Tracking my teen's phone? Advice?

[Meglen]

Use Google maps and do location sharing. Totally free. Just need to have google accounts.

This. I use this and works like a charm

 

[Tallis]

Four generations of my family have a Life 360 circle. I don't see it as "tracking," but just a back up safety net. We are all adults, except for the youngest member. I don't pay any attention to where anyone is unless someone posts a local accident on facebook. Then, I can look to make sure my family members are safe.

I don't get why people think this is a trust issue. It's a safety issue. The technology is there, so use it.

 

[DLgal]

Four generations of my family have a Life 360 circle. I don't see it as "tracking," but just a back up safety net. We are all adults, except for the youngest member. I don't pay any attention to where anyone is unless someone posts a local accident on facebook. Then, I can look to make sure my family members are safe.

I don't get why people think this is a trust issue. It's a safety issue. The technology is there, so use it.

ITA. It's a safety issue for us as well. We all fully trust each other, so it isn't about that at all.

For example, my husband is a long distance runner. He also has a nagging hip injury that sometimes flares up mid run. He has had to call me a few times to come pick him up in the car. It is great to just look at my map and know exactly where he is.

 

[mjkacmom]

I didn’t even have a cellphone until I had graduated university, and I survived. Why would she need a phone?

Did you have access to a phone in college? I’m guessing most here didn't have cellphones in college. How would they be able to contact other people? Send letters? There is no way you have older children. Even in high school teachers and coaches contact students with apps and texting, not to mention that’s how kids get in touch with others. Talk about social isolation.

 

[momma2ethan]

Four generations of my family have a Life 360 circle. I don't see it as "tracking," but just a back up safety net. We are all adults, except for the youngest member. I don't pay any attention to where anyone is unless someone posts a local accident on facebook. Then, I can look to make sure my family members are safe.

I don't get why people think this is a trust issue. It's a safety issue. The technology is there, so use it.

100% this. I trust my teen but I also worry about something happening when he's out hanging with his friends. I very rarely even open the app but knowing it's there in case of an emergency or when he's walking home a mile along a busy road or if he's not home by the time he's supposed to be eases both our minds.

 

[tink89]

I was reading and ready to respond until I came to your post. You said what I did. Kids can make reasonable choices at certain ages. My kids had phones at age 10. Still in elementary school, but after school activities, etc. It was imperative to be able to connect at times, especially as their world widened as they got older. At younger age, tracking a must. As they got older, knowledge and agreements on both sides. Talking to your kids and having a relationship of trust works with many. Some kids have different personalities and may want to be more private - somehow those are the ones I'd worry about. (I had one.) Other kids were more open.

Anyway trust comes from actions on both sides. Conversation is imperative and a child should be aware that you are looking out for them. If they don't agree, maybe they don't need the phone.

I agree. DD12 has a phone and I had previously said she would not be getting a phone until high school. Well the summer before middle school that changed. I realized that teachers would not be going out with them like in elementary. Also there is no way to always pick her up in the same spot with the way the school is set up. It is mostly always on the same block but not the same spot. My mom picks her up 70% of the time, but sometimes its me or DH or one of my siblings and I need to communicate with her who to look for.

She also plays soccer and sometimes practice is running late or gets cut short and she will text. Coach also likes them to communicate through whats up with each other. If for some reason we can not make a game she will go with a friend and I like for her to text me when she arrives and once the game ended.

For me it is a matter of safety. For now DD is too young so she is not going out with friends or hanging anywhere unsupervised. Her phone has screen time and she can only text/call a group of contacts I have assigned during school hours. She also has social media blocked and certain apps. She 100% knows I do this once she is a bit older her screen time will be removed and hopefully she can manage her own time( lol doubt it). I will always have the find my friends app with her for safety but she will always know. Totally not into "spying" on your kids. Even though I could go through her phone and see her texts and history she deserves her privacy.

We are a very close family and talk openly about things. If DD is feeling some type of way she will 100% tell us. She knows how to speak up and if she wants to use an app or do something I have previously said no to she will come to me with and essay with reasons of why I should let her.

 

[mhamach]

I used Qustodio on my son's phone - but he figured out how to hack it ;-)

 

[Befferk]

Life360 is AMAZING for so many uses. We got it when my son turned 16 and was a new driver. We liked it enough to get the paid version. I had it set up that it would alert me when he got to or left certain places so he didn't have to remember to text me, or if I would text him and he didn't answer, I didn't have to panic. It also monitored his driving (speed, phone usage, hard braking, etc). Myself, husband and son are all on it, and even though my son is now 18. I don't spy on him, but it is nice to know when he's on his way home if I'm making supper. Same with my husband. If any of us are in an accident, it will automatically notify the others in our "circle". Another great benefit that we didn't anticipate... my husband works in commercial refrigeration repair, and has to bill clients for how long he is there, and on busy days it's hard for him to keep track of. So at the end of the day he can go back into his history and see how long he was at each customer and do his paperwork. I can see where it could be "abused" but if no one is doing something they don't want to get "caught" for, I don't understand any cause for concern?? None of us has anything to hide. If there's resistance to having something like this you have to ask who's hiding what.

 

[Befferk]

Four generations of my family have a Life 360 circle. I don't see it as "tracking," but just a back up safety net. We are all adults, except for the youngest member. I don't pay any attention to where anyone is unless someone posts a local accident on facebook. Then, I can look to make sure my family members are safe.

I don't get why people think this is a trust issue. It's a safety issue. The technology is there, so use it.

My husband and I are firefighters, so whenever there's a page for an accident in the area and we're not all together, that's the first thing we do is check the app to see where the others are! Instant relief. (I also work at a funeral home, so the anxiety is extra high about car accidents.)

I have to add about the trust part though... If your spouse/kid doesn't want you to know where they are, it's because they are doing something wrong, period. End of story. The ones getting defensive are the ones with something to hide - I have enough life/relationship experience to speak that with complete confidence unfortunately, so don't try to defend their BS about privacy. My son has never given us grief about the app, and because of that, I have complete trust in him (it helped BUILD trust). I don't care if the whole world knows where I am at any given time. My life ain't that exciting lol. Having said that, if you're in a romantic relationship on the receiving end of someone who is constantly watching your every move on the app and questioning every single place you go, that's another issue that you need to resolve (give them the boot) because that's also not healthy.

 

[MrsM]

We use the free version of Life360 - DH has an Android and everyone else has iPhones. My kids knew when I added the app to their phone, grumbled at first and called it my "stalker app" but the deal all along has been when they start paying for their own cell phones they can do whatever they want with them but if I'm paying for the service, the app stays there. Now I find it kind of funny that they use it themselves to see where their parents or siblings are.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

After my dad called my mother in the middle of having a stroke (he could tell her something wasn’t right but not where he was) we all have trackers on our phones. Fortunately he was at work so someone got him an ambulance but that was the scariest 15 minutes of my mother’s life.

My daughter is 19 but I still pay the cell bill so she leaves it on like I ask.

 

[DVCcurious]

So how are teenagers supposed to park in 2020? I used to park every weekend. If I had a nickel for every guy I parked with... well anyway.

This technology is ruining the high school experience. Is everyone going to college as virgins? That’s gotta be awkward for freshmen.

 

[CarlisleMom]

When my daughter had an iphone and I had a android, I would verify her location by using my computer and logging into her apple cloud account. Before she turned 18, she was not allowed passwords that I did not know.

 

[Judique]

So how are teenagers supposed to park in 2020? I used to park every weekend. If I had a nickel for every guy I parked with... well anyway.

This technology is ruining the high school experience. Is everyone going to college as virgins? That’s gotta be awkward for freshmen.

The trend may have changed. A lot of kids go to college now just to get a degree.