Does everyone track their children?

[CaNGCNk]

Is everyone tracking their child now? I had a few people surprised on another group because I said I don’t agree with tracking my children. In school they were talking about. I can see the appeal for a younger child a toddler maybe or a child thats a runner. But are we all just tracking our school age children now? (even if that doesn’t apply)

We share location on WhatsApp when needed, they stopped tracking when they were 12 - they disabled it. I accepted it.
My husband and I can use the ‘FindMy’ function on our linked phones. Tend to use it to pick up from train station etc.

I have location sharing with DP and DS21. We don’t use it to track day to day but it’s incredibly handy when one of us needs picking up from somewhere, we all drive so it’s not a regular thing. If DS wants picking up from the train station I’ll leave home when he’s a couple of stops away and he’ll check when he arrives to see where I’ve managed to get parked. When DP drank too much one night he knew I’d be able to find him!

Absolutely I do. Our high school is 30 mins away by public transport and another 20 mins walk from there. By God I want to know they arrived safely especially in the darker months.

Yep, we all track each other! 😂
My kids are 28, 23 and 17 and we are all in a Life 360 group along with my husband, my mum and dad.
It’s really not a big deal to us. I very rarely check unless I can’t get hold of one of them. My mum is new to our group and watches our every move but that’s because she’s old and loves that she knows where we all are.
My son in law didn’t want to be tracked and we are fine with that, he does share his location with my daughter though.
I thought all families shared their locations but it seems more don’t.
Neither are wrong.

No, but I seem to be in a minority amongst my friends. I don’t want to be tracked and I don’t feel it is appropriate to track them

dcs are 18 and 20

My kids are only little so no tracking but we did put Apple AirTags in their clothing when we went to Disney land. Neither are runners but in a very busy place with two excited young children it made me feel more secure. We just repurposed our existing AirTags that we have on our keys.

We all track each other. They're 19 and 21. I only really check if I'm wondering if they're heading back from work.
They only pay attention to me when I'm in waitrose or M&S food.

I wish my mum would track me. She messages to ask when I am due to arrive at her house, she could just look if she had the app.

I toyed with the idea when son was going through a rather wild teenage phase. Decided against it, felt intrusive. He (and I!) survived it. He’s now a sensible adult, thank goodness.

Yes. My DS is 17 and I track his iPhone whereabouts. It’s been very handy on occasion and he’s happy that I’m his back up.

He’s autistic with no sense of direction (like his dad!) and got on the wrong bus once. We’re rural so bus journeys are often quite long. Luckily, I realised he was heading in completely the wrong direction and managed to pick him up about 40mins from home.

I do through find my iPhone app, kids are 18 and 21 and don’t have an issue with it!! When they’re abroad with mates it just makes me feel better that I can see they’re in their hotel when I wake up. And equally I can check they’re home after nights out. I don’t stalk them just gives me peace of mind. I don’t have my husband because he doesn’t have an iPhone but wouldn’t be an issue for either of us if he did. Obviously when the kids move out I won’t have it anymore, or maybe we will, it really is not a big deal to us!

DH and I track each other and I track my mum: I only check location if someone is very late or out of touch. My children refuse to use tracking. In fact, DS1 is still annoyed that I emailed his tutor at college one day this week to check he'd arrived. I only did it because I received an email from the college saying he was absent and DS didn't reply to my text. I then went to a work meeting after which I emailed again. Still no reply so phoned college who said I had to email his tutor and she confirmed he'd arrived late. DS was horrified, but I pointed out that I only did it because I'd been informed he wasn't there. If he'd allowed tracking, I wouldn't have had to email.

That said, I understand his refusal to be tracked. We all managed perfectly well in the days before tracking existed - but then my family were always good at letting each other know where we were.

I don’t think anyone can make sweeping statements on why and who tracks their children. I have a teenage son who is neurodivergent and type 1 diabetic. I give him as much freedom as I can and life 360 allows me to do this - tracking him gives him more freedom. The number of times I have had to rush to him as his alarms are going off and he is not answering his phone that’s in the pocket of a coat being used as a football goal. He understands he is time blind and forgetful and does not mind being tracked rather than his friends seeing him pass out. Plus him and his small group of friends all track each other on snap chat anyway so they see it as quite normal. I only track him ICE not for fun.

I should also say that he also tracks me and he is far more nosy than me. I get messages saying he knows I am in Tesco/asda so can I get him x, and z 😂

No. I have a 14 year old. It feels intrusive. And I think it feeds parental anxiety. My daughter does however ring me every 5 mins 😂 and I have her friends numbers and they have mine. One would definitely call me if there was any issue. She tells me where she is and I trust her. And they all know they won't ever get in trouble for calling no matter what the reason or what time.

I don’t track either of mine - however my 20 year old asked to go on 360 after she broke down at 11pm at night and struggled to tell us where she was - so she just turns it on when she’s driving at night and my son puts it on when he’s travelling, not when in the UK, his choice, he says it makes him feel safer. We never check unless theres an issue.

Still check location of our 19 and 22 year old as they get trains so like to check they got on and off and aren't bothered by it.

An ex of mine used to check when I was online on WhatsApp and other apps. That was bad enough - questioning why I was online but not with him.

My 2 DC are now in their 20s and I've never tracked them. I've mostly trusted them to be where they're supposed to be and it's mostly been ok - bit of a wobble when DS first passed his test and we had some words about respect and courtesy, he then used to message 'not in a ditch' hourly until he got in at night.

I think we need to learn to trust our kids and believe that there aren't murderers/kidnappers around every corner. Don't give your kid a £1500 phone at 11 years old then install a tracker in case they loose it. I absolutely do not track dp and would not allow him to track me. The closest I do get is sharing my location when I'm meeting someone, so they know which direction I'm coming in from.

My family too. It started with DD23 when she was a teenager and was worried when she started going further afield alone. She could turn it off if she wanted to but never has. They all track me more than I track them

In secondary now phones are banned, yes. It’s miles on the bus and I want to know they aren’t stranded.

Have it only with my DM and older DC by mutual agreement (and you can switch it on and off), only look at it from time to time, never with DP.

Never used to question anything (though DM looks at it more and sometimes has asked about my hospital visits. If I minded I would switch it off).

I often forget it’s there and my DC remind me to “check the map” to see how close to home etc.

Older teens tend to use apps to share locations anyway. It’s already the norm.

A controlling relationship is a different kettle of fish, it would obviously be a red flag if a partner wanted to use it to monitor and question movements.

Someone summed it up earlier, it’s silly to judge different opinions
as long as everyone agrees, and it is done with good intentions then track away!
its not for me, I can respect the reasons others do it, as long as im not made to feel like a neglectful mother because I haven’t

Yes, SEND child, for us its basic safe guarding, whilst allowing some independence

Why is she ringing you every 5 minutes? That's pretty unusual for a 14yo. It sounds like she has some anxiety herself...perhaps she'd feel more secure if you could see her location?

Now that my 12 year old is out and about in the community with friends, yes, I like to know her whereabouts. I don’t constantly track her as such, as in following every movement, but I do check where she is periodically. Why wouldn’t you? The technology is there, it provides reassurance. Don’t see what the argument against it would be.

I absolutely do. My son is 16. I track tonsee he arrived safely it if he is out with mates till late that he is where he is supposed to be and leaving when needs to (as dont always get told the full story on plans !) . I think it more useful for older kids when they suddenly have all this perceived independence. Our whole family uses it as its useful to see when to out dinner on as I can see how far from home they are etc. But I won't sit there obsessively and watch. It's juts a useful tool and rather than ring someone to find out where they are u can use that instead