Tracking Devices on Preschoolers

[GregW]

At least the current trackers are in a tunic. They could be implanted in the kid's butt.

I don't remember much about being 5 years old but I do remember it did not include remaining in sight of my parents at all times. As I got older the staying out of sight became more important. I got very good at avoiding my step father when he was drunk. Which was most of the time.

The time between 10 and 14 years old were great. Them my mother moved out to avoid incessant beatings and we would up in poverty. Years later I asked her why and when she told me about the beatings I simply said you should have told me and I would have taught him to stop.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by Neuling

I would not want to be responsible for monitoring the signals, they would sue the **** out of me if anything happened to a child

Not wanting to be responsible seems to be a recurring theme.

With freedom comes responsibility.

[Wayland Woman]

I can see tracking devices on certain kids and adults who have a history of getting lost or running away. At least a couple times each year it will be on our local news that a manhunt going on to find someone with Alzheimer's or a mentally challenged kid who wandered away from home.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by Wayland Woman

I can see tracking devices on certain kids and adults who have a history of getting lost or running away. At least a couple times each year it will be on our local news that a manhunt going on to find someone with Alzheimer's or a mentally challenged kid who wandered away from home.

Do you concede this power to anyone other than the child's legal guardian ? People have fits for seeing parents with "leashes" on toddlers and young children in public places but see no problem with tracking devices placed on youngsters by the school???

[Katarina Witt]

First, let me say that my oldest daughter was a pre-schooler during the hysteria days of "child kidnappings". It took years after it was widely acknowledged that it was generally non-custodial parents or other people known to the child who did these kidnappings for the hysteria to die down. I was in a babysitting co-op with some people who didn't even want you, the sitter, to take their kids to a park, or even let the kids play outside if the yard wasn't fenced, even if an adult was present with the kids. They felt that a kidnapper could overcome an adult with several children and drag the kids into a waiting van. It does sound silly now, but that was the temper of the times.

Originally Posted by natalayjones

I just read in the paper recently that another child died after being left in the daycare van for hours in the summer heat so I guess maybe the concept of watching children without tracking devices is just too hard for many caregivers these days.

I read an article about this in a parenting magazine, about how some mother "forgot" her kid was in the car when she went to the office. The kid died of heat related issues. I found this whole scenario implausible. I always knew if my kids were in the car, even when they were non-verbal and strapped into a car seat in the back.

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

They won't. The bar needs to be raised on teachers and caregivers of pre-school and elementary aged children.

Where do you think the bar is now? Do you think they hire people off the street w/o checking them out? My daughter has worked at two day care centers, and she has had to be fingerprinted and have a background check at each. Teachers, too, get fingerprinted and checked out.

Originally Posted by nightbird47

Absolutely true and the real difference. If it was my kid I'd tell the school no. No jersery. No rfd chip. no tagging of children.

Yes, people will say its for their "safety" but we MUST start thinking and projecting ahead. What else does this do? What other effects? Does this make further and more invasive ripping away of privacy sound acceptable when something more "lasting" comes along? Each justification feeds another one. This is how the slippery slope works.

Ten years ago I wrote a story (posted online) where there is a long term occupation and one of the marks of their true status is that they are all tagged. That was meant to be something horrible. Now look at us. We're doing it all to ourselves.

My cell phone has a chip in it but its my choice to carry it or not. Children cannot choose. Are they to be gotten used to this idea so that later they will not put up a fuss when it becomes universal?

Add this to the legal gps tagging of your car in your driveway and ask yourself if you really like the direction this is going.

Orwell was just off by a few years.

As far as kids not having a choice, that is a point of child protection law. I'm not super in favor of these chips, but not for the reasons above. My other daughter worked at a YMCA Day Camp, and occasionally a kid would get lost, more like misplaced. These chips would be great in a situation like that, where they went on hikes, field trips on buses, etc.

Originally Posted by nightbird47

Agreed. Preschoolers should always have a parent know where they are. It is a burden of parenthood. If you don't want to, Dont Have Kids....

A little harsh, I'd say. I already addressed the car issue, but believe me, things happen, even to the most vigilant parents.

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Not wanting to be responsible seems to be a recurring theme.

With freedom comes responsibility.

Kids need to be protected. Not that I'm advocating for these chips, except maybe in the case of the day camps I stated above. There is a water park in the Denver area that rents some sort of electronic wristbands for that reason.

Tracking devices can help keep kids safe

Parents who take their kids to Hyland Hills Water World, a theme park near Denver, can rent watch-sized waterproof devices that strap to a child's wrist. The devices transmit a signal to a network of antennas that cover the 65-acre park.

To find the kids, parents check special kiosks scattered around the park to see the location of the transmitters on a park map.

[Jaggy001]

One of the problems I have with this thing is the idea that, somehow, the introduction of technology will solve a problem. Firstly, I am still to be convinced that there is a problem to be solved. Certainly there is the occasional tragedy which is usually caused by human stupidity. But technology doesn't make people any smarter. Possibly the opposite is the case. How many times has the person on the other end of the phone said "the computer says .... so it must be true". So, little Billy decides to go walkabout. It is hot so he takes off his RFID tunic. The tracker says he is still on the property so no-one worries. Reliance on technology has just taken over from good sense.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

Do you concede this power to anyone other than the child's legal guardian ? People have fits for seeing parents with "leashes" on toddlers and young children in public places but see no problem with tracking devices placed on youngsters by the school???

When my son was under five we used a child leash. He was very active, would not hold your hand and when he was one learned how to unlatch the stroller harness. He could be out of it faster than you could put him back in. He wanted to be moving. He had a space he could move freely but could not just dissapear. We had people in stores say they were grateful for us watching our kid since so many people seem to think the toy isle is daycare. But there were a few that just thought it was terrible. But when we were waiting for a bus and he dropped something and it rolled down to the street he could not follow it. And would have.

That was a case of insuring his safety. When he went to Discovery zone to play we didn't need it or in the back yard. He didn't play in the front yard without an adult in attendance. Too many crazy drivers using our street as a short cut at 45 mph.

I had a reasonable expectation that the people at DZ were keeping tabs on hids sneeking out of the exits. And they required that a parent or other adult who by default was responsible be there for the kids brought in. It was part of the job for both parents and employees.

This is a no brainer for a school. Its their job to work with kids. If their emplyoees can't do it they need better employees. At my son's kindergarden, the k kinds had their own play area. It was fenced. The teacher could see everything out of the window and this was inside the fenced parking area. They knew that kids that age will get curious and wander but they assumed so and set it up with that in mind. They had no need for vests with gps to keep track of the kids. They had playground teachers and monitors instead.

For any school or daycare, this is the expectation. Thats why we spend do much time certifying private schools and daycares.

And this idea will not provide real monitoring of students anyway, just tell you when they have slipped off and you have to find them. Isn't it better to have someone tell Johnny to get off the fence and go play with his friends then have to find him after he's over the fence and in the parking lot? It won't tell the school that a student is being abusive against other students if they don't have monitors keeping an eye on them. It won't reinforce good behavior instantly which is the only way it works for small children. An hour later is a lost opportunity.

With older people who are impared and wander and get lost, maybe if they show this tendency it is a good idea, based on the individual and their history and determined by the caregiver. But it won't replace making sure the doors are locked and someone is aware of where grandpa is either.

Since we have built our society on it we think technology can replace anytying, but in reality it can only help. You never take out the human responsibility. And since we so love the latest and greatest gizmos, and tend to rely on them we often forget that they are still JUST tools, a little more advanced than the stone ax but in the same catagory. We must remember that they are there to assist but not take over.