A satellite tracking device that will plot a child's location to within 10ft is being launched by a British firm.
The Nu.M8 digital watch uses GPS satellite technology like car sat nav systems.
The watch can be securely fastened to a child's wrist and will trigger an alert if forcibly removed. Parents can then track their children on a website.
Parents who text 'wru', or click 'where r you' on the secure website, will be able to see the child's location on Google maps and the street address and postcode will also be displayed.
So-called 'safe zones' can also be set up in which children can play safely and an alert will be sent to the parent's mobile phone and computer if the child strays out of that area.
The watch has been launched against a background of increasing fears among parents about the safety of their children.
As a result, youngsters are ferried to school by car, rather than walking or taking the bus, while fewer are allowed out to play in the park.
Recent reports have indicated that one in four children aged eight to ten have never played outside without a parent or guardian present, and one in three parents will not even allow older children, aged eight to 15, to play outside the house or garden unsupervised.
Steve Salmon of the watch's Worcestershire-based developers Lok8u said: 'This product gives parents the reassurance of knowing where their children are, any time, anywhere.
'Hopefully girls and boys can now be given the freedom to play outside that I enjoyed as a child.
'The overriding aim of Nu.M8 is to give children their freedom and parents peace of mind.'
However this comes at a price. The watch costs £149.99 and there is a monthly charge of up to £19.99 depending on level of use.
Michele Elliott, director of children's charity Kidscape, has reservations about using satellites to track youngsters.
She said: 'Anything that makes children safer is a good thing but is the world really that unsafe that parents need to electronically track their children? I don't think so.'
The watch will be launched this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
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I think I would like knowing where that if my daughter were kidnapped that we could find her....
I just can't help but think that one day we will hear of kids found murdered with missing hands, cut off at the wrist.....
which will lead to people wanting to place GPS chips under the skin, which on the surface I can't really find anything wrong with.........but it just makes me uneasy.
Yea, wrist GPS is next.
I would track via GPS if it was done thru a cell phone or device they would normally carry. I wouldn't force my child to wear that big bulky watch and be ridiculed at school for it.
Nah. I refuse to put that gps chip in my dog.
I would definitely use GPS tracking in the car when they become driving age. Maybe not permanently, just a probationary period.
oh something hidden.
like just implant it in them when they asleep
I think its a violation of their rights and wouldn't do it. Besides that, your telling your kid you don't trust them. If we are talking infants or toddlers that may be a different story but the moral implications are much too great for me if we are talking teenagers.
If it would make my kid safer I wouldn't give a damn about any ridiculing at school. Besides, my kid is a nerd and I'm proud of it.
Kids rights!?!? Please.
lol "their rights"
I can understand that but to me it is not a matter of trust but about caring about my kids and I don't see that diminishing as they get older.
No.
I agree with Blake that this product will eventually lead to people wanting to place GPS chips under the skin.
So in the light of that, I am against it.
I think we are in ways ( some, not all) getting too technological for our own good.
But why stop with the Children, lets just tag everyone so we all know where everyone else is all of the time!
I just see it as a bad road to travel, where does it end?
Besides that, what good is the watch going to do if someone does kidnap the child. what, its going to alert you of that fact? Sure they can track it but lets not pretend the would-be kidnappers are going to be completely oblivious to this new tech, sure there may be a few to start. Those that do know about it will just toss it out the window.
that watch sucks...imbed the chip under the skin like a dog
I can understand your concern but my first concern is the safety of my children. I wouldn't go this far.....yet. And I know that it wouldn't stop most child predators.But why stop with the Children, lets just tag everyone so we all know where everyone else is all of the time!
I just see it as a bad road to travel, where does it end?
Besides that, what good is the watch going to do if someone does kidnap the child. what, its going to alert you of that fact? Sure they can track it but lets not pretend the would-be kidnappers are going to be completely oblivious to this new tech, sure there may be a few to start. Those that do know about it will just toss it out the window.
That's what I refuse to do to my dog. We needed new tags and they told us Texas doesn't do tags anymore, just chips under the skin.
F that haha.
It's only a matter of time before all people and animals have them though.
This is so ing stupid I shouldn't even have to explain why.
Mark of the beast, baby!!!!!
I'd like to know why even if it is a stupid reason.
Teenagers would use the device to track down & humiliate their parents…
I was waiting for that.
I'm surprised Angel wasn't the one to introduce it!I was waiting for that.
exactly.
and with Obama now our President?
*shivers*
lol x 2 @ kids rights
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