Location Sharing for Parents

[Sagetbh]

Hi guys,

 

I was looking for some insight into a request that has been made to us.

 

We have large numbers of students that are going off on trips, and parents are requesting to be able to get tracking data on where they are, just so it's easier for example to know when the coach has arrived.

 

The idea is to have the tracker on the Staff members phones, and then the parents to be able to view this as they please.

 

Ideally wanting it to be something that is dooable on iOS but if not we can also go Android.

 

I have been through a number of "Family Sharing" tracker apps and none of them seem suitable for what we need, ideally we share our location 24/7 on that device and parents at any point can click a link and check on the latest location.

 

Anyone had any experience of somthing that might facilitate this?

 

Thanks very much

[Roberto]

Hi guys,

 

I was looking for some insight into a request that has been made to us.

 

We have large numbers of students that are going off on trips, and parents are requesting to be able to get tracking data on where they are, just so it's easier for example to know when the coach has arrived.

 

The idea is to have the tracker on the Staff members phones, and then the parents to be able to view this as they please.

 

Ideally wanting it to be something that is dooable on iOS but if not we can also go Android.

 

I have been through a number of "Family Sharing" tracker apps and none of them seem suitable for what we need, ideally we share our location 24/7 on that device and parents at any point can click a link and check on the latest location.

 

Anyone had any experience of somthing that might facilitate this?

 

Thanks very much

 

“have the tracker on the Staff members phones”

 

Hopefully you mean a school phone that’s issued to the staff going on the trip for a day, not literally the person’s individual, personal device. I’d tell you ‘no chance’ if it were my personal device for sure.

 

I suspect that this will be difficult, both Apple and Google rightly consider live location data as private data and as such intentionally don’t make it easy to just share to the world.

 

This wired article has a few ideas that might work if you invited parents to a Facebook messenger or WhatsApp group then share location with the group.

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-share-your-location-android-ios/

Edited January 13, 2024 by Roberto

[jmak]

I get that this may be expected by parents as they constantly check where their own children are, but maybe they need to be told "no". It's not like it's a teenager walking home in the dark by themselves.

 

Surely an update when the coach leaves with an ETA from the sat nav based on traffic information, an update if that ETA changes by more than 10 minutes and an update when the coach is 10 minutes from its destination and one when it arrives would be plenty?

 

I also seem to remember that the coach company we used when I last worked in a school already had a system in place - might be worth checking that?

[MatthewL]

Google Maps you can share your location and provide a link. I do it for an event we run where we need a tracker as such on the evening, easy on and off and a simple link, no config, no extra apps.

 

I also suspect most will use Whats App, you can share your location in there so surely parents and their kids could do that.

[hardtailstar]

Google maps can do it as said above. I do it for myself when out running, share my location with my mum so she can see where I am if I get into difficulty.

 

Just make sure you use a school Google account on a school phone.

 

Whats App can do broadcast channels so the school could set one (or many) up and those on trips could admin the channel(s) which they can send real time info on what they are up to. Parents can subscribe and only react to the message.

 

Its all the rage for Football teams at the moment.

[msi_school]

The idea is to have the tracker on the Staff members phones, and then the parents to be able to view this as they please.

 

This is a massive safeguarding issue for the member of staff, if they don't turn this off after the trip they can be tracked.

 

My personal advice would be to get the trip[ leader to report in on a schedule and report that info but if you have to have a tracker make it stand alone.

[paulkerton]

All they need to do is use your comms system to let them know they've arrived, surely?