Should Parents Track Their Children?: The Never-ending struggle Between Safety and Freedom

Should Parents Track Their Children?: The Never-ending struggle Between Safety and Freedom

Parents have always worried about the safety and well-being of their children, but tracking their location has never been easier than it is now. There are so many different ways to keep track of the location of your kids, whether it’s a watch, an app, or an entire device dedicated for the sole purpose. Newer generations have experienced the impact of technology through their childhood, both the good and the bad. New parents are also navigating their way in this unfamiliar world. Something so new can be challenging to control and judge, so when there isn’t a public consensus opinion, parents are left on their own to decide. On the one hand, parents do want to ensure the safety of their children. But on the other hand, do kids want to be tracked all the time? Knowing you’re being tracked every hour of every day can affect your sense of freedom and independence, but is there also a sense of safety knowing you have somethinging to rely on?

On one side of the struggle are the parents, wanting to protect their children and know their location. Many parents who use/consider using tracking devices simply want to know that their child is safe, but sometimes this simple technology can become invasive. Wanting to rest assured, knowing your child’s location can clear up some of the worries of them being in danger and stop the imagination from running wild. But tracking your child can also place a sense of distrust and in your relationship. My parents grew up in a time and place where the thought of tracking someone from a device in everyday life was still pretty far away. But they often talk about the freedom and independence they had, walking home by themselves every day, being out of the house when their parents had no idea where they were, and all kinds of other childhood adventures. Their childhood was, of course, by no means perfect, but hearing about it made me reflect on how different it was compared to all the kids I see now. With the sense of freedom and ability also came a lot of danger and risk, which is what parents these days are most concerned about.

When I was in elementary school, my parents got me a digital watch for kids that let them track and see my location at all times. I had the watch for about a year or so, but the experience wasn’t bad at all. My parents were never too invasive or overly worried about my location, and I was pretty young and not very responsible at the time. They still trusted me and never brought that much focus to the tracker. After a year, they felt I was more responsible and didn’t buy another tracker after the watch wore out. Another reason why my parents stopped tracking my location was that I wasn’t separated from them that much, and it wasn’t very likely for me to be in many dangerous places. I was also older and they felt that I could make better judgments and decisions.

I think that parents tracking their children is completely fine if the circumstance calls for it and a sense of trust is retained. Times have changed, and new technology is always needed to combat the new dangers we are facing. I think different circumstances also call for different solutions to keeping your children safe. Some parents might be busier and have a stronger need to track their children because they aren’t together all the same. Others might feel that their child is kept safe enough and should have more freedom. The nature of trust in the relationship between the parent and the child can also drastically impact this decision. Tracking your child can’t be the only crutch you lean on to keep them safe, and they need to know that you trust them to be responsible and accountable. Overall, I think different situations call for different solutions, but there are still limits to how far tracking your children can go.

- Mengtong