The Pros And Cons Of GPS Tracking

We currently live in a world that functions based off technology. As new technologies emerge each day, our ways of life continue to evolve, especially with parenting styles. Children grow up and begin to explore their freedoms, resulting in frantically worried parents who fear the worst. These fears cause adults to keep a close eye on their kids by tracking them in multiple ways, but specifically in GPS tracking. However, this topic of tracking one’s child becomes a highly controversial topic since adults see it as a safety precaution and children see it as an invasion of privacy. As technology improves, parents are exposed to new ways to ensure the safety of their child, however these precautions are an invasion of the child’s privacy.

Adults

However, some may say refute by saying that tracking youths online and with GPS is a safety precaution considering adults continually fear for their child, resulting in constant monitoring (Fahlquist 1-2). Adults also proclaim that GPS tracking “releases a parent’s anxiety and shows they care about their kids” (Fahlquist 2) because if one is to check where their child is, they are just checking to make sure the child is alive and safe. To be specific, the app Life360 alerts a parental at given times the speed at which their child drives, where they are at certain times, and what locations may be hazardous. Although this app is made to connect families together and ensure safety, this is not the only example of safety tracking. AT&T has created “Amber Alert GPS that allows parents to communicate with their children… with speed alerts, bread-crumbing, zone alerts and an SOS button” (AT&T and Amber Alert GPS Keep Parents, Children Connected with Child Safety Device 1). If a parent were to receive an alert informing them that their child is somewhere they should not be, the adult can call them and tell them to leave, or they can criticize them for certain driving habits. Yet these apps and devices are not full-proof. Even when one utilizes tracking apps, they cannot “protect the child beyond enabling the parent” or “guarantee safety beyond GPS tracking capacity” (Simpson 4-5). Such devices, if utilized, become a way of surveillance that intrudes on an adolescent’s privacy rather than a safety precaution. Although “parents have the legal right to extensive control over their children including the right to govern where the children go” (Roberts 1) it does not give them the right to deny their child freedoms. Without the ability to go on new adventures, children would end up overprotected and unprepared for the future. Adults should be able to