) let them out for 20 mins and watch them from the window to see if they do what you've asked. If so, gradually you won't have to watch them continually. We have rules about where they go, who they are with and I give them a set time to be home even if they've are allowed back out after I have seen them.

BizzyFizzy · 10/08/2017 22:06

I have my kids on Find my IPhone, and they have me. It is such peace of mind and practical.

honeyroar · 10/08/2017 22:16

I think it's quite sensible while they're young. When they're a bit older and have phones and find my phone options you can use that. In both cases I'd tell them you're doing it so you know they're safe.

JumpingJellybeanz · 10/08/2017 22:16

I'm considering something similar for my DS. He's 4, utterly fearless, a bolter and extremely fast. He also has a provisional autism diagnosis.

A few weeks a go the fair was in town. It was really busy. He was on a bouncy castle and I took my eyes off him for the seconds it takes to bend down and pick a bottle of water out of a basket, and he was gone. Half an hour it took to find him. The longest half hour of my life.

Quartz2208 · 10/08/2017 22:18

How many children do you think get snatched you seem unnecessarily anxious, how do you handle school trips?

You can halve find your phone or a watch that they know about you can't track them without them knowing

BitOutOfPractice · 10/08/2017 22:18

I think you need to have s long hard think about this. Because you are going to have to let them have some kind of life and independence you know. They are not inanimate objects like your car. They have a right to live their lives. You're saying they have never ever played out? I think that's quite sad

NamedyChangedy · 10/08/2017 22:20

We slipped a Tile (small tracker) into my 6 year old's pocket when we went to Legoland a few months ago, as he has a habit of wandering off to 'explore', something his younger brother never does. He knew it was there but wasn't at all bothered by it. In the end we didn't have to use it, but I was running after him all day - he just doesn't think!

I can understand this for little ones - by the time they're old enough to have a smartphone you'd assume they can be responsible for themselves...

TheHodgeoftheHedge · 10/08/2017 22:21

You might find this interesting reading about how small the chance is of your child being abducted compared to what a level of fear we have of it in modern parenting.

www.attn.com/stories/6974/odds-of-child-getting-kidnapped

Quote:
Statistics vary, but several sources suggest that the odds of your child being kidnapped are about one in 300,000. To put that in perspective, the odds that you'll choke to death are around one in 3,400

wafflyversatile · 10/08/2017 22:22

Anyone into snatching kids would probably bin their phone or watch quicksmart. If you know tracker devices exist then so do they.

Maybe work on your paranoia/anxiety instead. It's better to start letting them have a little freedom. Better to prepare them for independence. Hobbling their development because of your fears is more likely to be what fucks them up.

corythatwas · 10/08/2017 22:25

I think you have a bigger problem than whether to use a particular type of technology.

You seem to believe that child abduction is a common occurrence (it really, really isn't: compared to the risk of being killed when driven by you in the family car, the risk is tiny).

Your plan is not actually very practical: surely an abductor would be quite likely to just get rid of the child's clothes and other possessions?

You don't seem to have a plan for when you are going to start letting your children do normal things like going to the nearest shop. You can't put it off forever, so how are you going to handle your anxiety when the time comes? Are you doing anything to deal with your anxiety now?

missiondecision · 10/08/2017 22:25

If your children are snatched the kidnapper will probably be well aware of needing to look for phones and watches with gps, therefore rendering your tracker useless.
It serves you with a false sense of safety and you stop being so vigilant.
Your anxiety alarms your children and they are too scared to go anywhere for fear of being kidnapped.
If they are not old enough to be out of your sight, don't let them.

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 10/08/2017 22:26

I agree that the being lost in a crowd thing might be a good reason, though I trained mine to hold my hand in those circs by threatening baby reins (reigns?) if they didn't. I even kept a pair in my bag as a threat until 2nd DS was 6 as he was a sod for running off.

corythatwas · 10/08/2017 22:28

The circumstances when a tracker makes sense is when you have a child with SN who might bolt and be lost in a crowd.

corythatwas · 10/08/2017 22:29

cross-post

nomorebabiesyet · 10/08/2017 22:35

Op i understand you. Youove your kids enough to want to make surr they are safe. I tjink they are young enoigh for one of those watch things. Until they start secondary school then i would do the iphone thing. Its for safety you are hardly stalking themHmm not sure why you are getting flamed. If they were say 16 + i would say yabu. But they are small. Get the watch and then when they are 11/12 they will probably have a phone you can add to the family account anyway.

buckeejit · 10/08/2017 22:59

I want them for my dc. Ds is 7 & I know he'd love the idea

BitOutOfPractice · 10/08/2017 23:09

Knowing where they are abs knowing they are safe are two very different things.

Voice0fReason · 10/08/2017 23:41

Just means I know they are safe.
A GPS tracker won't keep them safe.
Stranger abduction is incredibly rare. Abuse by someone they know is far more likely. You could assume they are safe because they are at the park or at a friend's house, but they could be being abused while they are there.
Children need to grow up without be tracked.
You need to learn to cope with them being out of your sight by teaching them how to deal with situations when you are not there.

HeteronormativeHaybales · 11/08/2017 07:33

I wouldn't let my 6yo play out unsupervised either. But my ds2, who is 10 in a month, cycles to school and to his best friend's alone, and across our small town with a group of friends or his older brother. No trackers here. Firm boundaries/rules on agreed routes, check-ins, activities. .

I agree that knowing where they are and knowing they are safe are two very different things. You want a salve for your anxiety that in the long run will do neither you nor your children any good.

Original poster
muggymum · 11/08/2017 07:38

I now an anxious mess I assure you. I'm quite a laid back person. I don't know was just an idea. It's something I'll hopefully never need but if I ever did it would be life saving.

in the not so distant future they are going to be leaving my side. It's reassurance for us all if we they don't arrive back when expected etc.

I had never really considered it until very recently but I bet these are something of the future x

OP posts:
NeonFlower · 11/08/2017 07:50

The trouble is, tracking will either give you a false sense of security (and you won't keep an eye enough), or repeatedly checking their whereabouts will hugely increase your anxiety (because checking does) and your kids as they grow will feel your anxiety and will be adversely affected by it. Simple parental authoratitiveness is your friend - no, you are too young to play out yet (unless you live in an extremely unusual location where you can sit outside and oversee). Then give your children encouragement to develop their independence when they are an appropriate age, without repeatedly checking up on them. Abduction is a tiny but very scary risk, anxiety disorders are becoming an enourmous and highly likely risk.

I don't disagree with a device for trips out to busy places though.

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