By: Garret Davis and Isabelle Goodnite
As technology has advanced, there are now many apps that parents use to track their children’s whereabouts. Whether it’s iSharing, Life360, Family Link, or one of the many others, each of these apps have been used by parents. Many have different opinions on whether or not tracking is ethically right or wrong. Some parents and children see it as a necessity when it comes to safety. While others see it as an invasion of privacy, feeling as if the kids have no freedom.
As a parent, tracking your children can feel like a necessity for a variety of reasons. Two of the main reasons consist of a safety precaution and lack of trust. Most parents would say that they do it because of the former, not the later. “I believe it is a less safe world than it was when I was a kid,” said Douglas Craver, teacher at Southeast High School. As a parent with kids in high school, it’s apparent that it can be nerve-wracking not knowing what kind of situations your child could be in. Around 16-years old is the normal age that kids begin to get their license and start driving. It is statistically proven that “roughly 1 in 5 teens (20%) will have a car crash or receive a traffic ticket within their first year of driving” by the National Institutes of Health. Some tracking apps have alerts that serve as a crash detection and will immediately notify the parent’s phone; other tracking apps will show where the location paused in the event of a crash. This can be helpful to the parents when it comes to their child’s safety while driving. Some apps also show the speed at which the person is driving. This will help parents teach their kids to avoid speeding violations and car accidents. Some apps also have a button you can press to alert your parents if you’re in a situation where you might need help. While this can come in handy for serious situations, it doesn’t change the way it makes some kids feel.
As a kid with a parent/guardian who tracks your location, it can feel like you’re being stalked. Korbin Klatka, a junior at Southeast High School, shared that parents/guardians should put trust in their children instead of feeling the need to track them. If parents don’t put trust in their kids, how are they supposed to grow to be responsible? As kids grow, they want space and freedom, the tracking limits both, leading to parents and kids’ relationships turning bitter. The apps for tracking can ruin the relationship between families as it sometimes gives false whereabouts and change locations, leading to parents not trusting their kids. Klatka believes kids are going to do what they want regardless of what their parents say. This lack of trust might make kids feel like they have to try to be sneaky because their parents won’t allow them to have a sense of freedom. Freedom is important for young adults; without some independence, they are more likely to rebel against rules. Parents need to communicate with their children to develop safety precautions that work ideally for their family.
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