Stanley Patz has been conditioned to expect his telephone to ring whenever a child goes missing, so he was bracing when he heard about the disappearance of an 8-year-old boy, Leiby Kletzky, last week in Brooklyn.
Yet this time, Mr. Patz, whose 6-year-old son, Etan, vanished off a Manhattan street in 1979, responded with an idea to help head off more kidnappings. After brooding over Leiby’s murder for a few days, Mr. Patz wondered, why not put a basic, emergency cellphone in the hands of every child? At the press of a button, children who are lost or in danger could dial 911, Mr. Patz reasoned.
And, if the phones had global-positioning chips in them, they could help authorities track a child’s whereabouts.
Perhaps, he added, it would be known as a “Leiby phone.”
“This little boy, even though he had rehearsed the route with his mother, he didn’t make the correct turn, then he realized he was lost and had to ask for directions,” Mr. Patz. “If he had this cellphone on his person, he could have called his mother.”
He thinks it would be feasible for cellphone manufacturers and service providers to make simple, potentially life-saving phones available free, possibly as part of family calling plans, he said in an interview on Saturday.
Mr. Patz conceded that he had not discussed his idea with anybody in the telephone business and had no estimate of what his plan might cost.
The concept of a stripped-down phone intended as a lifeline for young children has been tried before. Firefly Mobile, an eight-year-old company, has been marketing basic phones for children for several years. For a while, its products were available through Cingular Wireless, a provider that was acquired by AT&T, but they were not free. Representatives of Firefly and AT&T could not be reached over the weekend for comment.
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18 Responses
Why does Leiby Kletzky get an A”H while Etan Patz (who is also Jewish) does not?
The Wolf
that would be great, i would def buy one for my kids!!!
I also thought about this the last few days, but a little different concept: A wearable bracelet that includes GPS, and a panic button that alerts parents via a cellular chip. With such basic functionality the bracelet could be small, and unlikely to lose or damage like a phone.
I think it’s a stupid idea what if the cell phone gets lost
Its a great idea however it would not help kids to and from school because most schools have a rule that if they find a kid w a phone they throw him out
Excellent idea! Today, cell phones are not a luxury but a necessity. We live in Israel. Several years ago my teenage son was a victim of a terror attack in Jerusalem. He wasn’t seriously hurt but suffered from shock. He wanted to call us but couldn’t remember our phone number, After several tries at a local pay phone he finally was able to call our daughter and told her what happened.
The next day we bought him a pre programmed cell phone. The phone had 4 numbers. The police, our house number, my husband’s number and the number to one of my daughters.
I researched Firefly today because I want to give them to my grandchildren. I defy any yeshiva to say my young grandson (who has to walk a long way to Yeshiva because Bloomberg cut buses) to tell me he can’t have a safe phone with emergency numbers only.
I hope the Yeshivas will change their no phone policy. If they don’t, too bad. My grandchildren are getting them, gifts from their very worried Bubbie & Zaidie. Put ME in detention!
Children can lose them, dial numbers and not hang up for hours or simply forget how to use them since they are made for such rare situations.
Make the phones only to be able to get incoming calls from a handful of numbers and no outgoing calls. If a child loses the phone a parent can track its gps location.
Battary and sim card have to be built in so it wouldn’t get misplaced by the child or replaced by someone who found this phone.
Big buttons, easy to use, well in this case only 2 buttons are needed: pickup and hangup. No need for fancy display or games. Then maybe Bloomberg wouldn’t mind such phones in schools.
For many years now, much of this is widely available even on standard cell phone plans.
You can sign up any modern cell phone (not only smartphones) to be on a tracking service (monthly fee on top of family plan) that uses GPS and/or cell triangulation to track the phone’s (approx. at least) location. Typically, you can track not only one but a few phones (multiple kids) for one nominal monthly fee.
You can also restrict calls from the phone to only allow calls to special numbers (in addition to 911), and if you made those numbers “speed dial” numbers, then one could probably train their child to, say, just hold down the #2 key, or hold down the #3 key and that will call home and/or cell phone. This is not the same as a big red button, but I would imagine this is quite doable for a typical 7+ year old.
@Wolf
Possibly because there has never been proof that Eitan died. You know it, I know it, we all know he is dead, but it has never been proven.
Wolf, was Etan Patz ever confirmed dead? Was he ever found?
Besides firefly there is also the teddyfone. Check it out on http://www.teddyfone.com. Its intended for very young kids and has only 4 pre-programmed buttons so eg one can be set to call home, two set to father and mother’s cell and the fourth 911 or another relative. But I like the bracelet idea also.
There is such a phone in the market. Its called a teddy phone, its in a shape of a teddy with 4 buttons, to be programmed to whoever you wish to be able to call. it comes in blue or pink. I think it also has a GPS so you can track it. In the UK there is now a summer sale for such phones, 1 for 20 GBP, 2 for 30 GBP.
Um, apparently this ALREADY exists in the UK. It’s called Teddyphone. (Google it for a pic.) It is shaped like a teddy bear (so muggers wouldn’t want to steal it), has no screen (no SMS, no pics, ect.), and only 4 buttons with pre-programmed numbers, it can also be used as a tracking device. Perhaps it works elsewhere around the world?
‘Why does Leiby Kletzky get an A”H while Etan Patz (who is also Jewish) does not?’
The Wolf
I’m sure it was a harmless mistake and totally unintentional!
To everyone’s “bestbubby”: You post, “I hope the Yeshivas will change their no phone policy. If they don’t, too bad.” I didn’t notice this post on the piece about Mayor Bloomberg maintaining his stance on his cell phone ban in NYC public schools. Please explain.
@WolfishMusings
Very simple. Etan Patz was never found, so halachically he is not considered dead.
I had a phone from Verizon years ago for my kids, only 4 preprogrammed numbers on it. You could not dial out to anyone else. The kids left it somewhere and it was stolen.