Kids Safety – How GPS Trackers Are the Best Tool To Keep Your Kids Safe
As much as being a parent can bring joy, it is also the most vulnerable you ever will be. Having a kid is like having a part of your heart beating outside your body. You see danger in everything. And that brings the constant dilemma of letting them be their own person or hovering over to protect them. Luckily, technology can give you some respite – especially GPS tracking devices.
While some might argue that these trackers are an invasion of privacy or are just another gimmick borne of capitalism, we cannot deny the benefits and peace of mind they offer to parents. Whether you are working or a stay-at-home parent, we can bet that a GPS tracking device can be a great tool to keep your kids safe in your absence.
Here are some of the situations you might have encountered where a GPS tracking device would be of great help:
- You kid insists that they have grown up and want to visit their friends without your help.
- Kids are curiosity incarnate. They say they will only ride their bike in the neighborhood but find something interesting on the way and digress.
- It’s vacation time, and your family is in a busy adventure park. Your excited kids run around attracted by various rides and food stalls.
- You kid walks back home from school and has lately been taking an extra fifteen minutes.
- You need to go out for an urgent errand and cannot get a sitter at short notice.
- A meeting at work is running late, and you will not be able to pick up your kid from sports/activity practice.
If you had a GPS tracker on your kids, you wouldn’t have to worry!
How Can GPS Trackers Make Parenting Easy?
The answer is simple – real-time location tracking. GPS trackers offer location information in actual time and are very accurate. So while you are at home or work, you can check up on the app that comes with the tracker and see where your kids are. Moreover, these trackers tell you if your kid is in an area or place they shouldn’t be.
Another notable feature of the modern high-tech trackers is that you can set up alerts and geofences and do not have to look up the location information constantly. You can set up virtual boundaries or safe zones around the places your kid frequents, like school, houses of friends and relatives, your workplace, nearby grocery store, playgrounds, and more. The tracker alerts you when your kid is in these pre-determined areas. Also, if your kid’s school is nearby and they either walk or ride their bike to school, you will get a notification if they take a different route than their usual one.
If your kid is in trouble, they can ask for immediate help by pressing the SOS button – a feature that most kids trackers have. The app will inform you, and you can share the location with first responders. When you reach your kid, help will already be on the way!
What Kind Of GPS Tracker Do You Need For Your Kid?
When you search the web for a GPS tracker for your kid or ask a learned acquaintance, they will tell you that you can go for any of these:
- Tracking apps on their devices
- Wearables
- Portable Trackers
So how do you choose the one that suits you and your kids best?
If your kid already has a smartphone or tablet that they carry everywhere, you can go for a tracking app that links to your device. This method is the easiest and caters to your short-term and immediate requirements. We say short-term because the performance of these tracking apps depends on the device battery, network connectivity, and the working of other apps on the device. This method is affordable, and you already have the necessary resources at your disposal. However, it is not reliable and accurate.
You can opt for wearable trackers – watches, pendants, and bracelets. These tracking tools are small and attractive to kids. But, watches again have the disadvantage of battery life. Other wearables will only offer you location information; you will not be able to contact them or stop them from going to a dangerous area. Also, as kids tend to be hyperactive, wearables may not be strong enough to survive them.
If you are looking for a long-term, all-inclusive option, a portable GPS tracker is your answer.. They are small and made of sturdy and durable material. They come as a two-part solution – hardware that you need to keep/install to whatever you intend to track and a companion app that you can access from any Android or iOS device.
The portable GPS trackers are accurate and have a long-performing battery. Once charged, the device can function for 14 days, based on the frequency of location updates. The vendors usually offer a 4G LTE wide-coverage sim with the tracker to ensure that you are in contact with your kid.
If you are still undecided on what type of tracker to choose, here are some reasons to support our recommendation of opting for a portable tracker –
- Real-time updates– With kids, you need to be extra careful. You divert your attention for a single second, and they could brew a disaster. The portable tracker can keep you updated on their every movement and help you avert any mischief or danger.
- Compact and discreet – Most portable GPS trackers are small, and you can hide them anywhere discreetly. You can put it in your kid’s backpack or pocket or get a magnetic one to attach to their bike or skateboard. If you have a teen at home, you can use the tracker to monitor their driving.
- Safe Zones – Several tracking devices have a geofence facility, where you get to build a virtual fence around places you deem safe or unsafe. For example, you can check the sex offenders registry and find if any of them live in your vicinity or the areas you visit. You can put a zone around the same and get alerts if your kid is anywhere around it.
- Reliable battery – Not to startle you, if your kid finds themselves in a dangerous situation – lost or, god forbid, taken against their will – a tracker with a dedicated and long battery can be a lifesaver. We recommend opting for GPS trackers with at least ten days of battery.
- Add-on Features – These days, vendors offer premium services at an extra charge. These services include SOS alert, 911 location sharing, aggressive tracking, etc. While you might not want to get the additional features, you can at any time activate them – as and when required.
No matter how old your kid is, we would suggest first talking to them about the use and benefits of a tracker. Every kid’s first perception of the world comes from their parents. You need to prepare them for the world. A GPS tracker can do that for you – keep them safe while they grow to explore and enjoy their freedom.
