Do you track your dc?

[Workyticket]

DS is 10, nearly 11 and has just started walking to and from school a couple of days a week with his friends

they sometimes play out for an hour after school too, on a park that's on their way home

School is a 20 minute walk away

I've put snapchat on his phone so I can track where he is but it's not ideal as the app has to be in use to see him on the map

We're Android users so no 'find my iPhone '

Are there any better alternatives?

How does it keep them safer though? Except in maybe a kidnapping. All it does it let you know where they are. It's not going to stop them from getting robbed, or stabbed, or murdered, because you won't know it's happening.

I'll know where to start looking if they don't turn up when they're supposed to though. Where to send police etc. If my child does get robbed, I can shut the phone down from mine and make it useless too. For me it's just one of many parenting tools we can choose to use if we want to. I never look at unless they're late. The moment they tell me they are uncomfortable with it I will switch it off. They use it to look for me as well. These things are not necessarily "controlling" or "weird" especially if that is not the dynamic in your family anyway. Controlling parents will use it to be controlling, most parents will use it for convenience.

Each to their own. I still think it's weird and would absolutely hate the idea of someone tracking me. DC is 14 and we manage fine without it so I'm happy.

I guess keeps them safer if they get lost out with their friends and you can see where they are. My 13yo goes out on his bike with his friends for hours in the countryside - his friend got a puncture last week and my son's spare inner tube didn't fit in his friend's wheel so he rang me and I could see where he was - in the middle of nowhere to pick them up! Also when my 11yo starts getting bus to school it's a 55 minute bus journey and buses are infrequent so it will put my mind at ease to know he is on the bus and roughly how long he'll be.

They can also see where I am if I'm out. I think it's useful when giving them freedom.

@LondonWolf exactly, I agree

We used to share locations on FindMyIphonr, although I’d only ever look when I needed to for practical reasons eg picking up after football.

Now they are teens we no longer use it, although I still share my location with them. A question of balancing privacy against practical benefits.

Another recent convert to Life360 here. We all have it on our phone ( me, dd 13 and dd10 ). We live in a village and dd is often getting buses to different nearby towns to meet friends etc. I know she has arrived or is setting off home. Kids also get notified when I'm leaving work etc.
Most of dds friends have the app. They also use to see where each other are if out and about. It's really easy to set up.

There is an app called Zenly I use at festivals etc to help find my friends. I leave it on, it's quite handy to see when DH is on his way home from work if he is on work calls. It would be useful for children and safe as you have to accept requests etc x

Have also used life360 and that works well! Although before I moved in with my partner I travelled to surprise him and forgot to freeze my location, he received a notification and instead surprised me at the train station- I was fuming 😂

Great 😊

We all have iPhones so use find my iPhone. I don’t ‘track’ the kids as standard but it’s useful to see if they are on thier way home or they can see how close I am if picking them up etc without having to ring me.
it proves most useful for finding lost phones. DS1 dropped his in a field so I was able to screen shot the location to send to his friends dad and also make it play a sound for them to hide it. Although it’s mostly used to find thier phones in thier rooms!!

it won’t stop bad things happening but it helps to locate them or at least thier last known location

@purplegal haha sounds like something I would do!

DH, me and DD11 all have Life360. We got it so that I would be happier about DD walking to school but it's turned out to be really useful between DH and me too. I don't see what's creepy about it - we're a family unit, why would we want to hide our location from each other?

Maybe best you don’t leave the house then. Your movements are being tracked everywhere you go.
Phone signal masts, CCTV, number plate recognition cameras.

None of it ‘keeps you safer’ but if you or your friends/family are the victim of crime, abduction, murder it all definitely helps the police find/convict those responsible and piece together what happened.

No I don't because I know that teens leave phones behind, remove the battery etc when they don't want to be tracked by their parents.

I'd rather mine always had their phones with them.

It's not about wanting to hide but more about wanting privacy. I've been in a controlling relationship in the past and to me it's another form of control so maybe I'm biased.

We use Life360. It's such a great app

Thanks all - obviously it's different for older teens and adults but DS is TEN and just starting out with a little bit of freedom

I've downloaded the 365 app 😁

We all have the google family life app installed but tbh I've rarely used it. I think it's just nice to know we've got it in case I did need to check where 12yo DS is. He often leaves his phone on silent after school so doesn't always answer.

I don't understand what's controlling about it. We don't police where the other one goes, but we are able to see that people have arrived at their destination safely or that they're on their way home. If DH wanted privacy over his whereabouts that would make me suspicious! Privacy is for going to the toilet, not your family knowing you've popped into sainsbury's

I use family link for DS (age 11). Gives me control over screen time, what apps he can download etc and I can use it get a location. I don't use that feature to 'track' him but when he can't find his phone I can have a look and see that he left it at school/a friends house etc.

I use this too for DD (9)....her grandad have her a phone without checking with us but she's moving schools in September and will likely be walking with friends sooner rather than later. She knows about the app and understands that it's about safety....fully expect her attitude on this to change once she gets older!

Especially girls.

Girls are more likely to encounter abusive partners so it’s vital they have strong boundaries.

Tracking doesn’t actually keep them safe anyway. It only gives info after the fact. It doesn’t stop them talking to the stranger, playing in the river, and it doesn’t even stop them leaving their phone at the friends house they’re meant to be in while they’re elsewhere…

I'm single. I don't necessarily want my teenage DC knowing what I'm up to at all times and I'm sure they feel the same.

Life 360 is good. It pings me when the kids leave home, pass my work etc.

It keeps my daughter safe, because she has to go where she’s told me she’ll be, ie to her friend’s for a sleepover, not to a party.