Verizon's Chaperone offers invisible fence to parents

We're still trying to get used to the idea of 8 year-olds toting cellphones, but operators have embraced their new clientele, developing phones and services tailored to their needs and the needs of their parental units. Verizon's young'un offering, the GPS-enabled LG Migo, will be the first device to operate with their Chaperone service, which launches on Monday. For $10 a month, Chaperone lets a curious parent check on their child's location, and for $20, Verizon can send alerts when the child crosses pre-set boundaries. We're hoping the Migo doesn't deliver a shock when an unsuspecting kid moves past their boundary, but it does look a little like a stun gun, does it not?

[Andrew Paul Baisden @ Jun 10th 2006 9:26PM]

cool take i step past your limt and zap! they will never leave your site

[freakon @ Jun 10th 2006 9:27PM]

I dont think this is what little billy had in mind when he came home begging for a cell phone...

[m13a8 @ Jun 10th 2006 9:34PM]

One word. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt

[Matt @ Jun 10th 2006 9:56PM]

And the kids will start leaving their cellphones at home or something.

[Daniel @ Jun 10th 2006 10:05PM]

How well would the receiver work buried in the dash of a car? Might find a niche as a cheap GPS tracker for you car...

[FDL1 @ Jun 10th 2006 10:10PM]

Daniel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGPS

[SuiXide @ Jun 10th 2006 10:37PM]

Two things.

1.) Anyone under the age of sixteen should have no use for a cell phone. If they do, well, they have too many friends. The parents should ground them by making them play Oblivion for twelve hours straight with one hour breaks for a week. That oughtta show 'em.

2.) If parents really need these GPS whatevers on their children's cell phones, shouldn't that just be telling the parents they aren't doing their job? And even if they know where they are, what's that going to do? The kid won't answer the phone if he knows his parent's won't like him there anyways, so there's no real point.

[Trauts @ Jun 10th 2006 11:08PM]

Is it just me, or does that phone only haev 1,2,3, and 4 as buttons? It seems like it'd be rather difficult to... say... dial a number.

Actually, isn't that the primary purpose of a phone?

[A guy @ Jun 10th 2006 11:24PM]

These comments directly conflict with the Ire risen by folks about the other gps device for keeping track of your people

Is it because of engadget's presentation? "this is for kids" while the other was for "spying on your kids" aka teens? There is a real disconnect here. Either because Evan put the prior post in terms of 'spying', or because the people who hate this stuff think this is for big kids. (and they are teenagers, not kids, a big difference in my mind, as a parent of real kids, my oldest is not even 7). Either way, I look forward to things like this to help me protect my kids.

Why can't tech help me parent, rather than make me a 'failed' parent? I dig the idea that I can help my kids, even when I am not there. That helps me give them *more* freedom, not less.

Technology is not our enemy, but our friend (to a point) and we need to embrace it, If we don't, then just welcome your arms to our robot overlords.

[Mark @ Jun 11th 2006 12:00AM]

Trauts,
It only has 1,2,3,4 because the phone can only dial 4 pre-programmed numbers and of course emergency...

[James Smith @ Jun 11th 2006 12:20AM]

I think for pre-teens this is a cool idea. Imagine how many kidnapped kids can be found if the carry one of those things in their pocket?

[Andrew @ Jun 11th 2006 12:50AM]

"A guy", this product is principally a communications tool, whereas that GPS tracker is a spying tool. There's a huge difference in how each would be perceived by a child.

[marshak @ Jun 11th 2006 1:29AM]

james smith, the gps would be far more useful in a kidnapping. never have children.

[Chris @ Jun 11th 2006 1:42AM]

Man, for kids the leash just seems to get shorter and shorter every year. Chaining them to the house would be far cheaper...

[TeleCustom @ Jun 11th 2006 2:23AM]

Despite not really coming out of my shell until junior year of high school, I'm pretty sure that I didn't go anywhere without some form of supervision at the age of 10. Unless things have really changed since the mid-90's, I still don't think little Timmy is headed to the club on a friday night with the rest of the 5th grade. Sarcasm and personal experience aside, I'm still really wondering why a parent would need to track someone younger than a 7th grader.

Unless there's a chance of Crazy Uncle Rob making off with your child.

[mOe @ Jun 11th 2006 2:47AM]

SuiXide, you're completely missing the point of these phones. It isn't for 8 year olds to dial their friends. The phone can only be used to dial a select few numbers, such as their parents, or 'emergency' contact numbers. The use for this cell phone is so that they can contact their parents for a ride if they get out of school early, need their parents to pick them up if they're sick, etc. NOT because they need to call all their friends so that they can all play oblivion for 16 hours...

As far as parents not doing their job, you're again missing the point. This is an aid in case of emergencies (or non-emergencies, in some cases). Kids have a tendency to wander off, it's a fact of life. How helpful would it be to walk over to a terminal at disneyland when your kid gets lost and see exactly where they are? Or, god forbid, your child gets taken and you can track where they are being taken to and recovered before something terrible happens to them.

I realize you're probably too young to have children, I am myself (well, not too young, but definitely not ready to have children :) ), but you need to think beyond the obvious. These are excellent tools for parents, and shouldn't be taken as a 'joke' of a product. They can be potentially life-saving, and although they are not a substitute for good parenting, they are an excellent tool to help parents keep their children safe.

[z @ Jun 11th 2006 5:15AM]

Why do they have to put Switzerland's flag on it? ;-)

[GrepZen @ Jun 11th 2006 5:45AM]

Time for some enterprising kid to start a service..
kids leaving one boundary will hand their phones off to another living their boundary (entering that of the 1st kid). The eLeash stays w/in limits mum and dad are happy.. and some 8yo .COMer gets his first million.

who DOESN'T love america?

[Steven Wright @ Jun 11th 2006 7:47AM]

How come you never call me?

My phone doesn't have any sevens.

[the kid @ Jun 11th 2006 11:18AM]

think of the damage this thing will do to kids who haven't learned to dial their own home phone number yet. the phone in the motel that Crazy Uncle Rob has them stashed in won't have home on speed dial. :)

[Demando @ Jun 11th 2006 1:40PM]

Moe said: "The phone can only be used to dial a select few numbers, such as their parents, or 'emergency' contact numbers. The use for this cell phone is so that they can contact their parents for a ride if they get out of school early, need their parents to pick them up if they're sick, etc. NOT because they need to call all their friends so that they can all play oblivion for 16 hours..."
okay, I agree about the kids having a phone for being able to call dad if school finishes earlier or call the police if needed. but why give them a phone that is so limited? give them a standart cellphone with GPS tracking and with the needed numbers (dad, mom, police, etc.) on quick dial, but with the ability to dial other numbers too. if you're affraid of heavy phone bills, give them pay-as-you-go phones. this way you secure your kids as much as with this "LG Migo" crap without cripling so much their communications.

[CD @ Jun 11th 2006 5:17PM]

These days, having a communications device for kids is a great option for families.

I do agree that it is somewhat limited, but it really does depend on how the child's personality and discipline is.

I'm turning 21 this year. When i was in 5th or 6th grade (10 years old), my dad got me a pager. I mostly had it for my dad to page me when he wants me to call him to let him know when to pick me up. I'd occasionally use it to numerically text my friends, but I wasn't into it that much and I'm still not.

I got a cell phone in 7th grade and used it the same way. Ever since then, i've had many different cell phones. So...as for this product above, i think that it's a great idea for kids younger than junior high. By junior high, i think that they should have regular cell phones, although probably the ones you get for "free" with plans.

[Chris @ Jun 11th 2006 5:57PM]

I take it a lot of you posting don't have young kids. My daughter is 3 and the very moment she is riding a bus to school is when she is getting a cell phone with some sort of GPS tracking so I can rest easy knowing that she got to school safe on time and that she can reach me whenever she needs to.

[pabell @ Jun 12th 2006 7:10AM]

gn_netcom:
Sprint already does this its called Family Locator. they have been offering it for about 3 months now

[jordan @ Jun 14th 2006 6:21AM]

"but it does look a little like a stun gun"
I think it looks more like Shrek's head.

[Richard Kuhlenschmidt @ Jun 14th 2006 6:43PM]

This is very cool. Parents have been wanting something like this for a long time.

[chompchomp @ Jun 22nd 2006 4:27PM]

I'm interested in MIGO, and here's why: I have a daughter, age 7, who spends some weekend time with her father (separate house). She's great at communicating, and he's lousy at it. He'll have her stay with other friends and family without letting me know until after the fact. It would be peace of mind for me to know where she was when, and for she and I to be able to call eachother direct. I'm looking forward to checking one of these out in person.

[Very Nervous @ Nov 13th 2006 11:07AM]

OK, I think it is great if used as a parental tool to aid in keeping your kids safe...

Let me take a moment to look at a darker side...

Say you have an Ex who is violent and has supervised visitation only because they attacked you in front of the child. (You may even have a pile of Domestic violence reports like I do. The whole reason it is an Ex!)
The court says it is ok to buy the child a cell phone to communicate with them. The violent stalking Ex gets the child this lil phone with tracking to find out where I am since our child is too young to venture off alone. They watch my every move and I have no protection but to shut off the phone... But wait... By court order I cant interfere with the communications, seems to me this can be very unsafe... the phone needs to alert the user when the GPS Chaperone service is active... it could save a life in another way, other then recovering a kidnapped child... Oh yeah the Ex has taken the child before also... looks like it will be easier now... Thanks Verizon and LG.

Sincerely,

Very Nervous

[Lisa @ Apr 6th 2007 12:48PM]

Very Nervous I am quite sure in your situation the courts would have to make some sort of amendment to your particular case. Off the record I have already heard of a similar situation and it was amended so that guidelines were followed in order to keep the lives of all parties involved safe and out of harms way. I would definitely look into it. I wish you well. Good luck-

As far as the rest of the comments....my one son is 11, he has a full cell. My younger son who is in 4th grade has a Migo with GPS. They both play sports, they are both in after school activities and last year had an incident where the bus was late at school by 4 hours and could not be tracked by the Bus base or the school. None of the children on the bus had cell phones. I was a basket case. It was terrible weather and I decided to send them regardless of the school not closing and sure enough the bus landed in a ditch. All on board were safe but a cell phone would have been a great emergency aide. There has also been other incidences where my boys have been at soccer fields playing at two different ends with 30 minutes in between each game. The walk alone to reach the other end is that long.....so yes, them each having a phone is my peace of mind.
My 11 year old is on my plan, his phone was a buy 1 get one free deal. At Xmas time. He does not go over his minutes. If he ever does he knows he looses it. He uses it wisely. It is more of a lifeline for myself. Does it question my parenting? does it make me any less of a Parent? If anything I am trying to make myself available to my child. If my son rides his bike to his friends house he has his phone. If he runs into a flat tire or any other problems on the way he know he call for help. As far as the GPS...I do not feel I am spying on my son at all. He is 9. You better believe if GOD forbid he gets grabbed or seperated at an amusement park or the mall I want to be able to find him. He knows all about it; he knows it is there to protect him not to spy on him! and, you have the option to have the gps so if your against it don't get it. But, dont knock it because it is a great system and it could save a childs life.
That to me just gives my children as well as myself an extra sense of security because the world today as we knew it growing up has changed.
I am sorry for going on and on. I just think that people should really look at the whole picture maybe they would see things in a different way?