Consumer Alert: Tech tools to track your child while trick-or-treating

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – This consumer alert takes a look at a turning point in the life of every parent. It’s that age when your child is too cool to be seen with you at Halloween. So, when the kids are embarrassed to be seen with you, making sure they’re safe while wandering the neighborhood is a real challenge.

But remember that air tag you bought for your luggage? It can track your kiddo as well. Just drop it in a pocket or snap it on a belt loop. If you don’t have an iPhone, Tile is a great alternative. If you don’t have one of these trackers, I checked for you. Walmart and Target carry both for less than $30.

If your child has a cell phone, you have plenty of options. I sat down with AT&T store manager and tech expert Bryan Rogers who shared what he uses with his three kids.

“Two of them have Androids, one has an iPhone, so for my oldest, it’s the Find my Phone app through Apple,” said Rogers. ”Very easy. Very simple to use. You can actually share your location. That’s the thing with doing it, though. You want to make sure their location is on and their sharing it with you or you’re not going to see a thing. Now if your child has an android device there’s something called Family Link.”

Both apps act as a GPS tracker. You can also use the apps to ring your child’s phone, as well as turn it on and off. Rogers says also remind your child to take a portable charger. Tell him to turn his ring tone on, and set your child’s phone to make the flashlight go off when the phone rings. If you have an Android phone, go to settings, then accessibility, hearing and finally turn on flash notification. For your iPhone, first go to settings, then accessibility, then audio/visual, and finally LED flash for alerts.

Rogers says if your child has a smart watch, remind him about the emergency function.

“Say God forbid something does happen. You can hold down this button and it will make an emergency call for you,” said Rogers, pressing on the button on the side of his Apple watch. For your Apple watch, press the side button to get to the control center, then tap flashlight icon. Swipe left to choose a mode, steady white light, flashing white light, or steady red light.

For a Samsung watch, swipe down to find the control center, then swipe left to find the flashlight icon.