For parents of young kids...

[lenarenee]

Have you heard of this? (Ours just arrived, haven't used it yet) we had a predator 3 houses down from us last summer, now another guy in the county who grabbed a 7 year old who thankfully got away.

www.myfilip.com watch/cell phone/child locator Uses gps, WiFi triangulation and cell tower location.

Invented by a dad who was separated from his 3 year old in Norway for 30 minutes.

Certainly not a perfect fix but a safety tool nonetheless.

 

[TVivian]

I've been thinking of getting one of these for awhile and just keep putting it off. I don't know anyone that has one so I can't say how it works.

 

[not_ally]

God, this is scary. I don't have kids but would hate to have to worry about this stuff.

 

[lenarenee]

Terrifying. Our girl is 7 and very strong willed and independent. Last summer we
decided she was ready to handle walking around our neighborhood to look for playmates. She loved the independence; plus we though it was a safe way to practice her safety skills. Luckily my friend warned me about a man sitting in a car watching kids in her neighborhood - 1/2 mile away from us. I put the word out to our neighbors....and days later a father took pictures of the suspect and his car sitting in our neighborhood watching a house with a 5 yr old girl!

Needless to say; I planted a ton of flowers in our yard....and just had to water them every time dd wanted to go look for a friend, so I could watch down the street. I won't keep her cloistered in the house and teach her to be paranoid. But it is time to start finding programs to give her appropriate tools. She's taking tae kwon do and loves it, so I'd love to find a child appropriate self defense class.

Her school (awesome place!) has signed a group which does a play teaching the concept of "if you don't know, fly away" using animal characters. I don't know if that will translate over to human situations, but I hope its a start.

 

[TVivian]

I just want to be able to let my boys ride their bikes on the hills behind our house, but I want to make sure that I can see if they've left or gone too far. We go to Disneyland a lot too and I think that it would be nice to have there. It's always so crowded.

 

[Cactuslily]

My kids aren't little anymore, but I still worry about my daughters safety. I pre ordered a bracelet for her from cuff.io
i don't think you can ever be too safe, especially with what we hold dearest which is our children.
I for one, will feel better with her wearing this, and I think she will as well.

 

[lenarenee]

Well I can't tell you how it works. I will say I think it's an ugly and cumbersome device. At the moment she loves it, but that could change quickly. It's on sale. Have you thought about walkie talkies for your boys? My first kids were 3 boys, now grown, and they did well using them.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

For a while we had some creep in our town trailing kids in a white unmarked work van- he even tried at least once to lure a little boy into his van. My kids got SO sick of me stopping every time I saw a similar car and pointing out that THAT was the kind of car to always run from no matter what.

 

[lenarenee]

Just a little update: we're mostly satisfied with the Filip, the battery has to be recharged daily, the tracking feature is not always spot on - it has registered her location pretty well - a couple of times its shown her to be across the street from her true location, but that's not uncommon with gps.

I think its ugly, but she loves it, and loves using it so she'll wear it. The size is somewhat adjustable and the company is working on making it even more adjustable....I think in a year it will be too small for her. She has a friend who is a year old, and a little overweight and he cannot wear it.

I can send her text messages, but she can't send them. The phone holds 5 phone contacts, the display is large, simple to read, and she had no problem learning how it works.....without reading instructions.

There is a red button that, when you press and hold for 3 seconds will automatically start dialing the 5 phone numbers you've entered, and won't stop dialing until someone answers. It also takes an audio recording of whats happening around her.

What I admire about the company is that it wants to hear feedback from its customers and is always striving to make a better product.

 

[Dorymae]

I don't know how effective these things are. If it is large or in plain view don't you think the first thing a predator would do it take it off and chuck it out the window? Be sure if you know about them, they know about them.

 

[lenarenee]

I'm sure in time, the word will get out to some predators. And, a child has time to hit the "panic" button, which will trigger a location reading which is sent to your computer/phone, start audio records, and begin calling the stored phone numbers. All of those will at least send a red flag even if watch is tossed or destroyed.

Right now, it looks only like a kids watch. The display only shows the time unless a call comes in.

So far, most people think its a toy....it's clunky and ugly - almost like something you'd see in a dollar store.

 

[Cactuslily]

Predators are just that, predators. As such they will see something that looks like technology and remove it if visible. That's what I liked about the cuff product. It comes with options of necklaces etc.. Hopefully, that will not be obvious. You can never be too careful. While I haven't received it yet, I'm hopeful that it works as stated. Cuff.io
Kudos for parents being proactive with their children's and loved ones safety!

 

[not_ally]

I kind of hate to say this, because it makes things that much scarier. But from my working experience (only for a couple of years, so not an expert by any means), the worst threats are from people that children are not prepared to fear. Family, family friends, school workers, etc. Before I went to law school I worked as a legal assistant in the Public Defender's office, there were more child abuse cases than you would want to know about. But most of the disgusting/creepy offenders - don't do criminal law in part b/c of this - were not strangers.

 

[lenarenee]

Predators are just that, predators. As such they will see something that looks like technology and remove it if visible. That's what I liked about the cuff product. It comes with options of necklaces etc.. Hopefully, that will not be obvious. You can never be too careful. While I haven't received it yet, I'm hopeful that it works as stated. Cuff.io
Kudos for parents being proactive with their children's and loved ones safety!

Haven't heard of it - going to check it out!!

My neighbor just told me yesterday that her ex has threatened to kidnap their child....and the child is a very timid, shy 6 year old. Going to tell her too.

 

[lenarenee]

I kind of hate to say this, because it makes things that much scarier. But from my working experience (only for a couple of years, so not an expert by any means), the worst threats are from people that children are not prepared to fear. Family, family friends, school workers, etc. Before I went to law school I worked as a legal assistant in the Public Defender's office, there were more child abuse cases than you would want to know about. But most of the disgusting/creepy offenders - don't do criminal law in part b/c of this - were not strangers.

Oh that's absolutely correct; my personal history and the FBI stats confirm it. One of the reasons I hate the "stranger danger" routine, and why I teach dd that people, including me, have to obey her instructions when it comes to her body, and that being "rude" is an appropriate tool if she feels threatened. I just worry if it's enough.

 

[LittleCrazyWolf]

The fact that a child is most likely to be victimized by a trusted family member or family friend is so heartbreaking. We have taught our son that he absolutely has the right to say no to hugs/kisses no matter who the other person is (even us). And we back him up if someone doesn't want to accept his "no." I have had to flat out tell people to stop trying to make him feel guilty.

Some people may think it's rude when my six year old politely says "no thank you" to a hug request but IMO I think they are rude for pursuing the issue when he clearly (and respectfully) made his feelings clear...and I make sure I tell them that in front of him.

Just because children are small doesn't mean they don't have the right to dignity and personal space.

To be clear, we are all for hugs and kisses...we just make sure our child knows that he can decline if he chooses to.

 

[Cactuslily]

Littlecrazywolf, I wholeheartedly agree. My approach at parenting was the very same. Children have an inmate sense, and forcing children to hug if they aren't comfortable with that, only chips away at their "spidey-sense". I remember being pregnant and having complete strangers touch my belly. Some where respectful and would ask, but I couldn't believe those that just reached out. As adults, we have the tools to protect our personal space. Kudos to you for backing your child up! You're teaching him an invaluable lesson. Good job mom!