In my opinion that’s just being nosy
We’ve got a couple of teenagers. The only way we know where they are is if they tell us, or if my wife looks at their location on Snapchat (which they can turn on or off). It hasn’t always been like this, as we used to use Google Family Link with them both. But parents probably shouldn’t know exactly where their teenage kids are at all times. Otherwise they don’t have enough breathing space to explore their identity and experiment with doing things that their parents would rather they didn’t.
I’m always shocked by families who use apps like Life360 so that not only can parents track kids, but everyone tracks each other. I just think it’s a bit strange, as not only does it mean that all family members are effectively surveilling one another, but the app that you’re using knows all of your locations, all the time. I should probably point out that, using GrapheneOS, my GPS location is off all of the time. The battery life of my smartphone is now amazing.
This ‘You Be The Judge’ piece in The Guardian focuses on the pros and cons of an adult parent tracking wanting to use the ‘Find My Location’ feature with their adult child (Martha). As you can imagine, I think this is super weird and would definitely side with respondents Judith, 58 who says “In my opinion that’s just being nosy” and Alicia, 25 who says:
If Martha isn’t comfortable with the location tracking, her father should respect her boundaries. In return, Martha ought to acknowledge that his request comes from a place of love and could suggest a different way to catch up more regularly as a compromise.
It’s hard letting go as your kids grow up and become more independent. We have more technological tools to keep in touch than ever before. But with that comes boundary-setting, and that has to be negotiated based on consent.
Source: The Guardian
Image: Desola Lanre-Ologun