mobile phone

The recent restoration of Jaycee Lee Dugard, which was located 18 years after the abduction of others, once again, parents were thinking about how to protect their own children. This is one of the reasons for the growing number of products of the Child Locator, which typically use GPS and mobile devices to help parents and authorities to identify a missing child within a few meters.

But before we get into the technology, here are some important statistics to put this issue in context.


National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Stranger abduction rare
2002 study commissioned by the U.S. Justice Department found that in one year, 797,500 children were reported missing. That's a lot, but most of them were not stolen. Of these, 203,900 were family abductions, which means that the kidnapper was associated with a child, often parental care. 58200 Some have been as Non abduction, but this does not necessarily mean that strangers are responsible. And 115 children, a tiny fraction of those who disappeared, victims of what the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) calls "stereotypical kidnappings," which includes "someone the child knows or someone of the small acquaintance, who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently. "

(Disclosure: I served as an unpaid member of NCMEC Board of Directors.)

The potential loss of 115 children a year is a national tragedy, but also put it in perspective, there are 74 million children and adolescents in America, the likelihood of it happening around 1 644000, or about the same risk as struck by lightning.

Nevertheless, it happened, and just because the majority of kidnappings carried out by family members or friends, does not mean that they are not potentially tragic. But this means that the "stranger danger" is not a big threat to our children. In fact, because many children are exposed to exploitation by friends and family members, NCMEC has stopped using the term and now refers to him as "wrong message" because "children do not receive it, adults do not practice (and) it does not adequately protect children from potential danger. " In addition, when the child is in trouble, and sometimes their counsel may be someone else, such as a police officer, security guard shopping center, or a passerby.

Causes for concern
Having said this, there is still a logical reason for parents and guardians to consider equipping their children with a device that can help find them in case of emergency. On the one hand, these devices can bring peace of mind. Parents worried about their children for many reasons beyond the control taken by the stranger. Do they have wandered off? Did they get into an accident? Maybe they lost? And not just little kids, we worry. Parents of adolescents are rightfully concerned when children are away from home, especially if they are riding or driving a car. Frankly, my children are now older than 20 years and I still worry about them.

Technology
There are various technologies that will help protect children from the devices, which send local alarm that can be heard from a few hundred meters to a very difficult dealing with GPS tracking device.

He will not find your child or signal transmission, but AmberWatch (around $ 23), wristwatches, which puts out 115-decibel alarm, which, according to its manufacturer, can be heard up to 100 meters. The alarm is activated by pressing the child both buttons on both sides of the device. Actually it is a real time clock, date and stopwatch functions and comes in pink and blue. Find child locator alert system can find many similar products.

These products may be useful for finding a child who had wandered off in a shopping center or, perhaps, on the trail until the child knows to be alarmed until they have gone too far. They could play a roll in helping to prevent the abduction, when the child activates the signal before the thief gets them in the car or a remote computer. But cried often serves the same purpose, and that is why NCMEC advises parents to entrust children to 'Shout and make a scene if anyone tries to grab them or force them in any way, to go with them. "

Although this and other products use the term "Amber", they are not related nor approved by the Department of Justice program AMBER Alert. Ministry of Justice limits the use of the logo Amber Alert, but not the term "Amber".

Dedicated GPS devices
There are several products on the market that use GPS to track your child with the device for a cell to notify the parents, where they are. With all these devices, their ability to determine the location upon the receipt of GPS and cellular signals. GPS can not work indoors, near tall buildings, forests, or in other places without a clear idea of heaven. Cell, as we all know, also depend on the location. In addition, these devices work only as long as their battery life.


Amber Alert GPS 2G product costs $ 379 plus $ 9.99 to $ 19.99 a month for the service. It measures 1.77 inches in length and 1.68 inches wide by .78 inches deep and easily fits in a backpack or worn around the wrist of the child. It can be programmed via the Internet or mobile phone to send you text messages and e-mail messages indicating the location of your child, and a link to the map. You can also use it to create a "safe zone", or virtual boundaries. If your child goes outside that zone, you and up to four other trusted adults to receive text messages and alerts via email every 5 minutes to cancel it. It also gives you the "bread crumb" Location paths, so you can see where your child was.

The device also has buttons SOS, that your child can use to send messages to help if they are in danger of any kind. Speed alert lets you know if the device moves above the specified speed. Thus, we can tell if your child is in the car, and, if so, how fast it moves. The fact that your child is moving faster than a walk can be a cause for concern, if they do not have to be in the car or public transport. Parents of adolescents can be used to verify that they are not speeding. There is even a temperature warning for the protection of young children left in hot (or cold) car. The battery unit is rated to last 12 hours without recharging.

Another product is WorldTracker Enduro. It measures 2.6 inches in length and 1.4 inches wide by .79 inches deep, and the GPS receiver and GSM SIM card in order to submit a report on the website or send a notification to the parents via email or text message. This is also a function of real-time tracking and allows parents to be alerted if a child leaves the virtual safe area. It also monitors the speed and height of the device, and function that will alert parents if the child exceeds a certain speed "in the works," according to a company representative. Enduro has a lithium-ion battery that, according to the company, the tracks for up to a week on one charge. It costs $ 295 plus $ 49.99 per month for the service, which includes unlimited tracking. You can also use your own T-Mobile and AT & T SIM card and pay $ 20 a month for services in addition to your cellular plan.

Other companies in this space include Whereify Wireless, British lok8u and TrackMyKids.

Cell Phone Services
All mobile phones sold in North America, GPS Tracking opportunity to 911 operators can find users in emergency situations. This same technology can be used to track the location of the phone or as a locator of the child or another Tracker.

AT & T, Sprint and Verizon offer add-on services that allow parents to track the location of their cell phones by children. AT & T and Verizon FamilyMap accompanying cost $ 9.99 per month, Sprint Family Locator is $ 5 per month. All these services allow you to see in real-time location on a map and get automatic positioning alerts.

With all these devices, your child, of course, you must have a mobile phone with him or her and turned on.

In addition to that offered by telephone carriers, there are some third-party services that can track and report location. These include Loopt, Glympse latitude and free service Google. None of these services to the market, such as child locators. Latitude gives only an approximate location on the map and does not attempt to determine the mailing address. It would be better than nothing state of emergency, but not as accurate as a dedicated service locator child. Glympse, which works with Android phones, and soon IPHONES and BlackBerrys, a permit system which allows phone users to send e-mail or text message that someone makes it possible to track them over a period of time - never more than four hours. Once you get "Gympse" You can see that the location of rights on the map and, if this step, you can see their way and their speed. This is a great way to see how adolescents who would have to agree on tracks such as a condition for borrowing in the car, but it is not very well suited for tracking young children.

Loopt is designed to help friends find each other, but it can be used to detect the child.