Have Apple AirTag bracelets become digital leashes for kids?
MomTok influencer Vada Stevens is sparking debate online with a TikTok claiming to “train” her two young daughters to come to her when their wearable tracking devices start to beep.
Stevens showed off the AirTag bracelets in a clip posted Monday. She said she saw the digital jewelry on the social media app and thought it was “the coolest thing.”
An AirTag is a small, circular device created by Apple to be placed on commonly lost objects such as luggage and keys. The tags can be tracked through the Find My iPhone app. Users can make the product beep to lead them to their item.
“You can find them on Amazon, and you can track them and make a beeping noise,” Stevens explained in her video, which has summoned 1.7 million views.
“And you can train your kids to come when they hear the beeping noise. Watch this,” she said, cueing the girls’ bracelets to beep, which resulted in them running to her.
“You beeped for us,” one daughter declared. “What do you need?”
“Today we are dog training,” Stevens captioned the video, seemingly addressing criticism she received in the comments claiming she was treating her children like animals.
The Post has contacted Stevens for comment.
The video has prompted over 700 comments from TikTokers debating whether the bracelets are a smart safety feature for children or simply “traumatizing” them.
“I love that she said train instead of teach,” one commenter said of Stevens’ caption.
“Can you also train them to retrieve & sit/stay?” another sarcastically wrote, comparing the method to training dogs.
“I’m just here for the negative comments,” one user admitted.
“Hangout a while and you’ll find some funny ones,” Stevens replied. “So far the best one is I’m traumatizing them.”
Others praised the North Carolina mom’s approach — with some even sharing that they, too, use AirTag bracelets on their kids.
“We tell my kid it’s her Apple Watch just like mom and dad,” one clever parent confessed.
“I saw so many kids in Disney with these on! Such a great idea in case they got lost,” another applauded.
A third added: “You know the way these people in this world are this is a must. I will be doing this.”
One user claimed Stevens’ method was “smart,” but advised: “Maybe you should make the airtag non identifiable in case they get kidnapped.”
And one millennial felt nostalgic after watching the clip.
“The way I’d have felt like a Spy Kid with one of those,” the user laughed.
Source by [New York Post]