THE sight of losing one’s child and not knowing his or her whereabouts is definitely a heart-wrenching, painstaking and horrendous suffering that no parents in their right state of mind would ever want to endure.

In the wake of a recent case of a child being almost abducted, the situation is definitely not the first of its kind and most certainly would not be the last of its chapter.

Parents, despite being reminded by various parties to keep a close watch on their children, would still need to go the extra mile in ensuring their children’s safety.

I can sort of put myself in the shoes of fathers and mothers out there and experience the agony of not knowing where on earth (or in the universe) my child has vanished into.

Honestly, I don’t want to be disturbed by the thought of it anytime now as I’m not planning to father any child but I feel parents should take decisive actions to look after their children.

Parents, your child can be abducted in the very watchful eyes of yours. Yes, even when your child is right in front of your eyes! (No kidding). That’s how appalling the situation is!

As I was talking about this matter to one of my editors, there you go, she told me to come up with this piece.

(Am I glad or not, my opinion do matter. #NewGenrepresent)

Moving on, I was then discussing with another editor who is a techie and boom, brainwaves struck my mind.

As a parent, he is concerned with the whereabouts of his children (which every rightful-mind parent would) especially at this unpredictable point of time where your child can apparently be taken away from you even when he or she is within your close watch.

In our conversation about how parents can better zero in on their children’s whereabouts, we came across a number of portable gadgets that specifically cater to such purpose.

Among the ones available, as identified by my editor-cum-tech-guru, are GPS tracker and proximity sensor devices.

A GPS or global positioning system device allows tracking of anything that it attaches to. Parents can have their children wear it like a chain, necklace or just put it their pocket and no one would have a clue that it is in fact a tracking device.

gps tracker
A GPS tracker, such as this one, allows tracking of virtually everything that it attaches to. -pix courtesy of navi.bg

If you have no clue as to what I’m referring to, try recalling CSI. (And if you have no idea what CSI is, bless your soul)

Imagine one of the scenes on CSI Miami where Horatio (or any one of the CSI crew) was engaged in a manhunt. They try and locate the suspects via a computer interface upon implanting a bug on the suspect or the suspect’s vehicle.

The location given in the system would enable the team to conduct a search operation to nab the suspects more or less within a few kilometre radius as indicated.

Likewise, the same principle is used during a search and rescue operation to track a kidnapped child.

web interface
A web interface allows parents to track their children's whereabouts once the system is activated.

Meanwhile, a proximity sensor operates in a different mode. The device, once triggered, will alert you immediately once your child is out of a safe watchable distance from you.

This means both you and your child will each have a sensor and detector unit which constantly monitor the distance between one another as earlier configured.

Besides a GPS tracker and proximity sensor, there are also a number of tracking services that come pre-equipped or downloadable with the purchase of a smart phone.

Of course, these gadgets are not exactly full-proof methods in preventing child abduction, but at the very least, they offer an effective measure should something unthinkable were to happen to your loved ones.