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Better parenting keeps kids safe, not gadgets
Best of Reader Comments: Kid tracking phone gets thumbs down

By Steve Ranger

Published: Friday 25 November 2005

Better parenting skills are the key to keeping children safe, not gadgets that kids will easily be able to disable, according to silicon.com readers.

The launch of a mobile phone for kids which will allow parents to track their location has left readers unimpressed.

The 3G phone, unveiled by Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo, emails the child's whereabouts to its parents, at configurable intervals between 15 and 60 minutes apart, even if the phone is switched off.

But consultant Charles Smith, clearly a fan of the oblique, said the phone is a "solution looking for a problem" and added: "Some people seem to think that technology can substitute for proper parenting/management. If children/workers are properly raised/motivated there will be no need to think about GPS or RFID tracking of the individuals. The use of such techniques are an admission of parental/management failure. It denotes a primary lack of respect."

And one IT consultant reader agreed: "I hope Japanese parents have enough sense to know that teaching children to be responsible, whilst accepting life always has some risk, is a far better approach."

Others readers questioned how effective the phones would be at tracking kids. "Presumably though, these security features don't guarantee that the phone and child are in the same place? Or, for that matter, that the battery has not run out," said one.

And Roger Huffadine added: "It isn't going to be beyond the whit of children to defeat these phones... and anyone abducting a child will simply locate the device and chuck it in the nearest bin."

One IT manager suggested the UK government might want to take the idea of the nanny state that little bit further: "Don't let our Tony know about this, he will want to add the technology to the ID card!"