Swedish daycare monitors toddlers with GPS vests

Daycares in Sweden have started fitting children with GPS and other locating devices to keep track of kids during excursions.

The Swedish children wear vests fitted with tracking devices that daycare staff can track on a screen, the Associated Press reports.

GPS devices are increasingly being used to keep track of children, although it is still unusual for them to be used in a daycare setting.

"Certainly, GPS is already being used on kids — many of them delinquent," the Toronto Globe and Mail reports. "In Florida earlier this year, GPS was being piloted as a way to keep track of, and presumably motivate kids who habitually play hooky."

But there are growing concerns about the ethical implications of monitoring children. 

The AP reports:

Some parents are worried day care centers will use the technology to replace staff. Others wonder whether getting children used to being under surveillance could affect their idea of privacy when they grow older.

On the positive, the GPS vests can help preschool staff to quickly discover if one of the toddlers strays away from the group, a daycare principal told the AP.

More from GlobalPost: No "boys" or "girls" at gender-neutral preschool in Sweden