December 3, 2004
Tokyo ward to equip kids with emergency phones - not based on GPS
All primary school children in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, are to be supplied with an emergency personal handyphone system next fiscal year to protect them from crimes such as being kidnapped, according to the Daily Yomiuri Online.
"Since 2003, all children in the ward have been leased safety alarms, but according to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, the PHS scheme is unprecedented.
If the alarm on the PHS is activated, a signal is received by the ward office, which then contacts residents cooperating in the program who are near the activated PHS.
All 12,000 primary school children in the ward will be leased PHS weighing about 50 grams. The children will be able to speak on the PHS, and can send an alarm signal when an attached pin is pulled out.
A security center in the ward office will determine the location of the incoming signal and automatically contact leaders of community and parent and teacher associations in the neighborhood, telling them the name of the child concerned and the location of the incident taking place.
If the recipient of the message is called on a cell phone, a map indicating the location also will be sent with an e-mail message.
Monozukuri Shinagawajuku, the NPO involved in the scheme, had initially developed a system using the global-positioning system, but it proved too costly."
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