Earlier this week I met with a young father who said his kids will not get a smartphone until they are 18 years old. Why? Because he wants them to remain little kids as long as possible. He feels that giving them such complete access to the internet, social networks and text messaging could take away their innocence. He wants to protect his children as long as he can. Now there’s a way to have the best of both worlds.

For parents who want the ability to communicate with their kids when they can’t be together, there are options. You can outfit your kiddo with devices that come with GPS, WiFi and more. This means you can, theoretically, track their every move.

I recently came across a device that serves as an alternative to smartphones. Using it allows you to both monitor your kid’s movements and stay in communication with them.

Filip watch

Think it’s invasive? You don’t have to use it.

But, if you have a kid that is home alone after school, will be in a crowded area or just needs extra supervision, it could be a fit for you.

FiLIP is the first of its kind, both a geo-locator and voice watch specifically designed for kids.

The smartwatch tech performs three key functions:

  1. Communication – Parents can call kids via the GSM cellular voice capability and pre-program up to 5 numbers allowed to communicate with the device.
  2. Location – The device uses GPS, cell tower location and WiFi triangulation to provide the most accurate location (indoors and out). Parents can set up “SafeZones,” like school or home. When your child reaches or leaves one, you receive a push notification on your phone.
  3. Emergency – A red emergency button on the watch can be pushed if your child were ever in danger. This launches  an automatic location button, ambient sound recording and calls to all 5 contacts until one answers. It also sends a text message to the primary account holder with a link to the child’s current location.

Kids who wear the watch can simply push a button to call one of the five contacts programmed into it.

The device isn’t available for purchase yet, but the company has said publicly that it could be ready soon. They are partnering with AT&T where they will sell it at an undisclosed price with requisite data plan.

 This post originally appeared on FAVES + CO and is reprinted here with permission. 

Evans screenshot resizedWritten by Sarah Evans

Sarah Evans (@PRsarahevans) is a social correspondent at Sevans Strategy and chief evangelist for social collaboration platform Tracky. You can follow Sarah (@sarahevans) on Instagram and check out her new website, FAVES + CO.

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