Big Mother Is Watching You
Updated : May 28, 2009
Harry Wilder might be spending his gap year on the other side of the world, but his mum is with him every step of the way.
Thanks to a satellite tracking device, Rachel Wilder can keep tabs on her 19-year-old son at any time of the day or night.
That means she can avoid most of the worry parents face when their son or daughter heads off into the unknown with a backpack.
Rachel Wilder at her home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire where she is able to keep an eye on her son Harry during his gap year over her computer
'It is fantastic to be able to keep an eye on Harry and track his journey,' said 53-year-old Mrs Wilder at the family home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
'I feel like I am sort of with him on his travels, which gives me peace of mind and means he doesn't have to check in with a phone call.'
Harry, who is currently with friends in Australia, agreed to carry the 2in-thick, credit-card-sized Traakit device when he left home.
By visiting a website, his mother can track him to within 15ft of his exact location and the global positioning system can even send her a text message alert if he goes anywhere he shouldn't.
'I can tell which street he is in so I can make sure he doesn't wander into any dangerous areas,' added Mrs Wilder, an inventory clerk.
'The point of a gap year is to go away and not be hounded by your parents but equally as parents, it's quite nice to know where they are without constantly ringing up.'
Harry will travel to Thailand next month before heading to South Africa in July. He is due to start a degree in Business Management at Oxford Brookes University in September.
As one of nearly 300 piglets VeryhappyPigs mother would have found it impossible to keep track of us all with or without technological developments. Not that she had any special interest in monitoring our whereabouts. But VHP isn’t complaining imagine how embarrassing it would be to explaining to a beautiful girl in some exotic country that you can’t go back to her place because your mother will know! And imagine how much more embarrassing it would be if your mother told the world.