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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

tracking apps

29 replies

billsnewhat · 08/09/2019 20:23

Do lots of parents use tracking apps for their children??? My brother in law is in the police force and has always warned us against the dangers of tracking apps as they carry too much of your personal information if you lose your phone or it gets stolen your address can be found. However my son forgot to text me when he got to school last week and if I had a tracker I would have been able to see he had arrrived. I have just set one up on all 3 phones for this one reason but it does scare me how much personal information can be seen. I have used life360. Also how much data do they use as we all have very cheap contracts with not an awful lot of data. Very new to all this and not very technology savvy here. Thank you

OP posts:
Croquembou · 08/09/2019 20:25

How old is your son? Do you need a text when he arrives at school? For years kids just...went to school?

Original poster
billsnewhat · 08/09/2019 20:35

He is 11. I know we never had any technology like this and our parents jut presumed we got there. I have been reluctant before because of the location safety worry but my 13 yr old DD's friends parents use it to actually see where there kids are at all times (a bit like spying!!!). Another friend has it as her daughter constantly loses her phone and they have fund her phone in Sainsburys, in her mums garage and at the bus stop!!! I just want it as a back up really.

OP posts:
BarbedBloom · 09/09/2019 16:30

I really don't like them. You can download location spoofing stuff anyway so any tech savvy kid can circumvent them. It may be more sensible to just get them to text you when they arrive

cyclingwife · 09/09/2019 20:15

We use Life360 in our family. It was my 14DS who set it up for us last year after my DP fell off his bike and broke his shoulder. I couldn't find him (remote rural road and low battery on mobile) to take him to hospital.
It doesn't use much data. My youngest turns off location data when he doesn't want to be tracked but we all find it helpful generally to check up on each other. Youngest has hardly any data on his phone but he never uses the full allowance.
It has its uses but then my whole family are happy to use it. I wouldn't insist of one didn't want to.

mcmen05 · 09/09/2019 21:32

I use life360 but find it's not as always accurate and has caused a few arguments.
If my kids turn it off they know they will loose their phone for 24 hours.

Chelsea567 · 09/09/2019 22:38

I have find my iPhone on my DD 16 phone. I'm sure some people won't agree but I want to know she's safe and where she is. She knows I worry. She knows I've got it. She knows I don't check up on her routinely but I'll look if I have to. Tbh I'd microchip her if I could.

lilypips · 09/09/2019 22:43

If your child is at the age where you need to be told they have arrived at school they are both too young to walk to school alone and too young for a mobile phone.

Don't track teenagers. It's weird.

Sparklingbrook · 09/09/2019 22:47

I don't want or need to track my children.

School would ring if they didn't show up.

BertrandRussell · 09/09/2019 22:53

“Don't track teenagers. It's weird.”

This.

MoreThanImFeeling · 10/09/2019 08:51

We all have life360 - our kids can track us too! I get that some people think it's weird - my teens don't object and we don't insist they use it or turn it on, if they objected then we'd consider dropping it, we don't have an antagonistic relationship with them - so there's never been an issue.
I like it mostly for dh as I can plan dinner around his arrival, he's on samsung and I'm on iphone, so find my phone doesn't work - he travels from quite a distance.

BertrandRussell · 10/09/2019 09:28

Remember that kids might find it really hard to say they don’t want to be tracked -either because they might think their parents would then suspect they were up to no good or because they don’t want to hurt their feelings.

BooksAreMyOnlyFriends · 10/09/2019 09:32

We have a family circle. Dd can see where we all are too and is free to turn it off. We're a very close family and just like knowing where everyone is.

Does the school have a parents app? Ours tells us when the children have been registered and when they are in classes.

Legomadx2 · 10/09/2019 09:35

We have Life 360 and Find my Friends, as sometimes Life 360 goes weird.

Also look at Weenect which is a tracker they put in their bag - I used that when DS started getting the bus to school two days after a schoolboy was stabbed at the bus stop he was using.

roisinagusniamh · 10/09/2019 09:38

Creepy.
Over involved parenting.
Don't do it!

MoreThanImFeeling · 10/09/2019 09:49

Remember that kids might find it really hard to say they don’t want to be tracked -either because they might think their parents would then suspect they were up to no good or because they don’t want to hurt their feelings. And some kids might not be very bothered either way!

OD87K · 10/09/2019 10:04

Can't you set up find my iphone or find my samsung - they don't constantly track i don't think, you just log in and request it when you need it.

BertrandRussell · 10/09/2019 10:06

The other thing to remember is that if they know you’re tracking them they might well not take their phones out with them.

Croquembou · 10/09/2019 16:55

I still don't understand. Was anyone on this thread tracked as a teenager? Would you have liked it? Did anyone text their parents when they got to school or did you just...go to school?

CircleCircleUnderOver · 10/09/2019 17:29

We all- and I mean all- use find my friends. So we can all check on each other. Apart from practical things like checking what time someone will arrive, the kids use it more to check on me than I do on them. We don't see it as tracking but being able to check in without bothering the other person. It's also reassuring for my daughter with a medical condition that if she finds herself unable to get home, and can't see a street name etc, that I can find her.

I guess we don't see it as intrusive because we all trust each other to use it for the right reasons and not to snoop.

We all switch it off occasionally, my daughter did when she went shopping for a gift for me on her way home from school, I do if I have a night out when the kids are away etc.

BertieBotts · 10/09/2019 19:56

Check your school's absence policy, but usually they call parents if a child doesn't turn up and hasn't been reported as sick.

I think trackers are fine and can be useful if your teen is fully aware and consents to them. I might not use one for an older teen but we use Google family link on our almost 11yo's phone. Rarely check it but it is useful if he is late home to see if he is on a bus or still out.

Trewser · 14/09/2019 09:07

Dh, myself and two school aged teens have life 360. Older dd doesn't have it. Originally got it as two of them ride, and a friend had a nasty riding accident when she fell off, horse came home and noone could find friend for hours as she was unconscious on a bridlepath. Hence tracker. Originally it was only going to be used for this but we are all nosy and find it quite useful for pick ups, where dh is when hes doing a triathlon and we want to go and cheer etc.

Dd19 doesn't have it! She has no interest in us and wants her privacy which of course is fine!

Mary8076 · 14/09/2019 19:13

We used Qustodio, and yes it's true company has our data but there are laws to protect them.
Now we switched to google Family link so Google already has our data and it could be a more trustworthy company. IMO sharing basic data is inevitable, the main point is how these companies protect our privacy. Anyway I'm much more worried about what my children share, controlling that is more important and if it means sharing data with google, that's lesser evil.
As side note, it's not "spying", it's just parenting!

Whichoneofyoudidthat · 15/09/2019 06:43

Find my friends works for us

Whichoneofyoudidthat · 15/09/2019 06:47

Croquembou when the second iPhone was lost, that’s when we activated it. I don’t use it every day. Or even every week. Just from time to time with my younger ones when they are getting public transport. We are expats in a densely populated city.

Whichoneofyoudidthat · 15/09/2019 06:56

Yes our school calls if they don’t show up.