re: What are your thoughts on the Life 360 thing?

I don't know about you, but my issues with government intrusion is that I don't trust them to NOT do nefarious things with such power.

I trust my wife more than the government

once again, the comparison of the role of the government and the role of parents fails when it comes to reality

I would hope that I could instill in my kids the difference between the 2

if one would apply your logic to parenting, you could say that we are almost all conditioning our kids to expect and normalize dictatorships

I used it for when I picked my son up from the bus stop. Due to traffic after school, you never knew when the bus would show up so I’m not waiting 30-45 mins. Now that he drives, I deleted the app.

I am a widower with a 14 year old boy. I would not have nearly the piece of mind I do without it.

My wife made our teenaged kids install this app, one of which was driving age. I don't think either of us used it to watch our kids like hawks, it was just nice to know that if we questioned their honesty on where they were going to be, it was a nice tool to have in the backpocket.

Now the driving part feature? I HIGHLY recommend it for new drivers. Not to keep track of where your young driver goes, but to see how they're driving. It captures speeds, erratic driving, hard brake/gas, and phone interactions. If you see your young driver driving like shite, show them the data, they're going to catch on pretty quick not to do it. This can save lives.

My son, 17 at the time but a brand new driver, borrowed my car to take a girl out on a date. I knew he was going to be on the interstate and my car was a sportscar. We hadn't done much interstate practice so I was nervous. Pulled up the app and see him, real time, cruising down I-75 at 120MPH! Brand new driver, 120MPH in the ATL metro on the interstate! Needless to say, he got his arse reamed and deservedly so.

This Life 360 app is really messed up in that not only does it show exact locations at all times, but it also keeps a history of where you have been in the past. I'm young so maybe I have a hard time seeing it as parents see it, but such a drastic overreach of surveillance can have lasting effects.

I feel like up until 18 can be appropriate to use an app like this for a multitude of reasons if you aren't constantly overbearing. Personally, my parents required me to continue using this app once I got into college which was a nightmare. They held over me the fact my room/board, food, insurance, phone bill was being paid by them. Treated me like a drug addict when I failed a drug test for marijuana as if 95% of kids in college don't try it.

It didn't matter that I was attending mass every week my whole life or getting a 3.8 taking tough science courses. The fact I had smoked marijuana was enough for them to lose all their trust in me and it only pushed them to be more militant. All it did to me was add unnecessary stress in my life. I don't think parents really understand the mental health impact things like this can have on their children. My first two years in college were spent with this weight on my shoulder that if I fricked up I would lose my relationship with my parents. I love them and couldn't be myself without them.

Eventually the next semester I failed another drug test for marijuana again, hell college underclassmen are liable to make mistakes. I was presented with an ultimatum on how to continue from there. Option A) Parents still pay for everything, but I must move back home for school and consent to drug tests and phone searches at any time with an additional curfew. Or option B) No parental support and a severed relationship with my brother.

I couldn't handle it anymore and once I was presented with this I began to pack my bags and leave. I think they were betting on me backing down, but I guess I called them on it as all this stopped. They finally began to understand how these control issues affected my mental health. I still don't know what I would've done had they actually kicked me out. It's hard enough trying to find your way as a young man in this world as it is. I know back then I thought a lot about driving to the Grand Canyon to see the beauty and then ending it all. I was in a terrible place and I probably needed therapy instead of overbearing parents.

Parents, I implore you to please be careful when you implement tools like this into your discipline and children's lives. Don't allow yourself to worry about every little aspect of their lives and become overbearing. It can be affecting your kids in ways you don't even know.

They should have just had you wear a body camera like the police in college

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whodat24

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Your parents were supplying the drug tests or were these school-sanctioned for sports? If the former, christ....sorry man. That's bad parenting, imo.

Parents were supplying them. First time they did one was because some jackass loser at my high school got shot drug dealing in a suburban neighborhood and they wanted to make sure I wasn't involved . Needless to say, I tested negative but they were still suspicious of me. I'm just happy they've changed for the better and my brother won't have to deal with as much as I did. And all this is not to say that they aren't loving, supportive parents otherwise. They had good intentions I'll say that.