Opinion on Kid tracking apps

[OfTheDamned]

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but the company I used to work for uses this type of software to track many of their employees during the day to make sure they are working. We had a problem with sales people and delivery people that would say they were out working when they were either working a second job or sitting at home on their butts and this stuff put a stop to it.

 

[OMJ]

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but the company I used to work for uses this type of software to track many of their employees during the day to make sure they are working. We had a problem with sales people and delivery people that would say they were out working when they were either working a second job or sitting at home on their butts and this stuff put a stop to it.

Wow that is brazen to work a second job while getting paid for the first.

 

[byteware]

I understand the pros to using this software but its just too easy to abuse and I don't think many parents have the self control to simply sit back and only activate the software in an emergency. Having the option to track your child but only turning on the phone to check after curfew or when they are late to meet you at the car is great. However you have to think about it from the kids perspective too. Do they trust you to not abuse it? If not they will find ways around it. Then instead of having that feature in an emergency you wont have it at all or worse, your kid leaves his cell at a friends house and is without it. You may not think it's a trust issue but I can guarantee they will. My parents required me to keep my cell phone on me at all times (at that time it was the startac flip analog phone lol) and i was ok with that because I still had some freedom. I would not have been ok with being tracked.

Number 1: I'm not telling my kids. I'm also not telling my kids that I'm going to be able to view each and every one of their text messages sent or received.

Molesters and abusive boys/girls use text messages to keep it hidden from the public, and that's not something that I'm going to allow.

I intend to use the GPS only in cases where I have to worry. I will peruse their text messages daily or weekly to make sure nothing untowards is going on.

Up until 18 and graduation from High School, their safety is MY responsibility, and I take that responsibility VERY seriously.

 

[sontaikle]

I'm 22, childless and still live at home (going to graduate school) so take all of what I'm saying with a (giant) grain of salt.

I don't like these apps. I think they're playing into the paranoia of parents over a nearly nonexistent danger played up by the media. We got along fine without cell phones and tracking apps before

 

[LoyalServant]

Ok... but first.... disclaimer: We do not have kids.

Second, the 'rights' issue is bunk.
Kids have rights - not ALL rights but they do have some.
I guess we are defining 'kids' as persons under 18?

Let's take the case in PA for example... monitoring and location tracking of kids' school issued laptops... no it's not the same but similar.

As a parent you are responsible for them and if monitoring them is necessary then so be it.
I would monitor mine, and I would tell them I was doing it.
It becomes a trust issue if you do something and not tell them and if there is no trust then what is left of the relationship?

I don't remember reading anywhere in the constitution or it's amendments anyplace that says that those rights only apply to people over 18.

The school systems WANT parents and students to believe that their rights are checked at the doors so teachers and administrators can assert control and power over a kid, but that's another subject entirely.

I just take issue with the 'kids have no rights' propaganda, sorry.

 

[10splaya22]

Number 1: I'm not telling my kids. I'm also not telling my kids that I'm going to be able to view each and every one of their text messages sent or received.

Molesters and abusive boys/girls use text messages to keep it hidden from the public, and that's not something that I'm going to allow.

I intend to use the GPS only in cases where I have to worry. I will peruse their text messages daily or weekly to make sure nothing untowards is going on.

Up until 18 and graduation from High School, their safety is MY responsibility, and I take that responsibility VERY seriously.

Wow I would hate my parents if they were like this. I have never had them check my text, phone calls, or need GPS. They both trust me as I have never gotten into drugs, sex, etc. I feel as if you don't trust them at all to need to monitor them that much. Im 19 and I feel my parents give me plenty of responsibility and that its something you need to learn on your own. You can't always rely on your parents to be there and make all your decisions for you.

My gf's mom is like this and tries to monitor everything she does. She can't drive over my house, drive in the dark, we can't be together when she isn't there, etc. Its just annoying that they don't have the level of trust and that her mom is very over protective. Her mom also freaks out about every little thing. But she doesn't have a GPS tracker but we always have to update her where we are when we are out together.

I'm 22, childless and still live at home (going to graduate school) so take all of what I'm saying with a (giant) grain of salt.

I don't like these apps. I think they're playing into the paranoia of parents over a nearly nonexistent danger played up by the media. We got along fine without cell phones and tracking apps before

 

[sontaikle]

Wow I would hate my parents if they were like this. I have never had them check my text, phone calls, or need GPS. They both trust me as I have never gotten into drugs, sex, etc. I feel as if you don't trust them at all to need to monitor them that much. Im 19 and I feel my parents give me plenty of responsibility and that its something you need to learn on your own. You can't always rely on your parents to be there and make all your decisions for you.

My gf's mom is like this and tries to monitor everything she does. She can't drive over my house, drive in the dark, we can't be together when she isn't there, etc. Its just annoying that they don't have the level of trust and that her mom is very over protective. Her mom also freaks out about every little thing. But she doesn't have a GPS tracker but we always have to update her where we are when we are out together.

My parents are similar to yours, they never monitored me (even let me get my own laptop during high school and let me keep it in my room) and trusted me. My brother's your age and while my mom is a little more strict with him than she was with me (he needed it, I didn't) they still don't over parent him like other parents do.

Your girlfriend's mom is similar to my boyfriend's father. We always have to constantly update him on our location and if he can't get in touch with my boyfriend right away he freaks out and calls my phone (if I don't answer

 

[vbetts]

I will say this right now, and this is all my opinion. But children do not have the right to go and do whatever they like, or go where ever they like. My son is 2 years old so I don't need to worry about a phone for him, but if I end up getting him a phone at any time then I'm going to know where he's at since he's my son, my responsibility, I pay the bill, and he's under my roof. If I want to know where my child is every 5 minutes of the day, it's my right to. Nobody can tell me it's not, or what I'm doing is wrong or over protective of him. Even more since I know what I was like when I was younger. Well, I'm still young I guess at 20 but none the less.

 

[J03]

The fact is I know what I was like as a teenager and it wasn't pretty, all this even though I was brought up in a well rounded, understanding loving home with 3 brothers who haven't been as rebellious as I.

and are you a delinquent typing this post from jail? Teenagers do stupid things and they learn from those mistakes. That's how life works. The last thing I would want to do is release my over protected bubble child into the real world at 18 and cross my fingers.

Then when you do release them, don't expect them to come to you for help. My parents were very protective and very strict. When I got to college I went nuts with the new found freedom and did a lot of stupid things I couldn't do at home. Outside of the end of semester report cards they requested from school they hadn't the slightest idea what I did, how I was doing in school, or that I was even alive because I avoided their calls like the plague. When I graduated I had a job lined up and immediately moved out of the house. I have been living completely self sufficient half way accross the country since, yet my mother will still call me and nag me about certain things. I've all but shut her out of my life because of it and I wouldn't even consider moving back to within a 100mi radius.

This is what will happen if you overwhelm your children, watch their every move, and don't let them have a life of their own. More than likely your child will survive without 24/7 surveillance. I can't say the same about your relationship with them when they finally leave.

 

[byteware]

Wow I would hate my parents if they were like this.

I'm their parent, not their friend. If they hate me for being a parent, then so be it.

I have never had them check my text, phone calls, or need GPS. They both trust me as I have never gotten into drugs, sex, etc.

That's great and all. However, I don't trust a 12 year old to know when an adult is manipulating him/her. If you do, then you are naive.

I feel as if you don't trust them at all to need to monitor them that much.

I understand that 12 year olds don't know who TO TRUST and who NOT TO TRUST.

Im 19 and I feel my parents give me plenty of responsibility and that its something you need to learn on your own. You can't always rely on your parents to be there and make all your decisions for you.

I agree, and at older ages 16+ more freedom and more responsibility is something that you HAVE to do, if you want your child to be functional.

That doesn't mean that you treat them like they are 18 when they are 12.

My gf's mom is like this and tries to monitor everything she does. She can't drive over my house, drive in the dark, we can't be together when she isn't there, etc. Its just annoying that they don't have the level of trust and that her mom is very over protective. Her mom also freaks out about every little thing. But she doesn't have a GPS tracker but we always have to update her where we are when we are out together.

I'm sorry, adult children (as in offspring) will call back when they call back... maybe.

I agree with this 100%. I am old enough to drive and make decisions on my own so that way if I get in trouble (not life threatening) then I can find a way to get out of it. A lot of kids these days need to be taught responsibility for their actions.

That's great for you. You are of a certain age, and you can do what you need to. You aren't 12.

There is a reason that there are internet safety standards for kids.

Kids have been manipulated by adults into being abducted, molested, prostitution, and many other things, because the communication was hidden from parents.

 

[byteware]

and are you a delinquent typing this post from jail? Teenagers do stupid things and they learn from those mistakes. That's how life works. The last thing I would want to do is release my over protected bubble child into the real world at 18 and cross my fingers.

Think of it this way. You give them the freedom to make mistakes, but programs like these give you a safety net so that you can limit the degree to which they fall.

I mean, honestly, you don't want your child to learn not to get into a stranger's car through life experience. There are some mistakes you want to protect them from.

This is a false argument... it's not an either/or. You can protect your children, while giving them the freedom to make mistakes.

 

[byteware]

I'm 22, childless and still live at home (going to graduate school) so take all of what I'm saying with a (giant) grain of salt.

I don't like these apps. I think they're playing into the paranoia of parents over a nearly nonexistent danger played up by the media.

An 11 year old girl was approached by a man in a city close to where we live (very close... as in we travel there about every other day).

two girls who lived nearby approached them, and talked to the 11 year old girl. They didn't feel like she knew who the man was.

She was never seen alive again, and her killer has never been caught.

When you don't HAVE a child, its easy to dismiss the danger, because it's NEARLY nonexistent. The rest of us have to come to terms with the fact that it ISN'T nonexistent.

 

[Frisco]

Those tragedies aren't the fault of parents with no tracking devices on their kids (it seems outrageous to have to say that).

One thing that may make the devices worth the money, though, is the sense of security it might give to the parents.

The hope is that it is not a false sense of security.

 

[byteware]

Those tragedies aren't the fault of parents with no tracking devices on their kids (it seems outrageous to have to say that).

Never said that they, but you can't begrudge parents a little extra protection when kids are out of their sight.

One thing that may make the devices worth the money, though, is the sense of security it might give to the parents.

The hope is that it is not a false sense of security.

I trust my kids, and hope to never need to look up where they are. If I do need to, I want to be able to.

I don't want the first time I think about installing it, to be when nobody knows where my child is, and nobody can get ahold of them.

 

[SB13X]

and are you a delinquent typing this post from jail?

No your right, I'm not I understand your point but I was borderline close to going that way, it was my parents finally managing to put it all together and intervening when they did that stopped it, they gave me a wake up call and to be honest I wish they had got involved sooner but my ability to hide things from them being tech savvy and managing to keep them and various authorities in my life at the time seperate through manipulation of truth etc. It was my parents finally reigning me in and being stricter that got me on the straight and narrow, they needed to know everything from finances. As a teenager I thought I knew it all and the real result is I knew very little. I may add that up to this certain point I was a straight A student with all the ability to cruise into whichever University I pleased. I'm not academically ******ed but my common sense back then didn't account for much.

With computers, the internet and social networking a lot of children in the silicon age don't understand the risks online and need to be monitored and made aware of reporting facilities.

In the end depending on how well my children turn out to that point I may not feel the need for such software but even in such circumstances I'd much rather they realise I am aware of such devices and will let them believe I can just to stop them straying where they shouldn't. But should I have a child in the future with Autism who can't grasp certain common sense instincts in regards to judging other people in the extreme I feel such software and devices would prove invaluable for when they feel the need to break away for some independence while still depending on us.

I hope this makes sense just got back off a 14 hour shift

 

[Frisco]

I'm a parent with three grown kids and one more who is in high school.

When cell phones came along and kids started expecting to have them, the one still at home was around 7 or so and we contemplated getting her one.

We tossed that idea in favor of waiting until she asked for one. That happened in middle school and we got her one.

I remember being glad she had a cell phone, but laughing at myself for feeling that way when we got the first detailed bill; from then on new rules had to be talked about, not the least of which was leaving the device home during school days.

But, yes, the idea of having a way to keep track of a kid if a parent feels the need seems ok, but also seems less useful than our method of communication.

Also, I don't know about others here, but my oldest kid is an adult by many years, and I don't love her less than when she was 10 etc, but having her tracked to keep my worry down seems patently absurd, which is pretty close to the way I feel about tracking them as children.

 

[byteware]

Also, I don't know about others here, but my oldest kid is an adult by many years, and I don't love her less than when she was 10 etc, but having her tracked to keep my worry down seems patently absurd, which is pretty close to the way I feel about tracking them as children.

But you do understand that her level of maturity, self defense, situational awareness, etc... are all different than when she was 10...

I won't love my children any less when they become adults (or 16+), but I do feel that before that, they aren't capable of defending against adults trying to manipulate them. Whether that is taking them off the street, getting them to meet up at some secret location, or getting them to send pictures of themselves (in their underwear... it's just like a bikini) to the recipient.



You wouldn't leave your child alone in a room with a Sexual Predator. You wouldn't let your child talk on the phone with a Sexual Predator.

I won't allow a Sexual Predator to "groom" my child on the computer.

4 in 5 kids cannot tell that they are talking/chatting with an adult posing as a child.

The "Grooming" process can take 6 months to a year, and is meant to slowly increment a child towards sexual activity.

The "Grooming" process is meant to ensure that the child will stay silent about it.

Children have little to no defense when being manipulated by an adult, especially when they don't know that they ARE even talking with an adult.

I'm sorry if I'm ranting, but this is one area that I really feel passionately about. I think because of that, I need to step back from the conversation for a moment...

 

[Frisco]

Heh.. well, kids are more vulnerable, but a tracking device does not change that in a way more significant than awareness via lifelong communication right from the start, in my opinion.

But again, I'm not against those devices; parenting is not a narrow, one-way-is-right sort of endeavor.

 

[sontaikle]

An 11 year old girl was approached by a man in a city close to where we live (very close... as in we travel there about every other day).

two girls who lived nearby approached them, and talked to the 11 year old girl. They didn't feel like she knew who the man was.

She was never seen alive again, and her killer has never been caught.

When you don't HAVE a child, its easy to dismiss the danger, because it's NEARLY nonexistent. The rest of us have to come to terms with the fact that it ISN'T nonexistent.

It is nearly nonexistant though. I didn't say entirely. There will always unfortunately be sick bastards out there who will harm children.

The fact of the matter is, a child is much more likely to be kidnapped/harmed by someone they know rather than the "stranger danger" the media would like us to believe. They report on these things like crazy because it plays into the fears of parents and gets them viewers/readers.

The best way to prevent things like this isn't tracking apps and looking at kid's messages, but speaking to them about real dangers. This will likely scare them, but it will be a valuable lesson in the long run. How will a tracking app help anyway if the child is already harmed? Knowledge is power in this case, and while a tracking app might help, it certainly won't hold the power that a well informed child would.

Look, I may be young but I've seen what happens when children are overprotected. They grow into the irresponsible, inept and totally clueless college kids and adults that everyone consistently complains about. Parents baby their kids and then wonder why all of the "kids these days" can't handle themselves like previous generations could. Well, the previous generation is raising us and they really need to take a look at themselves before passing judgement.

Like it or not we need to experience the world in order to learn. I'll say it time and time again

 

[damewolf13]

It is a parent's responsibility and duty to know what their minor child is doing, and where they are at all times. These types of applications can be used by a parent to find out just how responsible their child is, and what kind of character they are developing. They can also be used to steer your child away from potentially problematic friendships. In worse case scenarios, they can even locate a missing child. I believe they are a welcome addition to a parent learning more about his minor children, and their lifestyle.
If your child is honest, and responsible, they have nothing to fear from what their parents will learn.

 

[tommy_ed]

Infact me and my girlfriend have set google maps to update our location all the time so if I'm down the beach teaching or at the pub she can go on to her phone and see where I am and come and join me without the need for a phone call and if I'm somewhere I shouldnt be then I just register where I'm safe and then deactivate it so me last location shows up

that is disturbing. very disturbing. i'm at a loss for words.... whose idea was that? lol

 

[palmgoog]

This is a tough one because some kids mature differently than others. I know teens who are smarter and behave more appropriately than many adults do. I don't like that if your 17 days and 364 days old, you don't have as many rights as the next day (although there really isn't any other easy way to judge a person's maturity other than age). I think its fine if the kid is around 12 and you want to make sure he doesn't get lost or abducted but when you start to put these apps on kids in their late teens, it's a bit overprotective and an invasion of privacy. I'm 16 and my parents don't have these apps on my phone because..well...I don't go anywhere... And even when I do go places, I don't make foolish decisions such as drinking, texting while driving, or any other stupid things teens do. I feel like everyone around me is so immature. Oh well. In 2 years, I'll be free from this prison chamber called high school. Don't get me wrong! I know education is extremely important and helps prepare you for the real world, but the social aspects and childishness of high school is torture. Most of the important life lessons I learn come from either movies or books that I read outside of school. Woah! I digressed a bit there. short story: tracking apps= sometimes good, mostly bad

 

[IOWA]

This is a tough one because some kids mature differently than others. I know teens who are smarter and behave more appropriately than many adults do. I don't like that if your 17 days and 364 days old, you don't have as many rights as the next day (although there really isn't any other easy way to judge a person's maturity other than age). I think its fine if the kid is around 12 and you want to make sure he doesn't get lost or abducted but when you start to put these apps on kids in their late teens, it's a bit overprotective and an invasion of privacy. I'm 16 and my parents don't have these apps on my phone because..well...I don't go anywhere... And even when I do go places, I don't make foolish decisions such as drinking, texting while driving, or any other stupid things teens do. I feel like everyone around me is so immature. Oh well. In 2 years, I'll be free from this prison chamber called high school. Don't get me wrong! I know education is extremely important and helps prepare you for the real world, but the social aspects and childishness of high school is torture. Most of the important life lessons I learn come from either movies or books that I read outside of school. Woah! I digressed a bit there. short story: tracking apps= sometimes good, mostly bad

I'm 25, no kids. However, if your living on your parents dime, and they pay for your phone, they have the right to put whatever they want on your phone. Simple as that.

 

[Member138406]

If my parents knew how to use this kinda stuff when I was in HS, I would have given them both heart attack... almost did a few times anyways...

I understand the safety net for kids... but seriously whats next, remote apps to turn the phones mic and video camera on?

How is someone supposed to develop any kind of confidence knowing that their parents are constantly monitoring them to make sure they are behaving? I am sure everyone here would not be too happy about a mandatory government issue GPS bracelet.

 

[Frisco]

It is a parent's responsibility and duty to know what their minor child is doing, and where they are at all times. These types of applications can be used by a parent to find out just how responsible their child is, and what kind of character they are developing. They can also be used to steer your child away from potentially problematic friendships. In worse case scenarios, they can even locate a missing child. I believe they are a welcome addition to a parent learning more about his minor children, and their lifestyle.
If your child is honest, and responsible, they have nothing to fear from what their parents will learn.

For centuries those things were all found out by responsible parents with no tracking devices.