Curious development: Parents track their children with airtags
21/11/2023
Translation: machine translated
The child is gone, the parents are panicking. Many fathers and mothers have found a solution: They pack an Airtag in their child's bag.
The other day at a children's birthday party: my son disappeared for a moment. I looked stupid - and the other parents looked at me with pity. Even though he reappeared immediately (he had been playing hide-and-seek in an underground tunnel slide...), the mothers standing around would only have had to take a quick look at their mobiles to know where their child was. The reason: they put an Apple airtag in their children's jacket or trouser pockets.
What sounded strange to me at first turned out to be a real trend after a little research. The mums from the birthday party weren't the first to come up with this idea.
There are a number of similar products designed to make it easier for you to find your child via GPS, such as special bracelets or watches. However, it is not easy to find your way through the jungle of different products on sale and sometimes a special app or plan is required.
However, the use of airtags has long been clear even to tech geeks like me: You put them in your suitcase or your child's bag and can see on your iPhone where your suitcase or child is at any given time.
This is practical: children like to run away, most of them do this unconsciously because they are daydreaming or playing. Or they misjudge themselves and can't find their way back, for example. Then there is the nightmare of every parent: the child is abducted, even if this rarely happens.
Influencers show the way
One problem with this is that children tend to lose things that are in their pockets. Or take off their jacket and forget it somewhere. Influencer Carolina McCauley, who is celebrated by her 3 million followers for her "parenting hacks", has a foolproof idea: McCauley hides air tags under the insoles of her children's shoes. But it's not just getting likes, the influencer is also receiving critical and concerned comments: a kidnapper would remove the airtags immediately, for example because of the notification on the mobile that Apple users receive as soon as a device is found in their vicinity. Or they could make fun of the fact that parents nowadays even have the idea of permanently monitoring their child.
Apple advises against the trend
In fact, Apple had already made it clear in 2021 that airtags were not intended to track pets or small children. Kaiann Drance, Vice President of Worldwide iPhone Product Management, told Fast Company magazine that they were explicitly designed for tracking bags. In addition, the tags only work in a limited radius. Instead, the technology company recommends suitable smartwatches for more precise tracking of offspring.
I'm curious: Have you ever tracked your kids with Airtags? Would you like me to try it out? Let me know in the comments.
Cover photo: Vanessa Garcia/Pexels
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.