I’m lucky enough to have never been tracked by my parents, not in middle school or at any point in time throughout high school. Despite this, I have a lot of friends who have/had life 360 and have hated it. I know it sounds suspicious cause why should a kid be worried about where their parents are seeing where they are all the time…but it’s an invasion of privacy. Teens need privacy in order for them to grow and make decisions on their own. If you put yourself in a position where you shouldn’t be then that’s your fault. Regardless, there’s a lesson to learn out of every decision, and it should be learned through experience and self-directed decisions. If there is a true safety concern and Parents are genuinely worried where their kid is then find my iPhone can be utilized. Life 360 app tells you everywhere you’ve been in the past 48 hours, lets the parent know when you’ve arrived and left the home, and even tracks HOW FAST YOU’RE DRIVING…literally crazy. What parent needs to know all that information? Not enough privacy.
According to the New York Times, “Location tracking can, without question, damage the connection between parent and teenager. Research shows that adolescents who believe their parents have invaded their privacy go on to have higher levels of conflict at home” (Demour). You have to be capable of building trust between the two of you. I never usually lie about where I am to my parents, even if I’m at someone’s house they don’t know. This is because I’m allowed to make my own decisions of where and who I hang out with and either way my decisions will help me grow as I will learn valuable lessons from my surroundings.
Life 360 can essentially do the exact opposite of what parents want. It creates sneaky kids and causes them to find ways to work around the app and rig the system to make it seem like they are somewhere they actually aren’t. I’ve seen friends of mine do just that. Why would you not want to build trust with your kid? Trust can set the foundation for an amazing relationship that will only progress as is developed.
So if you see this, show it to your parents if you have the app. It’s a useless app for teenagers, point blank period.
I think that this is so true and so important. When teens feel controlled by their parents they can become rebellious and will tend to act out. I think when teens feel like they don’t have independence and like their parents are on their butt about too much, they lose respect for their parents. I know when my mom or dad continues to bug me about things I get so annoyed. Parents need to know how important out independence is to us. For teens to learn for themselves we have to screw up on our own and learn how to fix it. We must learn how to be independent because our parents will not always be there as we grow up. Once teens go to college, there is more independence and if a teen is babied then they will go to college and not know how to survive. I completely agree with you on the idea that parents should not track their kid’s phones. Parents need to have more trust in their kids and if there is no trust then there can not be a relationship between the 2. I do think that the opportunity to track them is okay. In my family, we can all track each other’s phones using find my iPhone but we only use it if it is necessary. Other than that, people should not use it, they should trust others more.
Yeah facts being independent and deciding things on your own is a crucial skill to have especially as you get older.
I agree 100%. I have been tracked by my parents for about a year now and it has really taken a toll on our relationship. I feel like it’s extremely unfair for kids to be tracked, especially when they have never done anything to break their trust. My parents have the pro version which literally tells them when I use my phone when driving, how hard I accelerate/decelerate, and how sharply I take turns. Absolutely ridiculous. Like what you said about becoming more rebellious, I sometimes will speed just so I piss my parents off. Life 360 is truly an invasion of privacy and no teens should ever be tracked like that by their parents.
HHAHAAH lmao parker you’re goofy. “speeding just to piss them off” that’s so funny but I’m sorry they invade your privacy so much