[Video – External Link] “FBI Child ID” is one of the most useful apps parents can pray they never actually have to use. The FBI’s mobile, preparation tool helps find a child if that child happens to go missing or is kidnapped. Users can take a picture of a child, add information like height, hair color, eye color and any distinguishing characteristics like birthmarks, and in those precious initial minutes and hours after the child has gone missing, can instantly send that information off to the FBI and local law enforcement.
The app also has quick-dial buttons for 911 and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, plus there are some tips on there for parents to relay to their kids about dealing with strangers.
“FBI Child ID” is a free app, though right now it is only for iOS devices.
NearParent
“NearParent” helps a child protect him or herself in an emergency, like maybe an attempted kidnapping, by setting up a social network of adults to help protect the child.
A list of adult contacts who have agreed to help the child in case of an emergency can be loaded into the app. If a child feels in desperate, immediate need for help, he or she hits this red button and instantly alerts go out to that adult contact list with the child’s location, taken from the phone’s GPS.
The parents on the alert list then have the option to answer that call for help either by actually calling the child or rushing over to where he or she happens to be.
In addition to the emergency feature, there are two other buttons the child can use on a daily basis. A green button lets parents know the child has gotten to school, a friend’s house or any other location safely and a yellow button is for a non-desperate need for assistance.
“NearParent” is a free download for Android devices and works via SMS on non-smartphones. An iPhone version is in the works. NY1/TLS-SRC
How does one protect his child from the phone in the first place?
#1…WHAT A STUPID COMMENT!!!!! This is a post about ways of helping our children stay safe and using technology in ways that can and will save lives. Yes there are many pitfalls with all sorts of things in this world that distract people from what is true and proper (kids and adults alike). However, to come along and post a comment that will influence people into not embracing something that has the potential of saving lives is wrong. This is not the place for it! If you want to post about the evils of technology, then speak to Lakewoodscoop to start a new thread and deal with it there.