GPS Helps Keep Wayward Kids in School

GPS devices are being used for personal tracking in many areas of life. Suspicious spouses use tracking devices to follow their husband or wife’s movements. Parole officers use them to track paroled prisoners. And concerned family members use them to monitor the safety of elderly parents. And now, GPS tracking devices are being used by the public school system to monitor truants. These tracking devices are part of the AIM program, a five-year-old Texas mentoring program that uses GPS technology. This system employs tracking devices held, not worn, by the students.

Judges claim that giving the child the GPS device to take care of builds a sense of responsibility. On the other hand, forcing the students to wear GPS ankle bracelets would make them feel like criminals, according to AIM mentor Brian Dooley. With the AIM program, each student is assigned a counselor and given a GPS device that they must carry with them. The students are also given a code that they punch in when they arrive at school each morning. The student’s mentor will contact him if the GPS device shows that he is not where he is supposed to be.

Although somewhat controversial, the AIM program has had great success and is expanding to Kentucky and Pennsylvania. For Jose Troncoso, the AIM program with its use of GPS was what got him back on track. After missing over a month of school, a judge ordered Jose to carry a GPS tracking device with him. At first, Jose was reluctant to be part of the program. He thought he would have to wear the GPS device. But when he found out he got to carry it, he wanted to prove to his mentors that he could be trustworthy. Now, after six weeks in the program, Jose is excited about going to school each day and is looking forward to graduating.

For Jose and many others, the use of GPS tracking devices to reduce truancy has changed their lives. But reducing truancy not only helps kids graduate from high school, but also reduces crime. When a truancy program was implemented in North Miami Beach, the number of vehicle burglaries decreased by 22 percent. Also in Florida, a study performed on juvenile delinquents found that excessive truancy was a common factor in many of the cases. GPS tracking devices have been used in many fields with successful results, and the AIM program is no exception.

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