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By Greg Bartlett

GPS tracking systems are quickly becoming a part of everyday life for many business people, but in the next two years they will also be sprouting up on college campuses around the country. Many schools are considering the adoption of a cell phone with GPS technology that will help students stay safe in an emergency. Students may soon be carrying two cell phones, the one that is on their parents’ plan which allows them to text and call their friends among other things, and the one that the school requires them to have and carry, which will give them a minimal amount of peak minutes, unlimited text messaging, unlimited access to campus-based information, and of course the emergency tracking.

Student Safety

Students may resent this new safety measure for a few reasons. First of all, jeans only have so many pockets, and when you’re carrying a wallet, keys, and two cell phones, they will most likely all be full. Second, who needs two cell phones? There are probably a few talented college students who could text on both phones at the same time, but most students will not use the emergency phone, preferring instead to use the phone that they had previously owned. Third, this emergency cell phone plan comes with a fee of around $400 a year. College already has enough additional charges: laundry, textbooks, snacks from the vending machines. Most college students don’t have this kind of money sitting around.

But despite all the negatives, this program is a very important one. GPS tracking systems help keep people safe, and safety is more important than convenience. These GPS tracking systems would allow for a variety of safety measures. The college administration would be able to locate the students closest to an emergency situation and direct them by text message or phone call how to respond.

Students that are farther away could be directed to a safe building that was close to them. This kind of personalized notification would help students respond calmly in a situation instead of trying to decide where to go or which part of the notification to respond to. These GPS tracking systems would also allow students to set a tracking alarm on their phone that would notify authorities in a specific amount of time if they did not turn off the alarm. This would help students to feel safer in any uneasy situation.

Although students might prefer that college campuses didn’t make this emergency cell phone a requirement, if the students and their parents really considered the safety that this device brings, they would come to the conclusion that $400 was well worth the peace of mind that it would give them.