Wow ... Let's look at ISD197 (public school side) ... In grade school it's easy to monitor the friends your kids are with, generally families send their children to the school closest to them, that's 5 schools; the district then funnels these children into 2 middle schools (FHMS & HMS); these kids are then squeezed into a single High school. Your child's pool of friends has shifted from your neighborhood to at least 3 cities to at least 6 cities (WSP, SFL, MH, Eagan, Mendota, Lilydale) ... This doesn't even count the kids that are enrolled from Inver Grove/St Paul/SSP ... to assume that you know all the friends your child has is not only naive its deluginal! My kids understand as long as it's under our name &/or we are paying for it we have the right to know what's going on at any time - this includes not only phones but computers, cars and grades, even those in college ... (part 1)

(part 2)... As far as schools monitoring our kids - they have the right to know where their equipment is, if a child checks out an iPad/computer and it's overdue they have the right to GPS it's location, if it's been reported lost/stolen then yes I think the school has the right to take A PHOTO of the person who is using it. Track devices on IDs is a harder subject - the school has an obligation to make sure kids are where they are supposed to be and they are responsible for our kids on field trips, that being said, outside those parameters they have no need to know the location of a child's ID. Imagine your child gets lost on a field trip - wouldn't you like to know that with a click you can find them? Or if your child is being accused of something (say running a redlight or speeding) wouldn't you like to be able to have GPS proof that it wasn't them? Or someone takes your child's iPad, wouldn't you feel better knowing you can help the police by tracking it's movements?

People think nothing of "chipping" their pets, tracking friends on Facebook/Twitter, "spying" on other people's lives in Reality Shows ... I don't see the issue with parents monitoring their kids ... government doing it, yes that's an issue - but parents are not government. While people dream of old fashioned values, we live in a modern world with modern problems - we used to be able to walk safely 2 miles to school, now there are not only freeways/hiways to be crossed but there are... (end part 2)

We are ISD 197er's too and we've had the same issues. It's scarey and takes more parenting time. I do not think that schools should do the parenting unless specifically asked for help by a parent/guardian, or directed by a court.

(part 3) ... Let me rephrase that .... **I** used to able to walk safely over 2 miles to an inner city high school, it just isn't that safe anymore ... We need to use modern solutions.

It's a personal choice, I think it's smart to use every tool a parent can get ... Schools should have specific parameters - overdue equipment, lost/stolen equipment, children on field trips, kids on campus - not just to do random checks. I think a lot of people are of the opinion that GPS can pin point locations to within inches, when in reality it can range from 3foot to a mile (20 foot is most common), the issue is that it could show someone off-campus when really they were on (my iPad GPS consistently shows me sitting in the middle of the freeway) - accuracy can be effected by several factors so I would hate for it to be the "end all" for many applications a school might use it for, but still it's a tool that could help fight truancy or equipment theft. (end of message)

As a long time parent in the District, ISD 197 has a good handle on all of these issues to the extent that they exist, which is limited. It does not need to track students or things in the ways discussed. I don't think any district should.

Whatever it is I may or may not know, it's not to be solved by GPS.

I think that GPS tracking software can be a very useful tool in parenting. However, like any tool, it depends on how you use it. I have been able for years to check my sons location via software on his phone. When he was young I did use this software some. It is still installed on his phone, however I have not had reason to look at it in a few years.

If the kids aren't doing anything wrong then what is the issue with tracking them? If they are supposed to be in school then that is not invading privacy. There is an app called MamaBear that tracks location plus does social media monitoring. It is worth checking out and is free.. I think schools could use it too.

To keep tabs on my 2 teenagers, I've been using WhereGuard (whereguard.com).

It is not that I don't trust my kids, it is more that I don't just the judgement of (any) 10-year old. Nothing bad has happened, and I am 99.9% sure my daughter will be where she says she is, but being able to easily check simply gives me peace of mind.

Parents who are tracking their kids by electronic devices should have their heads examined! This is parental harassment!

Furthermore, the ACLU (which I normally do not agree with) should get involved on the kids' behalf. Even though they are kids, they have the right to be protected from paranoid parents, some of whom have posted above on this subject. Thank goodness I didn't have parents who spied on me, and I am glad I raised my children in a responsible way.