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10 Feb. 2020
provide unnecessary information like how fast I drive or what time I arrive somewhere. However, in the rare case, I got kidnapped I would be good to go!” Mann makes a valid point. Other apps such as Find my Friends offers a less invasive location tracking feature only, without any of Life360’s gimmicks. Life360 advertises these features due to safety being its first priority, although they are not always used in that way. “Maybe it would make me feel safe if I were in a city or something. My parents do pay for my phone and know where I am in case of an emergency, but they mainly use it to see if I’m somewhere that I’m not supposed to be. Life360 leads kids to lie to their parents” says Kairalla. Life360 gives families a valuable tool, but it is all up to the individuals on how they want to use that tool. For many, the app doesn’t make them feel safe, just annoyed. For others, the opposite. “The app does make me feel safe. Someone will know where I am in case I get in a crash or other emergencies” says an anonymous student. “If my behavior is suspicious, my parents will check the app, but I’m usually open with my parents so there’s no need for them to freak,” says an another anonymous student. The student makes it clear that the app can be beneficial when used in a relationship built on trust. For some students, having more parental support can be beneficial. “I don’t trust my daughter. I like to see where she is and make sure she is where she says she’ll be. The app has made our relationship stronger and has started to build trust between us. She doesn’t feel the need to lie to me anymore,” notes an anonymous DHS parent. The app seems to help or hurt relationships on a case by case basis. Knowing the dynamics between the unique parent-child relationship is key when determining how the app affects both parties. “I don’t care where my kid is as long as she’s not doing drugs. I trust her judgment” claims Catherine Steiner, another DHS parent. The contrasting points of view between parents reveals that every parent has their own ways of parenting. The claims point out that there’s no one right way to raise a child nor is there one right way to be involved in his or her life. This appears to be the foundation of the mixed feelings surrounding this app. 21st-century teens are living in a far different age than their parents did. Access to technology has changed everything. Life360 aims to help parents catch up with their family’s crazy lives. The high controversy and mixed opinions surrounding the app makes it extremely clear that Life360 works best when there is a clear understanding of communication between kids and their parents.
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Life360 is a family app that was launched in 2008. The app’s primary purpose is “family sharing” but the most attractive feature to parents of teenagers everywhere is location tracking. Life360 uses location tracking to allow all members in a closed family group to see each other’s real-time location at all times. The app goes further than similar apps such as Find my Friends by Apple in that it displays location history, arrival and departure times, and comes with an “ETA estimator.” The app also comes with battery monitoring which displays every device’s battery percentage within the family, customizable location alerts, and for an extra monthly cost, driving reports. Life360 is every concerned parent’s dream: it shows how fast their kids are driving, where they are, how long they’ve been at any given location, what their phone battery is, and even if any crimes have been reported in an area. Life360 currently boasts 50 million family circles and a current 4.8-star rating on the app store. It’s currently the sixth most downloaded app in the category of social media. Thousands of reviews from satisfied parents gush personal stories and praise for the app. Critical reviews are far and in-between. One critical review titled ‘From the kid’s point of view’ from the username @Tellybubby states that Life360 is an ‘invasion of privacy’ and the parents who install it are ‘psychopaths.’ Another viral video from the social media app TikTok displays the user @middleofnowhere0102 going on a rant to parents about how the app ‘is not accomplishing what you think it is” and “teaches your kids to be sneaky’ Judging by the 1.8 million likes on the Tik Tok, many agree with these statements. Not surprisingly, many families in Durango have employed the popular app to keep tabs on their kids. The app is present in the lives of many students and parents at DHS and affects the relationships between students and parents. “My parents installed Life 360 after I got in trouble for lying where I was,” says Sr. Sophie Kairalla. “The app definitely doesn’t make me feel any safer, it just makes me feel like I have a chip in my neck.” Kairalla’s claims match those of many on the internet and at DHS. It’s clear that many kids feel like their parents use Life360 as a tool for punishment and surveillance. Life360 sends an automatic notification to family members when settings are tweaked to try to disable the app, making it hard to get around; Kairalla says she’s never tried to disable the app in any way. “I don’t feel like I have that much freedom anymore because I feel like my parents are always watching me,” says Sr. Karver Mann. “I think there are other apps that reflect my parent’s concern for safety that don’t
JACK WHISTLER Reporter
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