> I don’t buy that tracking kids is necessary or increases their safety. This seems to be an American phenomenon.

I thought so too, but I listened to call-in radio show in Romania recently about tracking kids, and pretty much all the parents said they track their kids and those who don't are irresponsible parents.

I'm 35 and I don't recognize this world anymore. We played outside in mud when I was a kid.

Third option: it's a great convenience for the entire family to be able to access each other's whereabouts easily.

My family can find my own location on their phones at any given time. I don't feel like I've lost privacy because of that.

That's the trick isn't it? Make people not feel like they've lost their privacy, when in reality they already have.

I find this attitude bizarre. I would never give my family 24/7 access to my exact location.

Then again, Google has 24/7 access to my exact location if they want it, so maybe my priorities are a little messed up.

Why would it bother you if your spouse+kids had access to your location? Honest question, because I don’t understand the sentiment.

I guess you have to feel safe in your own neighborhood to not feel like you need to do this.

Can totally see how that doesn’t work very well in the US.

I grew up in europe, and I had two instances where I came close to being abducted as a kid. You are naive if you think parents are overreacting. once you become the statistic the statistic is meaningless to you

I don't see how a wristwatch tracker would have helped, though. Nowadays I'm sure potential kidnappers are well aware that kids often have some kind of tracking device on them (smartwatch, smartphone, AirTag, etc.), and will quickly get rid of any such devices before taking an abducted child with them.

It would have helped because I was walking home from my music lessons. My dad was supposed to pick me up but he was late. This was before cell phones were widely available and I was about 10 years old.

Predators don't just snatch you up like in some movie, they watch their targets first, or lure them away.

People/children have a gut feeling when something is not right and can call for help.

Will it be 100% effective, no, but it will drastically improve response times just by knowing the exact/last location.

I know crime exists, I just don’t think it is so prevalent that we should poison our lives with paranoia and lack of privacy. I’d rather my kids raised on freedom and self reliance.

But these are personal preferences, I’m not imposing this on anybody.

Sure there are trade offs, and your position is understandable. Self reliance and freedom are important but I don't see the value in not being able to call for help when help is needed.

As a parent you can still make the decision to not pick your child up if they are tired and want to be picked up.