Parents tracking their children

[intrestedvic]

I am always reading on threads how people know where their children are due to apple air tags or, apps, or location sharing on a phone.

Not just on mumsnet but in my circle I know lots of parents who use maps or share location with children.

I am a parent to small children currently but I was wondering opinions on this situation. If you track your children and why and if not why not?

Mine may be influenced by the amount of true crime I watch. But its another level of security imo and gives peace of mind.

Me, my 13yo ds, dp and my brother are all on Life 360.

My DS has asd and has started going out with his friend, or sometimes to play pokemon go. If he's late home, or if it's getting dark and he and his friend are walking back it feels good to be able to see where he is and know he's enroute. When he's older I won't be as precious about it and if he doesn't want to be on the app that's fine, however if he wants to stay on it that's fine too.

My brother has epilepsy and there's a feature that let's him send an SOS to our group if he has an aura and then obviously we can see where he is.

When my daughters start high school I will use it for them too.

Thank you so much. My children are still young so have no reason for a mobile phone just yet but I was genuinely interested in the reasons.

I'm the same with true crime!!!

I don't know what the psychological impacts would be of being surveilled as a teen. I would have hated it when I was growing up.

I have Google family link on the kids phones and i can have a quick look and see where they are. When dd13 started high school I would watch her walk home it's good just for peace of mind.

Haha it might seem OTT to some re: thinking of crime. But I've seen how long it can take police to get access to phone locations etc.

Ive actually got a separate group on 360 with myself and 2 friends in, I never really look on it but we all feel that bit safer for having it and if anything awful were to happen, we would be able to potentially help faster.

Tbh my DS tracks me more than I track him !

There wasn't tracking when my eldest was younger

Ds2 used to put some tracking thing on when he was an older teen on his way home from town so I could see where he was. His choice though because we don't live in the greatest of areas

I don't think it would make any difference anyway

I have Life360 for me and my dd13. It gives us both a bit of peace of mind knowing where the other is. Dd likes to go for walks alone at times and I feel happier knowing I cam keep an eye on her. And she likes to know where I am too!

My 22 dd likes to track me, she has anxiety and in particular anxiety about something happening to me and it comforts her to be able to see where I am!

She doesn't do it everyday but whenever she needs to.

I would watch her walk home it's good just for peace of mind This is just not healthy. If you're watching someone walk home, you do not have peace of mind.

My thoughts exactly. We might have all wanted to at times but you just don't

False sense of security anyway

We use air tags and plan to use life360 with the kids if they want to. DH and I are always tracking each other on it

We use air tags and plan to use life360 with the kids if they want to. DH and I are always tracking each other on it

This reminds me of my sister when we were teenagers she had come home from collage whilst me and my mum went to the shops and she was crying her eyes out thinking something had happened to my mum as she wasn't home from work. Was very out of character but I never thought about it from the child's point of view x

I agree false sense of security. It is about creating the illusion of control.

At 22? Or at collage like your sister that's not a child! Thats anxiety disorder! talking therapy, not tracking is needed there

If any thing did actually happen it wouldn't be of any help anyway

@TimeToFlyNow my sister was never tracked as it wasn't around then and I don't know if my mum would have ever agreed with it. But hearing this women story maybe if she was able to see mum was at a shop she would t of had a mental breakdown.

I can fully see reasons for it but I also feel a bit on the fence regarding privacy I would not of liked it as a teenager at all. But then 99% of the time I was somewhere I should have been.

My daughter 19, travels a lot for work, we share our locations on Google maps. It's easy to work out how her journey is going if I need to pick her up or just interested to see where she is. I do a lot of running on my own and again she finds it reassuring to see I am moving or back home. It can also cause anxiety if there is no phone signal, I forget to take my phone with me or my battery runs out. My son is 17 and he doesn't share his location with me, his choice.

A lot of teens don't think of it that way - loads of them follow each other on Snapchat maps. We follow each other on Google Maps and it's up to them if they keep allowing us or not. I generally only look to see if my daughter is still waiting for the bus and is likely to ask for a lift, whether she got to college on time, or to check whether she's gone to her girlfriend's and is probably not coming home for the night! She checks to see where we are and what time we might be home too.

You sister was collage aged! It's not normal to have a metal breakdown 😕 at that age because your mum wasn't home because it turns out she'd gone to the shop

Can you not see how that isn't normal

The sense of control over random crime may be an illusion, but the control over the movements and privacy of those tracked is all too real.

Dh and I use the FindMy Apple iphone app to track the dcs 16 & 19. They know that because they had to give us access to their location. They also have access to dh and my location but I don't know whether they check.

I told the dcs it is for their security that if they go missing we know where to send the search party. They seem cool with that. The quid pro quo is they have a lot of freedom to go out with their friends on public transport (from 15 years).

It is nice to know where they are. During the February half term, we were split up in 3 different countries. It is reassuring to see them on our app.

I don't track mine, I don't think its necessary and teenagers can always find ways around it. For example saying they're going to a friend's and then leaving their phone there while they go out. In my opinion that's even more dangerous. My son has probably lied to me about where he was at some point, it's part of being a teenager. I know I didn't always let my mum know where I was and I didn't even have a phone for her to check I was alive til I walked back through the door.
I think teaching them how to be safe and why is more beneficial than relying on technology which can often give you a false sense of security