It Takes A Village – The Lassy Project Crowdsources Communication To Keep Kids Safe

It Takes A Village – The Lassy Project Crowdsources Communication To Keep Kids Safe

The Lassy Project app is now live. Download the app here

It takes a village to raise a child. But, what does it take to keep that child safe? John Guydon asked himself this question following 5th grader Jessica Ridgeway’s tragic kidnapping in his home state of Colorado back in October 2012.

John Guydon is a entrepreneur, not a cop, military veteran, or security specialist. When he set out to find a way to prevent child abduction and keep neighborhoods safe, he turned to what he knew — communication.

As CEO of SMS marketing platform, Duffled, John helps companies keep in touch with their customers via SMS. John created The Lassy Project, to empower parents with the communication tools they need to keep their kids safe.

The Lassy Project uses real-time messaging and GPS tracking to keep parents updated on their child’s whereabouts, and alerts them in real-time if anything goes wrong.

Here’s how it works. Parents set up their Lassy profile by entering in their phone number, zip code and their child’s mobile phone number, which will act as a GPS beacon. Then they map typical routes their kid takes from home to school, from their friends house back home etc. Lassy registers these routes in their mapping client. If your child is somewhere they shouldn’t be, Lassy recognizes that and you’re notified immediately via Twilio SMS.

Lassy relies on local networks of users they call villages, to help spread the word and help out when a child goes missing. Think of the village as an on demand search and rescue team comprised of Lassy users. Co-founder Temitope Sonuyi says, “The ability to press a button and all of the sudden have hundreds of people looking for your child and knowing where they’re at right now, on a map and being able to see it, is unprecedented.”

Parents and village members can see where their child, or a missing child, is on a map and real-time. They can then share alerts via SMS, and forward updates on social media channels. John Guydon says the goal is to get critical information distributed instantly to “turn hours into seconds.”

The Lassy Project is working on developing their network of users. As they say, “the bigger the village, the safer the kids.” They’ve recently received endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police in Colorado and are working with local businesses to establish and map “safe spots” where kids can go if they’re in trouble.

To learn more about the Lassy Project, visit their website here.