• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

GPS Tracking

G

gawntrail

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
871
Reaction score
0
Location
Moreno Valley, CA
Haven't been around for awhile for obvious reasons. Am interested in tapping some info from those in the know. I appreciate any info that might be offered.

I'm on the hunt for some type of GPS Tracking device. I've got a 16 year old that is on the verge of complete self-destruction. I know there are phones that can be tracked, but I'm afraid he'd just ditch it when he goes astray. I'd like to get him a watch, an ipod type thing, or ?? that could be GPS tracked without him really knowing it. We're going to try the cell phone thing and see how that works out, but would like something as a back up.

Short of an electronic ankle tag I have no clue.

And along the same vein, is there something I can put on my two younger kids, like dog tag type necklaces, a kids watch, something I can implant in their shoe(s)? Obviously I'm not looking for anything invasive (under the skin), but am dead serious on finding something that will work.

Any and all info and knowledgable discussion is appreciated.

BTW, the updated site looks great.

Thanks again.

M. Gipson
 
For younger children: http://childlocator.com/

For teenagers, without them knowing...besides the moral implications of tracking a near-adult without their knowledge, it would be practiclly impossible to do with their knowledge becasue of your concerns of them ditching it.
 
For some reason electronically tagging your children doesn't sound like a good idea to me. If you teenager is being too tough to handle, counseling maybe the best answer. In two more years the kid will be a legal adult and free to do what he wants, tagging him won't solve the problem.
 
smokelaw1 said:
For younger children: http://childlocator.com/

For teenagers, without them knowing...besides the moral implications of tracking a near-adult without their knowledge, it would be practiclly impossible to do with their knowledge becasue of your concerns of them ditching it.
Click to expand...

I get what you are saying about the morality, but from my perspective, it is worse off not trying to intervene. The situation is much more complicated and personal to get into. But, I do see your point. Unfortunately, though, if his Mom and I don't figure something out, he will be easily kept track of compliments of the California Youth Authority and/or the Califonia State Pen :(

M. Gipson
 
gawntrail said:
smokelaw1 said:
For younger children: http://childlocator.com/

For teenagers, without them knowing...besides the moral implications of tracking a near-adult without their knowledge, it would be practiclly impossible to do with their knowledge becasue of your concerns of them ditching it.
Click to expand...

I get what you are saying about the morality, but from my perspective, it is worse off not trying to intervene. The situation is much more complicated and personal to get into. But, I do see your point. Unfortunately, though, if his Mom and I don't figure something out, he will be easily kept track of compliments of the California Youth Authority and/or the Califonia State Pen :(

M. Gipson
Click to expand...

I absolutey understand the dilemma, and by "moral implications" I didn't mean to judge, or assume to know at all what the situation is. Only the parents have any right to decide what is right for their case. As someone who has a very close relationship with a family that went through a "do or die" time with a teenager, I know all to well how difficult those decisions can be.

Best of luck. Perhaps counseling could help, or other forms of intervention. I wish you and your family the best.
 
Peekay said:
For some reason electronically tagging your children doesn't sound like a good idea to me. If you teenager is being too tough to handle, counseling maybe the best answer. In two more years the kid will be a legal adult and free to do what he wants, tagging him won't solve the problem.
Click to expand...

We have been in counseling for the past forever. With Parents now being billed backed for Juvenille Hall, placement, etc....I figure the investment for the GPS gig makes sense.

Waiting for him to simply age out of our home is one answer, not one I'm interested in pursuing. Good kid making very poor decisions. The GPS is not for 'Gotcha' type of parenting some employ, but more for being able to find him when he's not where he is supposed to be.

I see it as value added protection. Knowing I (we) can find him before having the Police do it, and hopefully staving off some idiocy that winds up costing us months or years worth of income. I've weighed it out and view it as proactive. Those that may have dealt with this type of self-destruction hopefully understand.

I wish it was as simple as counseling, a few time-outs, or even an ass beating or two. But, painfully and regretfully it is not.

Thanks for the input.

M. Gipson


smokelaw1 said:
gawntrail said:
smokelaw1 said:
For younger children: http://childlocator.com/

For teenagers, without them knowing...besides the moral implications of tracking a near-adult without their knowledge, it would be practiclly impossible to do with their knowledge becasue of your concerns of them ditching it.
Click to expand...

I get what you are saying about the morality, but from my perspective, it is worse off not trying to intervene. The situation is much more complicated and personal to get into. But, I do see your point. Unfortunately, though, if his Mom and I don't figure something out, he will be easily kept track of compliments of the California Youth Authority and/or the Califonia State Pen :(

M. Gipson
Click to expand...

I absolutey understand the dilemma, and by "moral implications" I didn't mean to judge, or assume to know at all what the situation is. Only the parents have any right to decide what is right for their case. As someone who has a very close relationship with a family that went through a "do or die" time with a teenager, I know all to well how difficult those decisions can be.

Best of luck. Perhaps counseling could help, or other forms of intervention. I wish you and your family the best.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the well wishes. I didn't read your take as judgemental. Definitely respect your perspective and appreciate your empathy. Drastic times call for Drastic measures. Trying new things will hopefully yield new results.

M. Gipson
 
Have you tried House arrest?

Why hide it from him? You should let him know that you mean business. and that you care and are doing this for his benefit.



With an ankle bracelet he would have to stay home and out of trouble.
 
SprintPCS offers a tracking service via their GPS enabled phones. You identify a "child" phone and a "parent" phone. Both have to have SMS messaging. You get messages on your phone or you can track the child phone via web map. It's $10 additional per month.

We thought about getting it for one of our teenagers.

Reading the literature, it isn't clear if the user of the "child" phone would have to know or not. It seems like they would know or could probably tell, but it isn't clear.

We didn't get the service so I can't answer definitively.

Good luck.

There's always LoJack!
 
alexgtp said:
Have you tried House arrest?

Why hide it from him? You should let him know that you mean business. and that you care and are doing this for his benefit.



With an ankle bracelet he would have to stay home and out of trouble.
Click to expand...

This is the back up plan. Trying to deal with it in the positive first, then if needed, the negative.

We're going to get the cellphones with GPS ability and do just what you suggested. Level with him so that all involved knows exactly what is at stake. Hopefully that will deal with it. If not......well, that is why I am asking for suggestions and/or ideas on the more covert stuff. Or the Ankle Bracelet might just be what it takes.

Thanks for the input.

M. Gipson
 
M. Gipson,

You and your wife must be under a tremendous amount of stress and near the end of your rope thinking that a GPS device will help alleviate the difficult situation your family is in. I think it is great you guys are seeking counseling, and though that can be frustrating, I pray there is something beneficial coming out of that time that you all will be able to persevere through this time.

As for the GPS tracking and your questions on this board (like everyone else, we do not presume to know or understand the situation, but would rather like to encourage and challenge your perspective), there are two things I am concerned about...

1) What will the discussion with your son look like when you have to utilize/reveal the fact that his phone, iPod, etc. has a GPS signal in it that you all had been using to track his moves. Is this to rescue him from a dire situation, or is this to keep tabs on him? At some point you will have to address the subject that the gift you gave him was actually a tracking device.
My concern is the fall out would be tremendously detrimental to your already tenuous relationship. If it is implanted in a "nice" gift, and turns out to be a Trojan Horse in his eyes, I wonder what the ramifications would be. I see some problems with regards to power, control and trust resulting from this move.

2) The preemptive tagging of your other children, assuming their situation is not as dire, would also lead to the same concern about trust issues. They may feel that you are coming down harder on them because of what has occurred with the older brother, thereby causing a strain in relationships that might not be warranted.

I hope I have articulated these concerns well, but in earnest I can not imagine how frustrated and scared your family must be do to this situation. I pray that things change miraculously for your family.

Peace and blessings,
Wes


edited: do to grammar, could we get grammar check here, please? You can up my dues.
 
jgohlke said:
SprintPCS offers a tracking service via their GPS enabled phones. You identify a "child" phone and a "parent" phone. Both have to have SMS messaging. You get messages on your phone or you can track the child phone via web map. It's $10 additional per month.

We thought about getting it for one of our teenagers.

Reading the literature, it isn't clear if the user of the "child" phone would have to know or not. It seems like they would know or could probably tell, but it isn't clear.

We didn't get the service so I can't answer definitively.

Good luck.

There's always LoJack!
Click to expand...

I've looked into Nextel so far. Do you know if this is available through them too, considering Sprint and Nextel are in bed now? Will continue to check this out on the way home today. I've got a Nextel store close to the house. I only hope there's someone more knowledgable than the typical retail part timer.

Thanks for the lead.

M. Gipson
 
Pompous Pugs said:
M. Gipson,

You and your wife must be under a tremendous amount of stress and near the end of your rope thinking that a GPS device will help alleviate the difficult situation your family is in. I think it is great you guys are seeking counseling, and though that can be frustrating, I pray there is something beneficial coming out of that time that you all will be able to persevere through this time.

As for the GPS tracking and your questions on this board (like everyone else, we do not presume to know or understand the situation, but would rather like to encourage and challenge your perspective), there are two things I am concerned about...

1) What will the discussion with your son look like when you have to utilize/reveal the fact that his phone, iPod, etc. has a GPS signal in it that you all had been using to track his moves. Is this to rescue him from a dire situation, or is this to keep tabs on him? At some point you will have to address the subject that the gift you gave him was actually a tracking device.
My concern is the fall out would be tremendously detrimental to your already tenuous relationship. If it is implanted in a "nice" gift, and turns out to be a Trojan Horse in his eyes, I wonder what the ramifications would be. I see some problems with regards to power, control and trust resulting from this move.

2) The preemptive tagging of your other children, assuming their situation is not as dire, would also lead to the same concern about trust issues. They may feel that you are coming down harder on them because of what has occurred with the older brother, thereby causing a strain in relationships that might not be warranted.

I hope I have articulated these concerns well, but in earnest I can not imagine how frustrated and scared your family must be due to this situation. I pray that things change miraculously for your family.

Peace and blessings,
Wes
Click to expand...

We've been making some progress through the counseling. Minor, but progress none-the-less. And I don't want to be a 'gotcha' parent. I want to re-trust him to do what he says and what he is supposed to do. The GPS would be for those broken trust times (i.e. out past curfew, not in school, runaway situations, not answering his phone, etc.....).

I too believe the best approach is to explain it all upfront. So that he sees we are not trying to be sneaky, but that we mean business AND have the means to back it up. It's very tenuous (sp?) at this point. But, too to have ideas for a back-up plan. Kids, at least mine, do not realize how emotionally and financially expensive their antics are. And it's difficult trying to balance a very structured setting while keeping from being a prisoner in your own home.

Will be in Vegas this coming weekend for some much needed down time with some BOTLs from another board. My wife gets next weekend with some of her girlfriends in Palm Springs. Counselor suggested we get a bit of away time here and there. Looking forward to it.

The idea for the younger ones is more of a safety feature while they are still little (10 and 6). Once they start being a bit more independent, then maybe the cellphone thing for them too. Besides, now, they can use the GPS/cell phone thing for their Scout outings. Win-Win.

Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks for the perspective and the thoughts.

M. Gipson
 
jgohlke said:
SprintPCS offers a tracking service via their GPS enabled phones. You identify a "child" phone and a "parent" phone. Both have to have SMS messaging. You get messages on your phone or you can track the child phone via web map. It's $10 additional per month.

We thought about getting it for one of our teenagers.

Reading the literature, it isn't clear if the user of the "child" phone would have to know or not. It seems like they would know or could probably tell, but it isn't clear.

We didn't get the service so I can't answer definitively.

Good luck.

There's always LoJack!
Click to expand...


I saw this on the news a couple of nights ago. Would be a great idea, however it did specifically say the parent AND child would have to sign the agreement.

...BUT...you got a 18 year old kid working a wireless kiosk in the mall...a "C" note to him on the sly might help :whistling:
 
I use over 300 Nextel GPS Tracking phones at my place of work, They work great as long as they can see the sky. There are a number of programs you can use for the tracking part.

I feel for you as I have a son who is now almost 21 and as you hear all the time he just doesn't "Get It" Someday... I hope :)

Good Luck
JB
 
tangomar said:
I use over 300 Nextel GPS Tracking phones at my place of work, They work great as long as they can see the sky. There are a number of programs you can use for the tracking part.

I feel for you as I have a son who is now almost 21 and as you hear all the time he just doesn't "Get It" Someday... I hope :)

Good Luck
JB
Click to expand...

I went to a sprint/nextel store yesterday. For around $100 there is a family plan for 3 numbers and GPS. And the phones I want are those mil spec outdoor rugged types. Not sure on the flip or brick ones yet, but, we are going to move on this soon.

Thanks for the heads up........and the encouragement.

M. Gipson
 
Current thinking around the net/blogs is for Sprint PCS and Nextel to merge technologies (they have already merged businesses). The "Nextel" brand will probably go away and the Sprint PCS phones of the future will probably be a combination of two technologies:
PCS technology for cellular
the old Nextel radio for "beep, beep" talking

Sprint "Readylink" is probably going to go away. Something to keep in mind when you are buying a new phone.

Here's a good webpage for info about Sprint, PCS service and phones.

I would be interested to know what you decide and how it works out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top