A few months ago Ellie was a little silly and went for a wander with her friends after college which I had no issue with but she went off and when she text to say she had missed her bus I rang her and she said she was at a park but didn't know where. To say I wasn't happy was an understatement, what would have happened if her friends had left her, she wouldn't have known where she was!
I had threatened her for years saying I would put a tracking app on her phone and thought at 16 years old we would be past that but I wanted to for her safety and my peace of mind. I looked at a few different one's but found one which wasn't just me tracking her, she could track me too.
Life360 available on Android and iOS is a family communication, location and alert app for smartphones that allows users to share their locations with each other. It seemed more fair that Ellie could see my location as well instead of me just seeing hers.
It has given me peace of mind, I can see that she's on the bus and most importantly at college and where she should be. A few weeks just after I put the app on Ellie's phone I saw that she wasn't wasn't at college when she should have been. I text her just in case the app wasn't keeping track, as it does have some moments when it's a little bit slow to keep up. Ellie said she was sat getting some fresh air as she didn't feel well. The app gave me the knowledge and opportunity to know that there was something not right so I rang her to see what was going on.
There has been other times where she has been out with friends and I have text to say don't forget you have to be in at a certain time and she has said she would but after seeing where she is there is no way she could be home on time so I can text back and say make a move now.
It works both ways though. Ellie was on her way home from college one day and tracked me on the app and realised I was at my dad's so just got the bus there instead of going home and letting herself into a empty house, going to her Grandad's is always fun. Another time I was in town and she had finished college early so she saw where I was and surprised me by appearing in Primark.
With Becky I never had to track her location but Ellie is a whole different kettle of fish. I trust her to a point but she is easily led, can lose track of the time and sometimes has her own idea of what is right when sometimes it's not. There are a lot of pros and cons of tracking your teenager's phone but I think Ellie and I have found a good balance with the app that we are using.
Do you track the location of your teenagers?
My children are younger and aren't really out by themselves but I love being able to track them! It's really useful on school trips when I am timing my trip over to school to pick them up, and for reassurance if they've popped to the shop. I'm guessing that they will accept it as they get older because it will be normal, my Mum tracks me!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had to track my teens (yet) but haven't discounted the idea either.. :)
ReplyDeleteWe love Life360! It is a great app. :) Our children aren't of age to have phones just yet, but my husband and I use this app.
ReplyDeleteI love Life360 and have used it for a few years now with our son. It's such a peace of mind to know where he is when he is out and about.
ReplyDeleteI think I missed the boat with Life360. It sounds like a great app though and it's good that you and Ellie track each other as like you said, makes it fair. What a nice surprise to see her pop up at the shops and her Grandad's!
ReplyDeleteI have just downloaded Life360 with Boo, she agreed to it. She does go out a little more and sometimes she gets a bit nervous when she's not sure of the way home, so I can help her out if needed xx
ReplyDeleteYes I do - we all have iPhones (the kids get our old ones when we upgrade) now all three have phones and they know we can track them with the find my phone feature, my oldest will be 15 soon and he has more freedom when he goes out and he is well aware that I track him - he doesn't like it but i don't constantly check his whereabouts just generally check to see if he's on his way home from somewhere. Life 360 sounds like a great app though, I may need to check it out x
ReplyDeleteI used to use Family Link but just to keep an eye on the bus so I knew when to go and pick up. But now N is 13,, it all turns off which isn't helpful. so I've just downloaded Life360 - but it's annoying me because it wants me to have all notifications on and my location, and hates that I have battery saver on. Arghhhh. There's another tracker I need to try instead, but I've heard it send out alarm signals that are really hard to turn off. I don't really want something with that amount of tracking/notifications. So I don't know what's goign to work for us. Family link was just what I needed, so it's frustrating you can't agree to still have it on after 13
ReplyDeleteI don't track my boys (one is 18 and away at university, the other 15 and at home) mostly because it feels an invasion of privacy and I can't help but think noone tracked me - but if either of them got in trouble or were in a dangerous situation I might start. As you said about your girls, I think it depends on the child
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