‘Avonte’s Law’ – Do You Favor Providing Tracking Devices for Autistic Kids? [POLL]

In the wake of the grim discovery of the remains of Queens autistic teen Avonte Oquendo, New York Senator Chuck Schumer is proposing a voluntary program in which autistic kids would be outfitted with tracking devices should they become lost.

It was sad to read the accounts of the story when it first broke, and one wonders whether or not that had Avonte been wearing such a device, the outcome could have been avoided.

A better answer would be that if someone at the school Avonte had been attending were doing their job, this terrible outcome could have been avoided.

Aside from all the “what-ifs” – would you agree that a program like the one the senator is proposing is worthwhile – or is it mere grandstanding?

According to this:

The federal government must create a program to outfit autistic kids with tracking devices, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

The senator plans to introduce “Avonte’s Law” Monday, after 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo was laid to rest. The autistic teen disappeared from the Riverview School in Long Island City, Queens, Oct. 4. His remains were found Jan. 16 along the East River shoreline in College Point.

“Thousands of families face the awful reality each and every day that their child with autism may run away,” Schumer told reporters Sunday. “Making voluntary tracking devices available will help put parents at ease, and most importantly, help prevent future tragedies like Avonte’s.”

Schumer first raised the roughly $10 million idea in November when the Queens teen was still missing.

The tracking devices could be attached to wristwatches, anklets, or clipped on belt loops or shoelaces. They cost around $80 to $90.

I might even go so far as to say that every child would be better off wearing a tracking device – especially given the number of missing kids we hear about on a fairly regular basis.

Then again, I go back to what I said at the outset – which was that if someone were doing their job, Avonte may never had left the school from which he disappeared.