App to track child's Apple Watch??

Part of my thought process is that an AirTag is less expensive than an iPhone. You have obvious concerns about sending your son to school with an iPhone and losing or having the iPhone stolen. If the AirTag mysteriously disappears, it’s much less of an issue. Since you have couple of spare/unused AirTags try it and see what the results are and evaluate if they meet your needs.

If you want a near constant update of your child’s location it might be an AirTag dropped into his backpack. Of course it could end up in his locker all day. Another option would be attaching the AirTag to a keychain or wallet, but again, nothing to prevent them from leaving the tag in his locker.

The Apple Watch will provide location, but to conserve daily battery capacity doesn’t constantly update the location. But no product really will. The issue with the watch is that many schools block the access to devices to use the WiFi. Tracking then falls back to cellular connection and watches limit that to prevent battery drain.

Here’s a link to what AirTags offer, Add an AirTag to Find My to keep track of personal items - Apple Support

Many years ago I was a teacher and then went different direction. I have many friends today that are teachers and they frequently ask me about such topics because of my tech background and the increased security concerns of many parents. I haven’t found a perfect answer yet, but you have options to explore.

You’ll only know which is more accurate if you try both devices. You can either test them separately or at the same time and see which device is generating more accurate location. Please the community what you end up doing. I’m sure it’ll benefit other community members in the future.

Does he take a backpack to school?