Elementary school pilot project aims to keep kids from getting lost

A Charlottetown tech company has partnered with St. Jean ElementarySchool 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. Jeanwas 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," MacEachernsaid.

"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-Annandsaid.

While there are other locating devices on the market, Walsh-Annandsays it is always useful to have more optionsbased on what works best for each family.

MacEachernsays batteries in the tags only need to be replacedonce a year.

Based on the results of the pilot project, the company has switched to using cellular networks, rather thanWi-Fi.

Testing the system

Locators have been installed at St. Jean, andteachers are testing out the tags with a few students. The school is the first to test out the "safe zone" system.

Staffwould be notified on their phones if a child carrying one of the tags left school property.

St. Jeanis testing out the system on a trial basis right now,but MacEachern hopes the school and others willbe 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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