Locked In

Locked

lue to grey. Blue to grey, each E-hall pass, ticking away. Receiving a notification when you get home. Receiving a notification when you leave school. Students are now being tracked by adults in all aspects of their lives. Whether turning out of your driveway or out of the restroom, we are all familiar with the feeling of being watched. Modern technology allows no escape, leading to the possibility that the next generation of children will never experience life without tracking apps.

Accountability and trust are what adults want to instill in children, but they aren’t giving kids the opportunity to prove themselves.

Too often, parents are overly involved in many aspects of their teen’s life. This leaves teens unable to be independent in the future. The 2019 National Poll on Children’s Health, conducted by the University of Michigan, stated that a quarter of the parents surveyed admitted that they were blocking their child from being independent, and 24% of parents believe their child isn’t mature enough for independence. However, if parents want to raise maturity levels, one of the first steps is giving teens more independence. This independence could be gained from not constantly knowing where your child is at all times. Yes, this is a scary thought to most. The chance for teens to prove to an adult that they can be trusted can make a world of change in a parent-teen relationship.

Tracking is a form of control that is seen in many millennial-style parenting tactics today. Parents want to completely prevent their kids from having the opportunity to make any mistakes. It’s a constant safety net that is not doing its job and is actually causing more harm than good.

It’s one thing to be responsible for a toddler, but when they grow up, they shouldn’t be enclosed by the same restrictions. Tracking apps are causing teens to feel the need to lie and to do everything B

in their power to be the ones in control again.

Now, instead of just sneaking out, teens will leave the house without their phone for fear of being tracked and caught. This ultimately defeats the purpose of the tracking app and causes more trust issues between parent and child.

A study conducted by Danielle Kassow states, “The parent- child relationship is the first social relationship that teaches children that they can communicate in order to meet their needs. This transfers to forming relationships later in life.” Without this crucial first step into the social realm, children are at a disadvantage for future relationships for the rest of their life.

Role models generally practice what they preach. But parents of Gen Z can’t. Their high school years were much different. Today’s tracking technology didn’t exist when they were growing up.

Additional stress is added to parents’ live when they have to manage both their own lives and their child’s. According to a study conducted by the U.S National Library of Medicine, parents of young children pick up their phones an average of 70 times per day. This number should be decreasing as a child ages because he or she has more responsibilities.

When apps such as Life 360 glitch, its yet another cause of anxiety for the entire family. When walking out to the stadium field for science field day, one student recounts her phone blowing up with texts from her mom worrying about her leaving the school during the school day. The student wasn’t being disobedient, just leaving the Life360 permitted parameters. According to a Pew Research Survey, 48% of parents go through their child’s messages and phone calls. The same survey shows 16% of parents regularly check and track their children.

Tracking is a good tool for safety. Life360 has a feature that allows 9-1-1 to be dialed directly if a user is in a car accident. Improvements like this help parents feel safer about giving their child freedom and building trust. Parents who have this new technology and are not going to be willing to give it up. Checking their child’s location is almost as addicting as checking their child’s grades. It’s understandable that if a student does something to lose trust, then tracking apps can be a way for the teen to gain back trust and the parents to be able to provide a consequence.

Students or parents should take the time out of their day to discuss the positive and negative capabilities of these tracking apps. Students could be making parents aware of alternatives to watching their every move. Teens can text or call to alert the parent they arrived somewhere safely before the parent has to check the tracking app.

With set boundries, a certain level of privacy maintained, and an open line of communication, a happy, safe medium can be reached between parent and child. 24% of parents believe their child isn’t mature enough for independence In - National poll on Children’s Health