text: A father has told how he's embraced 21st century parenting by using a drone to walk his eight-year-old daughter to school. Chris Early, who owns a production company in Knoxville, Tennessee, bought a quadcopter to make commercials but he decided he could use it for personal surveillance purposes too. The tech-enthusiast released footage of one of his remote chaperoning session to ABC News, showing how he is now able monitor his child's whereabouts from the skies. Scroll down for video . Caught on camera: A father has told how he's embraced 21st century parenting by using a drone to walk his eight-year-old daughter to school . Aerial views: Chris Early, who owns a production company in Knoxville, Tennessee, bought a quadcopter to make commercials but he decided he could use it for personal surveillance purposes too . Unbreakable bond: The tech-enthusiast (left, with his daughter Katie, right) released footage of one of his remote chaperoning sessions, showing how he is now able monitor his child's whereabouts from the skies . The clip shows Early's daughter, Katie, walking down a road near her home, sticking close to the grassy verge in a bid to avoid cars. 'It was just kind of a thing, just to kinda keep an eye on, just make sure she was looking both ways. 'Let her know that daddy is always watching,' Early said of his drone-flying antics. Apparently he'd been walking his daughter to and from school for the past two years but recently she asked if she could walk alone. Growing fast: Early said that he'd been walking his daughter to and from school for the past two years but recently she asked if she could walk alone . Brainwave: That's when he had the idea of using the drone to check in on her for her first solo commute . That's when he had the idea of using the drone to check in on her for her first solo commute. Katie said she was not expecting the drone to follow her but thought it was pretty cool when she spotted it hovering above. 'I was like, "Oh wow,"' she said. '[My dad] didn’t tell me then, so I was pretty surprised.' Although Early says the 'helicopter eye' is a really fun idea he notes that he won't be using it anymore. Since he released the clip many viewers have criticized him for being too 'prying' and 'invasive'. Too invasive: Although Early says the 'helicopter eye' is a fun idea he notes that he won't be using it anymore . 'Just wait until she dates,' on commenter wrote and Time Magazine even called him the 'World's Most Embarrassing Dad'. Responding to the backlash, Early said: 'The drone flight following my daughter home from school was a one-time thing done in fun. 'It was never meant to set off a debate on how to parent in the 21st century. 'I trust her enough to give her that little bit of independence as she continues to grow into a smart, beautiful young lady. 'We actually live very close to her school [and] I can just about see the school from my front porch without a drone.'
target: Chris Early, who owns a production company in Knoxville, Tennessee, bought a quadcopter to make commercials .
  However, he decided he could use it for personal monitoring purposes too .
  Early released footage of one of his remote chaperoning sessions .
  The clip shows how he is able monitor his child's location from the sky .