Elementary school pilot project aims to keep kids from getting lost
A Charlottetown tech company has partnered with St. Jean Elementary School to test a new system to keep track of children who are at risk of wandering.
"You don't have to Google very hard to unfortunately find some tragic scenarios of kids leaving a school property and sometimes to a tragic end," said Tim MacEachern, co-founder of Found Network.
He says the system would offer parents and administrators "peace of mind."
Feedback from pilot project
The system being tested at St. Jean was developed as a result of feedback from parents of children who are prone to wander.
In January 2018, Found Network launched a pilot project geared toward families with children on the autism spectrum. The families were given locators to hook up to their Wi-Fi, which would track small tags that could be put into a child's pocket, or sewn into their clothes.
"We were initially pitching the idea of allowing them to confirm they made it home, or made it to some other location," MacEachern said.
"They were more interested in knowing if they left home, or a safe location. So that's what we've done based on that feedback. We've made it now possible to set up these virtual safe zones almost anywhere."
Useful tool for families
Nathalie Walsh-Annand, executive director of the Autism Society of P.E.I., says children on the autism spectrum are often a "flight risk" and she hears from many parents that worry about their children's safety, particularly if they are non-verbal.
"Families are always looking for something that can help them feel more secure," Walsh-Annand said.
While there are other locating devices on the market, Walsh-Annand says it is always useful to have more options based on what works best for each family.
MacEachern says batteries in the tags only need to be replaced once a year.
Based on the results of the pilot project, the company has switched to using cellular networks, rather than Wi-Fi.
Testing the system
Locators have been installed at St. Jean, and teachers are testing out the tags with a few students. The school is the first to test out the "safe zone" system.
Staff would be notified on their phones if a child carrying one of the tags left school property.
St. Jean is testing out the system on a trial basis right now, but MacEachern hopes the school — and others — will be interested in installing the network.
He says he's also heard interest from nursing homes, who are concerned about residents with Alzheimer's who could be prone to wander.
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