Parents Are Tracking Kids With THIS To Give Them Some Freedom
The world is a different place than it was when we were kids and were allowed to wander around the neighborhood until dark, as long as we had some change…
The Lighting line pass lets you skip the long line. And even when the app said a ride was a 40 mins wait with the lighting we only really spent 10 mins waiting. My kids wouldn’t have made it without. It’s worth the money. If you’re gonna spend on something do this!
Photo by LauRen MerolaThe world is a different place than it was when we were kids and were allowed to wander around the neighborhood until dark, as long as we had some change to use a payphone if we needed to. Today, parents want to keep a closer watch on their kids and some of them are using a high-tech device to do it. When Apple AirTags came out in 2021, the company clearly stated that they were only to be used for objects, not pets or children, but that’s not stopping some moms and dads from using them to track their kids.
The $29 gadgets are meant to find things like lost keys, but according to The Washington Post many caregivers are sticking them in backpacks, attaching them to bikes or even to kids themselves. You can buy wristbands, lanyards and pins to hold the AirTags and at any time, parents can use their phone to see their child’s location on a map. They’re far less expensive than smartwatches that have GPS and they keep tabs on kids too young for a smartphone.
I'm not gonna lie, I have definitely thought about doing this! Especially on our last vacation. I took my 2 boys (3 and 6 years old) to Disney for the first time this month, and I was terrified of losing them in a busy theme park. I seriously considered air-tagging them. We ended up going with "man to man" coverage and had an adult for each child, but if I was by myself or the kids were a little older and wanted some freedom, I wouldn't be above it.
How do people feel about it?
Tracking kids isn’t something everyone feels comfortable about, but parents who do it like that it gives their child some of the freedom enjoyed by previous generations. A lot of adults using AirTags with their kids say they’re worried about access to social media and the bullying and everything else that could come with their kid having a real phone. Philadelphia mom Tara Mendola and her husband have given their eight- and 11-year-olds AirTags not so much to monitor their every move, but to see where they are and when they’ll be home. She says, “I want it to be something that increases their freedom, not increases our surveillance of them.”
