My daughters were secretly tracking my location and I had no idea. I'm actually relieved they care about where I am.

"Most parents of high schoolers spend hours checking their kids' every move, but I didn't want a smartphone when my children were teens. Instead, I insisted they tell me their destination when they went out at night. I'd sometimes follow up with another parent for confirmation, and I'm sure my kids weren't always where they said they'd be. But they usually came home by curfew and always paid their cell bills on time."

"A 2023 study found that 50% of parents in the US used a variety of GPS apps, such as Life 360 or Find My iPhone, to track their adolescents, while a 2024 study revealed that half of all parents continue to monitor their kids in college."

"With my compulsive tendencies, I feared I'd spend too much time pondering their every step instead of living my life as an outdoor educator at a small college in western North Carolina. Plus, I enjoyed showing I could teach, travel, and parent - without a smartphone."

A mother who deliberately avoided smartphones while raising her teenage children preferred traditional parenting methods, requiring them to report their destinations and paying their own cell bills. When she finally purchased an iPhone at age 60, she discovered her adult daughters had been tracking her location without her knowledge or consent. This revelation prompted a shift in family dynamics, leading all three to voluntarily share their whereabouts with each other. The mother's initial resistance to smartphone parenting contrasted with contemporary trends showing 50% of US parents use GPS tracking apps for adolescents and half continue monitoring college-aged children.

Read at Business Insider