Does anyone else not track their tween's location?

[Anonymous]

As a family, we all have our location sharing on.

When they first had freedom - middle school, walking somewhere after school - I would check to see they made it where they were going, etc. kind of like at that time, I would check their texts occasionally, etc.

Do not check in high school, I figure they have earned the privacy & I would rather not manage that level of detail - they are decent kids & I have to trust they will figure things out or call me if they need help.

But I like that we can, if needed - we used it a couple of times when DC lost their phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I track mine so I can meet them for pickups. For example—When they take the bus home, I track so I can know when they will arrive at the drop off (it’s private school, so the pickup is far from our house), I track them when they are coming back on the team bus from a game, so I know when they arrive back at school. Things like that.

They can also track me so that when I’m coming to get them they can figure out where I am if I’m late. This is nice bc I don’t get calls asking where I am when I’m trying to drive.

Same here with my HS kid. My younger kid doesn’t have a phone yet.

[Anonymous]

I don’t track mine. I have different levels of trust for each but tracking would cause me anxiety and cause my kid who I don’t trust as much to find reasons to get around it. We weren’t tracked growing up, thankfully. I feel it’s too much like microchipping.

BUT I’m trying to convince my elderly parents it’s time we get Life360 on their phones for entirely different reasons. We are getting to a time where they are getting lost driving, can’t or won’t use the gps/waze to help and we want to track them for their safety.

[Anonymous]

I do with my 13 and 16 but I am also very hands off about my kids, they have a lot of freedom, and I hardly ever bring it up unless I really need to. They also know I don’t make them check in if they have it on, so it has its benefits for them.

But they have a good number of friends who have it off, and then some friends have it on but whose parents rarely check it and then some who have it on and micromanage (those kids are the ones that leave their phones at friends houses when they go out)

[Anonymous]

I don’t - I have a 13 and 16 year old

[Anonymous]

I don't and never will. I think it's creepy.

[Anonymous]

I think this is so creepy. One DD is a college freshman and the other is a high school sophomore, I’ve never tracked them. I’m in this FB group for my college freshman and parents are still tracking their college age kids.

[Anonymous]

I have an Android so no tracking available. I never opted to switch to an Apple phone. Instead, I instructed my teens to let me know where they are and to answer my texts. If they avoided/ignored my requests, they would lose their phone.

My kids are older now, but I know of parents who track their kids well into their 20’s. These young adults live in another state. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

My 18 yo shares tracking with me and also with their friends. This makes them feel more secure.

Their decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 17, 17, 14 and I have "find my phone" for each of them but I rarely use it.

My 17 year old son is super social and went through a "I'm going to attend every teen party in the DMV" phase when he was newly 16. I used it a bunch then because I never knew if he was in Potomac or DC or Arlington or Chevy Chase or... ?

Thankfully he's phased out of that. It's been a good 6 months since I ever checked to see where he is and months since he's even been to a party. I think he got it out of his system, plus junior year has just been a beast at school. Lots of weekends spent catching up on sleep and doing homework vs. socializing non-stop.

You didn’t know what city your own DC was in without using a tracker?? Very odd.

[Anonymous]

3 teens. 2 in college one in HS. I don’t track them. I never have.

[Anonymous]

Three teens: 13, 13 and 15. I would never track them. If I need to know where they are, I text them and ask.

[Anonymous]

I think it is psychogically detrimental to their development to track their every move when they are teenagers. No wonder they are all riddled with anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 17, 17, 14 and I have "find my phone" for each of them but I rarely use it.

My 17 year old son is super social and went through a "I'm going to attend every teen party in the DMV" phase when he was newly 16. I used it a bunch then because I never knew if he was in Potomac or DC or Arlington or Chevy Chase or... ?

Thankfully he's phased out of that. It's been a good 6 months since I ever checked to see where he is and months since he's even been to a party. I think he got it out of his system, plus junior year has just been a beast at school. Lots of weekends spent catching up on sleep and doing homework vs. socializing non-stop.

You didn’t know what city your own DC was in without using a tracker?? Very odd.

Huh. No. You know your teen's every move when they leave your house on Saturday night?
That is beyond weird.
I know when my kids leave and they know when they're supposed to be home (midnight) but I don't require them to tell me where they are the entire time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I track mine so I can meet them for pickups. For example—When they take the bus home, I track so I can know when they will arrive at the drop off (it’s private school, so the pickup is far from our house), I track them when they are coming back on the team bus from a game, so I know when they arrive back at school. Things like that.

They can also track me so that when I’m coming to get them they can figure out where I am if I’m late. This is nice bc I don’t get calls asking where I am when I’m trying to drive.

This is essentially us as well. I generally only track her when I have to meet her, and need to know around what time I have to leave home. For instance, she has a field trip coming up. The window of arrival is dependent on traffic, so she'll text me when they start, and I'll track 30 minutes before scheduled arrival to see if they're still on track, or if I need to make adjustments.