CON
Life360 is a mobile phone app created in 2008 which allows family members to track each other’s locations and driving information. The app has been highly praised for its real-time alerts that inform parents when their children are speeding, moving locations, or have even gotten in a car crash. According to the App Store, Life360 says that users will “get automatic notifications when your family comes and goes from home, work, and school, and when they complete drives.” While Life360 may seem like the best way to keep your family safe, just because you can access all of this information doesn’t mean you should.
Life360 requires users to sacrifice all privacy in order to deliver the safety it promises. The ability for parents to track their child’s every movement throughout the day can become a tiring and unfair process for the child. Part of growing up is having the freedom to make your own choices, make mistakes, and then learn from them. This is what every generation of teenagers experienced while growing up, except for the current generation. Although it promotes safety, Life360 is limiting the lives of teenagers everywhere by alerting parents of their every move, regardless if it is good or bad.
In my experience, teenagers will try to find ways to avoid parental supervision. An app can’t stop a teenager from doing what they please, which only leads kids to think of creative ways to outsmart the app as well as their parents. This can lead teenagers to end up in situations where they are without their phone since it is common to leave a tracked phone behind at a friend’s house before going to a location not approved by a parent. If a parent really wants to know where their child is, they can use programs such as “Find my iPhone” which solely shows a device’s location and not invasive information such as driving speeds.
I understand the appeal Life360 offers to parents such as high speed, real-time updates of your child’s whereabouts in order to ensure their safety, but I think this kind of tracking is too invasive to have a completely trusting family relationship. With Life360, teenagers are not given the opportunity to live their lives freely and are instead tied down by an app that gives their parents real-time updates according to their every movement. The app Life360 should be used only in special circumstances to ensure safety and not as a daily tracking device to hover over and control teenagers.
PRO
Many teenagers argue that the Life360 app has had more negative impacts than positive; it makes them feel restricted, and it exacerbates the “helicopter parenting” style that has become more and more common. But looking at the bigger picture, Life360, as surprising as it may be, benefits teens by allowing them more freedom. Also, the app has developed new features that protect teens when they’re on their own, and it can be an effective safety measure if used with restraint.
For most teenagers, there comes a time when they yearn for freedom, and for many, it can be a constant struggle with their parents to gain independence. With the Life360 App, parents who feel hesitant about letting their teenagers roam uninhibited can be reassured. Having the app doesn’t mean that parents are obligated to check it all the time, but it is a great way for them to check their child’s location in an emergency. Sure, in the wrong hands, Life360 could be seen as helicopter parenting, but the main goal of the app is safety, and it achieves that. Parents might even feel more inclined to let their teenagers go out on their own because they would be able to contact them immediately in the case of an emergency. Life360 provides young people with a small taste of what freedom is like, without giving them the overwhelming responsibility of having to completely fend for themselves.
There are countless examples of Life360 helping to save peoples’ lives, from connecting family members amid a terrorist attack to tracking a missing kidnapping victim. Even if the situation isn’t as drastic, it can still be a big help for teens to have that resource on hand. For people starting to drive on their own, the app’s new technologies can be a big help; Life360 offers 24-hour roadside assistance for minor incidents such as flat tires, running out of gas, and engine jump-starts.
Many people argue that Life360 restricts teenagers’ basic freedoms and puts a strain on the trust between them and their parents. But the system doesn’t have to be confining. With the right parameters in place, parents can preserve the trust they have with their children. First of all, parents need to begin by having a conversation with their kids about what the tracking means. It isn’t meant to be something that makes people uncomfortable or puts a strain on relationships; parents shouldn’t be compulsively checking the app to try and “bust” their children. Parents should give their children the benefit of the doubt. At its core, the Life360 app is a valuable tool that can keep people safe and even potentially save lives, but it must be treated with caution and not overused.