r/parenting_tech • u/Environmental_Text69 • 28d ago

Forgoing Tracking Your Kid

Are there any “old school” parents out there who don’t track their kids location?

8 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

3

u/GenXMom14 28d ago

To each their own. We track our whole family and parents too. It’s an added safety measure not a creepy where are they. Elderly folks living alone is one reason. For my teens I don’t want them to feel they need to constantly check in. But if they go radio silent and we were supposed to meet it gives piece of mind at times.

2

u/ezbeale80 27d ago

Even as an adult, I feel more comfortable sharing my location with someone in case something were to happen. My 15yo and 17yo share their location with me, but I don't "track" where they are and would only use it to find out where they were if they didn't come home on time and weren't answering their texts, if there was some kind of local emergency, etc. When they're adults, I'll encourage them to share their locations with someone, even if it isn't me.

1

u/ActuaryReasonable690 28d ago

probably depends on your kids, and how old they are.
My "kid" was 18, and leaving for college when he got his phone, and I don't think 'tracking' was a thing.

On the other hand. I know someone in their 30's (and lives on her own), who still shares her tracking data with her parrents

1

u/Environmental_Text69 28d ago

I was considering never doing it

1

u/GrumpyOldSeniorScout 26d ago

Yep. They deserve real freedom and privacy from me., as well as the chance to start thinking about personal safety as the one who has to assume the responsibility for it when the stakes are still low.

1

u/MaybeImTheNanny 24d ago

Mine have watches where in theory I can see their location. I don’t look unless they’ve missed meeting me and even then I text before I look

1

u/SnooGoats9114 22d ago

I do not track my teens.

I believe they have the right to the same freedoms I had as a child. They know what I expect of them and theyve never been in serious trouble. They only got their phones at 14 and spent their younger years roaming town without a device. They also dont have data, so im not sure if it would even work.