GPS/Lojack on Teens

[honeybm23]

Please tell me, I'm not the only parent who is slightly over protective of my 3 daughters and getting lost or heaven forbid kidnapped.
I love them and don't want anything to happen to them.

I have thought about getting my niece and daughter pocketfinder that they have to wear so I can locate them when I need to.

Just wondering what others have done?

 

[MacDalt]

Do you mean while at Disney or just in everyday life?

 

[mickeylr]

Find My Friend is turned on on DD2's iphone. That was a condition of her getting the phone. Now 16, but she has carried that since she was about 13 (and in trade - she can track me on my phone).

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Thankfully since I don't have kids this isn't something I have to deal with. I've always found it an interesting thing to watch though..seeing how one parent handles this versus the other. There's definitely pros and cons to the arguments too.

I think what's going to happen people who pray on children and teens will just get smart and look for their phones first thing and dump them. It renders those apps completely useless. However if its a matter of seeing "is my kid at school or at the mall" then they make more sense to me.

I sort of hate the idea of parents feeling like they need that absolute link to their kids especially after a certain age (your 9 year old? sure! you're 17 year old? gotta let them fly sometime.) What's interesting though is that today at work my assistant manager got a phone call from her childrens' school district saying that a man in a car had approached a 13 year old girl asking if she wanted a ride, and there's been several reports of this happening in various areas around here in the past month or so.

 

[honeybm23]

Do you mean while at Disney or just in everyday life?

Just at WDW. I want her to have freedom yet still know where she is. Just like at home. Small town syndrome. Everyone knows all by dark. One reason why I like where I live.

 

[honeybm23]

Oh I should mention she doesn't want a cellphone, That is why I was looking in to the pocketfinder it's small and can hook on to her or in her purse.

 

[Hannathy]

unless she is 4, I would find it very odd and beyond over protective.

 

[mickeylr]

I agree - most of the time it is overkill now - but she has not asked to turn it off - so why not. And it has been a long time since I actually checked it And yes in this day and age of children being stopped by strangers (which has happened in this area as well), I think she considers it a safety net too.


Having said that, as a totally separate subject from the GPS tracking in this day and age, I would not let teenagers wander on their own at WDW without at least one cell phone in the group. The days of putting a quarter in their pocket so that they can call you from a pay phone if there is a problem are long gone.

I know that this is a big debate - but as my kids started staying after school for activities there were NO phones that they had access too. No pay phones and the offices were locked up long before they were done. DS got his a little later because he was in the same activities as his older sister, but after she graduated he had one. and yes at WDW a security officer could call for them, but not every problem warrants a security officer.

JMHO -- Mary

 

[powellrj]

I wouldn't use one for my kids, but I would get a cheap throw-away phone. That would be the deal to be on their own at WDW. I would only use it to change plans, and not to check up on them all the time.

 

[worm761]

Just at WDW. I want her to have freedom yet still know where she is. Just like at home. Small town syndrome. Everyone knows all by dark. One reason why I like where I live.

How old are your daughters? And do you plan to not be in the same park? And how many times has she/they been? how familiar with Disney are they?

DS was not allowed to go on his own in the parks until he carried a cell phone.

I think you are being a just a bit paranoid. Disney is a large park with a ton of people. The odds of anything happening to your daughter are slim inside the park. I would not use the GPS. That really does nothing for her security. It just makes you feel better about not seeing her.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

For the record if my aunt or my dad handed me a "tracker" I had to wear there's no way I'd be wearing it. That thing would be tossed in the trash. Then again I have a cellphone, so it's easy for my dad to text me and figure out where I am if he wanted to.

 

[maxiesmom]

I wouldn't use one for my kids, but I would get a cheap throw-away phone. That would be the deal to be on their own at WDW. I would only use it to change plans, and not to check up on them all the time.

Good point. A cheap cell phone is much more useful, and won't come across as not trusting them.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

we ran into this before there were cell phones or GPS trackers, we set meeting spots and times. missing one met staying and doing what we were doing for 2 hours, never had to use. in fact, they learned it was quicker to be there ahead of us , get the new time and take off. they had to stay together, they were 10 and 13 when they started doing this.

 

[MSSANDRA]

WDW is the perfect place to give a teen some freedom. We started giving just a bit about 11, and would allow a bit more by 13 when we would let him wonder in the same park as us with a same age cousin. Cell phones were a given from the beginning. I think that is the key. Communication is more than just knowing where she is, its her being able to call you if something comes up or plans need to change. Most phones now do have trackers. Ive never felt the need to use one on DS phone. If I had a child I could not trust, maybe. We are a huge cell phone family and our boys get them early so I have a hard time getting her not wanting a phone.

 

[NotUrsula]

Remember that a GPS won't work if she's inside a building, so if she is in a ride line you won't find her. Time to ease up and just have her check in with you on a schedule.

Honestly, what she needs is a cheap phone to be able to text you. (Texting works MUCH better than voice calling in the parks; you can leave a message and they can get back to you when they get off the ride. Voice calls are often hard to hear over the ambient noise/music in the parks.

We turn the teen completely loose and have done so since he was 13; he knows the parks like the back of his hand, and he will find us if he runs out of food money. He texts us to check in or if he wants to find us during the day. We get updates often enough that we don't worry about where he is, even if he stays out later than we do. He just comes back to the resort on the bus.

IME, getting lost is really not that much of a worry in the parks; the only time I've ever known it to be an issue is at the more spread-out resorts. DS, like me, has a good innate sense of direction. DH, otoh, gets lost at the resorts all the time; I often have to trade photo texts with him to guide him back to where he wants to be.

 

[SWofDisorder]

DS once got away from me as we exited the train at main street as the parade was going on. I was by myself and was told something about the stroller by a CM. In that second DS ran down the ramp and I could not see him in the sea of people for the parade. I was so scared being right by the exit. But within seconds security was there and one minute later they told me there is a CM sitting next to DS at the sidewalk for the parade. They said we can't get to him so just wait and remain calm.

The point being, Disney security is everywhere! You don't see them but they see you. Your daughters are in a very safe place while inside WDW.

 

[SEA333]

Please tell me, I'm not the only parent who is slightly over protective of my 3 daughters and getting lost or heaven forbid kidnapped.
I love them and don't want anything to happen to them.

I have thought about getting my niece and daughter pocketfinder that they have to wear so I can locate them when I need to.

Just wondering what others have done?

Please tell me you are not serious!! yes, kids get away and lost sometimes, but lojack'ing your kids??!!!

I love my kids, too, but I would never do that. Are you planning on letting them go off by themselves? (don't know how old they are, but even my 13 year old pretty much stayed with us all day).

A better idea would be to start teaching your kids the responsibility of making sure THEY know where you are in relation to them at all times. Any kid over the age of about 5-6 years old can learn this....we have always told our kids the following:

1. I will always be watching for them, but they also have to watch for ME. They have always been allowed freedoms like moving about in a room at a museum or other semi-closed in public location - the rule is that they can be anywhere in the room/area that they want, but they must come to me and we all move to a new room together. Nobody leaves on their own.

2. They never have had to hold my hand (well, maybe when we were in a parking lot or crossing the street, but really most of the time not even then because I always had too many kids and not enough hands when I was doing an in-home daycare). They were allowed to walk ahead of me, but they were responsible for making sure they could A. hear me call them back, and B. not walk to far ahead, and C. stop at ALL points where there might be a turn/intersection.

3. If they do not see me, they are to go back to the last place they remember seeing me, because that is often times the first place I will look. There have been so many times that *I* could still see them, but they could not see me, and I could see on their faces that they were looking around for me. Every single time, they went back to the last place they saw me, and it WORKED!! This gave them the confidence to be able to roam freely but know that I am still nearby.

I understand keeping kids safe, I really do. However, I also understand that it is my job as a parent to teach my kids how to someday be functional, normal, responsible adults that can handle adversity, challenge, and problem-solving. Hovering over them in the name of protection is not a very effective way to get them there. It's a journey, and I am responsible as their teacher to get them there in one piece, but it is NOT my job to think for them, keep then wrapped in bubble-wrap, or not let them learn through experience because of my insecurities about the world we live in. These kids have to learn how to live in the very same world most parents fear...what better way than under their loving parents guidance and direction?