Too often a child goes missing after getting lost, or a teenager crashes a car after a party he was not supposed to be at, or a small child wanders off in a public place. Hopefully, new and exciting GPS technology can lower the chances that this will happen. In fact, there are already cases where bad endings have been prevented by GPS chips.

In the past, GPS transmitters were large and bulky. You could not carry them around except in a backpack or large briefcase. However, as GPS technology becomes more advanced, transmitter chips and GPS trackers are getting smaller and more powerful. This new generation of GPS devices can help you track your child with devices are as small as a paperclip. Some can even be put in a piece of jewelry or stitched into clothing.

A recent survey found that a large majority of parents would buy a device to trace their child's movements. There are many reasons a parent would want to do this:

1. To find a small child who tends to wander off in public places.

2. To track their teenager and make sure she’s going where she says.

3. To allow a young teenager the freedom of going out without adults present.

4. To give a nervous child peace of mind in public.

The way the GPS chip works is that it gives off a signal that can be read by a global positioning satellite, which in turn transmits the subject’s location to a central receiver. A parent can then easily log onto a website, call a phone number, or even go to a site on a web-enabled phone to check their child's location to within a few feet. When a parent suspects that something is wrong, with the push of a button the child’s location can be sent to local police with an alert.

GPS chips can provide a parent with a sense of security and comfort, but they should never take the place of all other preventative actions one would take to ensure their child’s safety. These GPS chips might augment what you already do, but they should never take the place of your current methods of watching over and protecting your child.