Helicoptering by satellite

I've always rolled my eyes at "helicopter parents," the ones who hover over their offspring and thus prevent them from making mistakes or, in the worse cases, just  being kids.  This weekend I am such a parent.  Electronics such as cell phones enable this kind of behavior, as does one I'm using right now to follow my son:  the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger. 

Our troop has been using these gizmos for several years, and they are wonderful.  First and foremost, they give wilderness explorers a means of summoning help--even in places with no cell phone coverage.  They also give parents and others who are not on the trip a good means of keeping up with the travelers, to know they are OK and to see where they are.
Right now, Walker is off doing a rappel of the Golden Cathedral in the Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument.  I've been there before, but never with ropes. 

A  SPOT email he sent last night looks like this:

Spot 1
Latitude:37.51458
Longitude:-111.21765
GPS location Date/Time:04/16/2010 18:52:31 MDT

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.51458,-111.21765&ll=37.51458,-111.21765&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Message:All ok on the Utah Trip (Troop Spot unit #1).




Recipients can click on the email and go to Google maps and see from where the message was sent.  It's a great way to have peace of mind and vicariously go along on the hike.  I think every Scout troop that does wilderness trips should have one or more of these SPOTs.