In today’s digital world, tracking apps such as Find My or Life360 have proven essential for many teens and kids. From parents tracking their kids’ location to coordinating picking them up or making sure they are where they are supposed to be, these apps have proven their necessity for many families.
As much as kids and teenagers are annoyed by tracking apps, parents mainly use them for safety, which has become a rising concern for many. As years go on and kids get older, more opportunities arise where children can be put at risk, so many parents want to be able to monitor them safely. Tracking apps use the current location of the device that the app is downloaded on to track and update the location of a person. In today’s technology-based world, many people, especially teenagers, are rarely caught without their phones, making it a very suitable app for them to have on their phones.
“I started sharing my location with my family as soon as I got my phone. It was like a silent rule so they always know where I am,” WCHS junior Sara Farley said. “It has never bothered me in the past as I know they prioritize my safety and only use it when they are trying to pick me up.”
Along with the obvious safety factor, tracking apps can be useful when a phone gets lost or stolen. Without tracking apps, the location of a phone or other devices could be a complete mystery. However, if a parent has their kid’s location and they lose their phone, they can easily find where it is through an app.
“My parents use Life 360 to track my location. It is a major safety thing in my family and we all have each other’s locations,” WCHS freshman Teni Fasetire said. “We use it almost every day when trying to figure out a pick-up from activities or when I hang out with friends.”
However, tracking apps are somewhat unpopular among students. Some feel that their parents exploit these tracking apps. Students are constantly on the move, whether it is leaving school for lunch or internships, there are many situations where students are not in school during regular hours. When parents who constantly check their kids’ location see this, they may become upset if they are unaware of the situation and assume their kids are skipping.
“I had a time where I was at school but my location did not read that way,” Farley said. “I was not aware of it until my mom asked me, but we found out that the connectivity had prevented my location from updating.”
Many students also have their friends’ locations. It has become a normal thing that many friends share, oftentimes through social media. This usually requires trust amongst each other and some see it as unsafe rather than helpful. Most friendships go through many bumps and disagreements which can result in fights and resentment towards one another. If friends have their location turned on for each other, they could be able to find their location and commit unsafe acts such as slicing car tires, following them around and many more activities that can put their safety at risk.
“I share my location with most of my friends, but I have a few friends that do not,” Faestire said. “They refrain from sharing locations as their parents feel it is unsafe and an invasion of their privacy.”
Some research shows that certain tracking apps keep data from users, presenting a larger problem in itself. Users’ data, such as their home, work or school can be put at risk if hackers were to look at patterns of location. While this is a huge privacy concern, many families have found ways around it by using different apps or the apps that come with their phones.
“My family has switched around using different tracking apps but we always come back to the Find My app that comes with our phones,” Farley said. “We have found it to be fairly accurate and it has the most basic, but necessary features.”
While it is mostly parents who are checking their kids’ location, many children also use it in reverse. Having a parents’ location allows them to check when their parents are coming home from work or the store, giving them a sense of control and more leniency on sharing location. Sharing locations can also be convenient for many students who carpool as they are conveniently able to see when they are coming, without having to ask them and wait for a response.
“I started relying on Life360, and the longer that I had it, I found it to be very useful in so many situations with both my friends and parents, and now use it almost every day,” Faestire said.
