More and more parents are GPS their child

News 20 March, 2018
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    Francis Pilon

    Tuesday, 20 march, 2018 19:02

    UPDATE
    Tuesday, 20 march, 2018 19:02

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    The disappearance of a 10-year old boy in the course of the last week has created an interest among parents who want to buy a GPS system for their child in case they disappear.

    FamiliSécur is the first canadian company to offer watches with a GPS tracking from 2015. Tool already popular in France, this new gadget begins to carve out a place on the quebec market.

    “It is like a cell in a watch, explained Melody Maurice, the owner of the company is located in Drummondville. You can send a text to our child, or a voice message in few seconds, follow these movements with the GPS and receive a warning signal SOS.”

    The turnover of the company would have increased by 34 % over the last year. Since the disappearance of the small Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou, it would have sold four times more watches in the last week compared to other weeks of 2018.

    “In January, February and march, it is usually one to two watches per week. However, since the disappearance of [Ariel], I’ve sold 5 watches in one week,” said Mrs. Maurice, who is also said to have been contacted by a larger number of parents than usual in the last days.

    An option to consider

    According to Pina Arcamone, director general of the missing Children’s Network-to-Back, the watch is connected is an option to consider.”It is certain that it may help to find a missing child more quickly when it has a GPS system on him,” she confided.

    Ms. Arcamone mentioned that several companies specializing in GPS systems for the children are come to knock at the door of its organization recently. “And with cases of disappearances like the one of Ariel, yes, it may encourage still more parents to buy”.

    Parents mixed

    Parents of young children, however, seem mixed about this technology.

    “Ok, I understand the idea, but I think that parents should focus on the prevention and the education of their child,” pointed out Tim Rivard, the father of a young boy the age of eight years.

    Different theories for Chantal St-Arnaud, who has equipped his 11 year-old boy with a watch that has a GPS system. “I live in Longueuil, and my boy is hyperactive, she said. Once, people have wanted to steal her bike to the park, it has the SOS button on his watch, and his big sister is coming to protect it. It also allows me to avoid asking me all the time where it is.”

    THE WATCH IS CONNECTED IN A NUTSHELL

    • Emit and receive calls
    • Allows positioning on a Google map as a child
    • Alert button SOS integrated
    • Application compatible with the iPhone and Android phones
    • Water-resistant
    • Cost$ 95 and it requires a package of about$ 10 / month with a mobile network 2G/GSM to work

    NUMBER Of MISSING CHILDREN DEALT with BY CHILDREN’s NETWORK-BACK IN 2017

    • 144 records listed in total (a record for the organization)
    • 125 cases were resolved
    • 19 unresolved cases. Of this number, 16 cases involved children abducted by a family member, and 3 cases relate to young people still in fugue