Mobile phone tracking for a young teen.

[killer b]

(I think it's a shame the thread's ended up quite bad tempered fwiw, it's an interesting topic that would be good to talk about without the anger - fully recognise everyone does this stuff with the best intentions)

 

[AverageJoe]

Life360 only let's you know where your child is, not what they are doing.

So, I can see she's in the park, or at school.

I've no idea if she's reading Razzle whilst she's at either of those places though, and nor would I want to.

 

[skyscraper101]

How could any tracking app tell anything more than where a child is? It's just a dot on a map.

I really don't see anything wrong with it, it its mutual consent. TBH if I was 14, I'd rather have that than have my parent keep calling me to find out where I was, and for overall safety if I got kidnapped, and in case the phone ever got nicked or lost it's also very useful. It's not some creepy stalker thing like some people seem to be making out.

 

[Winot]

What’s definitely a great way to have this discussion is for people to tell parents they are bringing up their child wrong.

 

[Thora]

I think it's fine to monitor what a 14 year old is doing online and what sort of stuff they are viewing, who they are talking to and what about. I find it more bizarre that anyone would just let a child that age have access to whatever they can find

 

[RileyOBlimey]

Just to be clear here, I'm no fan of this tech but I can see it's benefits and I like knowing that my ten year old has got home from school safely (I don't actually use, but my wife does). When she's 14, she can do what she wants but at the moment, I'd rather know what she is up to.

As for the porn and web monitoring thing, I don't have any issue with stopping a pre-teen from accessing pornhub, especially as a lot of the stuff on there is far more dangerous (IMO) than a copy of razzle found in the bushes up the park. Again, once you are a teen, you can look at what you want.

I also don't just switch on these things and that's it. I discuss it with my kids, explain what I don't like about it, explain what they should do to keep themselves safe online etc etc

All sensible stuff.

 

[souljacker]

Thing is that a child choosing to switch off the tracking app you've put on her phone isn't really the same thing as the child not having the tracking app in the first place is it? There's an automatic social pressure - however much you make out to the kid it's a free choice and all that - to keep it on, and then if she does switch it off, you're going to wonder 'why's she done that?'

The idea that a 14 year old living in the family home really has a free choice this case doesn't really stand up to scrutiny I don't think.

When I say she can switch it off, I mean she can delete the app completely. What I'm saying is, she can do what the fuck she wants.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

I think it's fine to monitor what a 14 year old is doing online and what sort of stuff they are viewing, who they are talking to and what about. I find it more bizarre that anyone would just let a child that age have access to whatever they can find

I assume you’re a liberal and/or left modern parent.

Imagine if you were a lesbian teen girl with conservative, religious parents. Your sexuality is your business not your parents. Delving into a teens wank bank is not OK at the best of times, let alone when there’s a serious conflict likely to arise.

 

[moomoo]

Actually, I’ve just remembered that my daughter has a thing on her phone that texts me if she’s in danger. She kept setting it off by accident and I’d get into a panic so I think she’s deleted it now.

She just sends me pictures of taxi registration numbers now. I’m apparently supposed to do the same but I always forget.

 

[Thora]

I assume you’re a liberal and/or left modern parent.

Imagine if you were a lesbian teen girl with conservative, religious parents. Your sexuality is your business not your parents. Delving into a teens wank bank is not OK at the best of times, let alone when there’s a serious conflict likely to arise.

No parent should monitor what their teen is doing because of a lesbians with religious parents

What age do you think it is appropriate for kids to watch violent rape, incest porn and child abuse videos?

 

[Edie]

Personally, I’ve never done this with either of my two lads. They have a curfew, and I call them (and they kind of have to answer, or I call back) if I want to see what’s up.

But, I totally recognise other parents using these tools as a legitimate parenting choice.

 

[RileyOBlimey]

No parent should monitor what their teen is doing because of a lesbians with religious parents

What age do you think it is appropriate for kids to watch violent rape, incest porn and child abuse videos?

All rape is violent. It’s a violent crime.

Monitoring teenage wank banks is clearly weird. Did you share your wank fantasies with your parents?

As for abusive content, this can be blocked to a degree, fairly unreliably. Teenagers will likely find workarounds. Having honest conversations about problematic content to help empower teenagers make better decisions online is healthier than invading privacy.

 

[Edie]

All rape is violent. It’s a violent crime.

Monitoring teenage wank banks is clearly weird. Did you share your wank fantasies with your parents?

As for abusive content, this can be blocked to a degree, fairly unreliably. Teenagers will likely find workarounds. Having honest conversations about problematic content to help empower teenagers make better decisions online is healthier than invading privacy.

No one is discussing wank banks except you. We are discussing using tools such as Find my iPhone to see where your kid is and vice versa. I’m guessing you don’t have under 18s.

 

[bimble]

Was just about to ask RileyOBlimey if they have children or are just very righteous about things in the abstract.
I have no children, but watching other people navigate teenagers plus technology is really fascinating, i really have no idea how i'd handle it all.

 

[Thora]

It's only an invasion of privacy if the child has an expectation of privacy - if they know a parent is going to check their phone or has access to their tiktok account then it isn't private.

Though as Edie says gps tracking apps don't monitor internet searches or whatever anyway.

 

[moomoo]

Apparently you can enable something called find my friends.

 

[weltweit]

Apparently you can enable something called find my friends.

But I don't want to find your friends!

Finding my friends might be useful though!