Parents turn to GPS tracking of their children

AUSTRALIAN parents are using GPS tracking devices to keep tabs on every step their children make and even monitor them when inside.

While some parents want to be reassured their kids are safe when walking around their neighbourhoods, others are using them to track how many steps their children take and even how fast they walk.

Billed by one company as a “secondary parenting tool”, half a dozen tracking devices and watches are now available.

One is the Skynanny, which was founded by a man who lost his daughter at the beach. Its motto is: “It only takes six seconds to lose your child.”

Another is the Spacetalk watch, which allows children who are too young to have mobile phones to talk to 20 pre-approved numbers. It also has GPS tracking, SMS messaging, step tracker, safety alerts and notifications for when children leave and depart safe zones.

Paediatric psychologist Amanda Abel said such devices allowed “children to have their own freedom”, adding independence was “crucial for their healthy development”.

However, RMIT University Associate Professor Mark Gregory, of the School of Engineering, questioned whether such devices were keeping children safer or not.

“We can see who they are interacting with, but it’s not necessarily going to make kids any safer,” he said.

Murrumbeena mother of four Mia Synman, 40, a teacher, has found such technology enables her children to have more freedom, not less.

She has a Spacetalk watch which is shared between her four children.

“I can see when they’ve arrived at school and they ask me to use it. They like the idea that I know where they are.”