Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Road ID: Keeping Older Children Safe

Image Credit: Abundant Family Living

The Road ID App

When my children were younger, I thought I would lose some of my “overprotective” tendencies when they grew up.

I was wrong.

I didn’t hover over my children 27/7 or try to solve all their problems in life. I tried to teach them to take care of themselves, but I always worried about their safety. I think most of us can admit that by the time our children reach their 20s, we worry about them just as much as we did when they were babies. Our concern over our children’s welfare and safety never goes away.

My daughter is a runner. Until she reached college, I didn’t let her run on the roads by herself. I only allowed her to run with a friend during her high school years because she had to run the roadways for cross country and soccer training. She is 20 years old now and runs alone but it worries me sick.

She is a thoughtful, sweet girl who appreciates her mother’s worry so she found an app called Road ID and told me to download it to my phone. This app is awesome! The Road ID App is something that, in my opinion, can provide parents with a tool for monitoring their older kids while they are out running, walking, or maybe even biking. My daughter uses it when she runs and I can keep track of her every move.

Here is how it works.

When my daughter begins her run, she activates the app and I get a text message like this:

Image Credit: Abundant Family Living

I am writing about keeping our kids safe so, in the interest of my daughter’s safety, I have blocked out personal information. No matter where I am, I get this text message when Brianne begins her run. I know she is on the road so I can click the tracking URL provided and track her every move. For example, during this run, I clicked the URL and this is what I saw:

Image Credit: Abundant Family Living

When I clicked on the tracking URL, I could see a map which points out Brianne’s most recent location. The road ID app refreshes automatically every minute. If she doesn’t move at all, I know something is wrong or if she moves much too fast, as if she may have been forced into a car, I will know that too – AND, I can see a map and pinpoint her location. I can see the map as long as the app is active and a potential attacker/kidnapper doesn’t know I’m tracking her.

When my daughter is running, I check the Road ID app every few minutes. That way, I know what road she is on every minute of her run. When she gets back home and is safely in our driveway, she pushes a button and I get another message letting me know she is safely home. Yay!

Our Summer Family Fun Link Up!

Summer is a time when families are outside and traveling a lot more so safety should be a top priority, no matter how young or how old your family is. We are not traveling this summer but we are spending a lot of time at parks and pools. What is your family doing this summer? If you’re a blogger and you are writing about summer family fun or ways to keep your family safe during outdoor activities, link up your posts below! We want to see your tips for summer family fun!

Your 30 Summer Family Fun Cohosts