Some people think microchips should not be implanted in kids, but I think otherwise. Put another way, parents should have a choice to put trackers in their children. This makes sense because the amount of kids that go missing is staggering. Think about how many dogs that go missing and how many are returned to their families because they had a microchip. If a child is implanted with a tracker, they could be found if they go missing.

Imagine if two 5-year-old boys are playing at a local park. A tall man walks up and offers candy and toys. He asks the two if they want more. They both nod in excitement wanting more sweets. The two follow him to his car. Once arriving at the strangers car, he pops his trunk. Acting surprised, he turns to the kids and says that he left all the goodies at home. If they come home with him, they will get the rest of the candy. The two hop in the car with wide smiles on their faces. Once they arrive at the house, he lures them into the basement. After a couple of hours pass one boy is found because he had a tracker chip implant. Days pass, and the other boy is nowhere to be found. A week later, the other boy is found dead in a creek. This happens everyday right under our noses.

A study done by Jordan Taylor published on the Observer states “20,124 kids were reported missing in 2013…” Approximately 8,000 abductions happened in New York only. Each year, the number of kidnappings increases. These numbers are staggering, and if we don’t implant microchips in kids, this will continue.

Former Microsoft software developer Ramez Naam, now speaker and author, said he, “…envisions using chip implantation to help monitor the location of people with Alzheimer’s disease.” As Ramez points out, microchips could be used on everyone, not just children. The approximate number of missing people from 2013 is 600,000. This has raised significantly over the past years. We could end this by implanting microchips.

The same article by Jordan Taylor quotes, “There is also the $30 Toddler Tag Child Locator…” Jordan continues, “…sends a an alert to the parent’s accompanying transmitter when the child has wandered more than 30-feet away.” What this quote id trying to say is that you don’t have to implant the chip in your child. There are other options. Such as this device. However, chipping your child still may be a better option.

Despite the advantages of microchipping, some people claim that having a microchip implant is the worst thing we could ever do. Lee Tien from Electronic Frontier Foundation  states, “Any technology of this kind is easily abusive of personal privacy…” From the same study, Lee  continues “If a kid is trackable, do you want other people to track your kid?” This may seem like proof that microchipping is dangerous, there is a solution to protect against this. Tracking devices can be protected just like you can password protect a your phone. Therefore, Lee Tien’s comment does not disprove my claim that kids should be microchipped.

As I’ve proven, microchip implants could help the community with missing children and kidnappings. Once implanted, you will always know where your child is and if they are safe. We can’t let child abductions continue any longer. We have a choice to make. We can continue to allow children to be kidnapped or, we can keep kids safe by microchipping them. If we do this parents will not have to worry about their kids when their away. I hope we choose wisely.