Verizon Offers to Be Your Kids' Chaperone

June 12, 2006 | by Geoff Duncan

Verizon is launching a new Chaperone service, enabling parents to keep tabs on their kids's LG Migo phones.

First it was Disney offering special phones parents could use to keep tabs on their wayward progeny; now Verizon Wireless is getting in on the act, launching a new Chaperone service which leverages GPS technology build into LG Migo cellular phones to create two new service offerings for parents:

Chaperone Child Locator enables parents to locate their child's phone from a PC via the Chaperone Web Site, or using their own mobile phone via a Chaperone mobile application available from Verizon's Get It Now virtual store. Parents can issue one-time requests for a the location of a child's phone and have it displayed on a map. Parents can aso program the Migo phone's dedicated automatic calling buttons over the air using the Chaperone Web site, or customize other Chaperone settings.

Chaperone Child Zone enables parents to designate an area called a Child Zone around locations which are part of a child's daily routine—home, schools, playgrounds, daycare, sports programs, friends' homes, etc. Different locations can be activated for one-time tracking, be activated up to 24 hours, or be deisgnated "always on." When a child enters or leaves a defined zone, the parent received an automatic text message from the Chaperone service.

Chaperone operates using special LG Migo phones which sport four dedicated automatic calling buttons which can be preprogrammed to call parents, relatives, teachers, emergency services, or other contacts with a single button-press.

To avoid abuse, Chaperone service will only be available through Verizon retail locations and authorized agents, rather than via the Internet, and will only be available to customers on a Verizon Family Share calling plan. Verizon says customers must subscribe to Chaperone and then activate the service through a secure, password protected Web site, at which point they can access educational materials and terms of use designed to ensure the service is used in an informed and responsible manner.

Chaperone Child Locator is $9.99/month per line; adding Child Zone ups the fee to $19.99/month per line. The required Migo phones—with rabbit ears and "funky" green coloring which will probably result in no end of schoolyard taunting for Chaperone'd children—run $49.99 with two year service agreement. Verizon also offers a Chaperone-capable Motorola RAZR V3c.

Post Your Comment...Comments

jessica on Dec 26th, 2006 at 9:08 AM:

this is the most stupidest thing i ever heard of. you minus well put a tracking device in your kids ass so you can locate them especially if their teens

Jason Howard on Dec 27th, 2006 at 12:50 PM:

It's not that bad of an idea for parents who are paranoid and dont trust their kids.

Jenn Honeycutt on Jan 24th, 2007 at 2:43 PM:

Have you watched the news lately. This is not about trust. My son has not given me any reason to not trust him. This is about being able to locate my child if someone takes them. Young adults(teens) need to pick the lesser of 2 evils. We as parents usually don't just jump into not trusting our children. They usually have proven they are not trustworthy. Remember, we were once kids. Some of us a little wild. I would rather my child hate me and be safe then have his freedom from parental spies and be missing for years or worse dead. Maybe if this technology was available, Sean Hornbeck wouldn't have been missing for 4 1/2 years.

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