Phone Tracking: Should You Track your Child? 

To track or not to track… That is the question parents face. For some parents tracking their child’s phone is an absolute must, and they don’t see what the problem is. For others, it is an intrusion of their children’s privacy.  

So, what does the research say? Let’s have a look.  

What Does the Research Say? 

Truth to be told, there is not much research on this topic. There is one study ⁽¹⁾ published in 2024 examining parents’ phone tracking of their teenagers. They found that teenagers who were tracked by their parents were more likely to have issues like anxiety or depression, and to drink alcohol. But this study cannot answer an important question: Are parents tracking their teenagers because they are doing things that they should not be doing or are teenagers doing things that should not be doing because their parents are too controlling? In other words: What comes first? The tracking or the misbehaving? This is not something that so far research examining phone tracking can answer.  

Tracking a child 24/7 means that that child is being constantly watched and supervised. And we don’t really know how that affects children. 

One way to understand how tracking children’s phones may influence them is to rely on the research examining the effects of parental control on children. After all, tracking your child’s phone is a way of controlling them.  

Should We Control Our Children? 

Rather than controlling our children, we need to know our children. Knowledge ⁽²⁾ about who their friends are, the things they do when they go out, how they are doing at school, the things they like, what worries them, and whether they are OK. Why is knowledge important? Because when parents know about their children’s life, their children tend to engage in less risky behaviours and tend to have better mental health. 

There are two ways to get that knowledge about your children: 

• By controlling them: when we control our children, we control the amount of freedom children have to do things without us, asking their friends for information, spying on them, surveilling them. 

• By monitoring them: and the best way to monitor ⁽³⁾ them is by having a good relationship with them so they want to tell you what is going on in their life.  

There is a clear difference between getting information about your child by controlling ⁽⁴⁾ or by having a good relationship with them. Knowing a lot about your child because you keep spying on him is very different to knowing about your child because he wants you to know. Children of parents who control very tightly tend to do worse than children whose parents monitor them effectively.  

So, instead of trying to control our children, we need to think about monitoring them properly. The best way to monitor our children is by developing a strong bond with them.  

What Is the Problem with Tracking Children? 

There are a few issues that concerns psychologists: 

• It may be a controlling parental behaviour. As we have just seen, parental control is linked with negative outcomes for children.  

• Children who are being constantly tracked may not develop responsibility and autonomy, and it may increase their anxiety.  

• Children may get the idea that the world is a dangerous place. Why would you track 24/7 your child if there is not danger around each corner? 

• Children may develop a false sense of safety, thinking that you will always be able to know if they are in danger. As part of normal development, teenagers must develop an understanding of their own safety, and what they need to do to keep themselves safe. 

Is Everyone Tracking their Kids? 

As far as I know, there are only two studies examining the number of parents that track their children. Both studies have been conducted in the US. One examined, parents of children aged 5-11 in 2020 ⁽⁵⁾ and found that 1/3 of parents tracked their children. The other one, examined parents of adolescents in 2024 and found that about half of parents tracked their children’s. Fourteen per cent of parents were tracking their kids without them knowing about it.  

It is also worth mentioning that girls were more likely to be tracked than boys. This may be because parents are more worried about girls’ safety when out and about. 

What To Do? 

Before making a decision, ask yourself who will benefit from the tracking. Will it benefit you because it will bring you peace of mind? If so, what makes you so worried about child being out unsupervised? Or will it benefit your child? If so, how? 

It is also important to consider your child’s age. Tracking teenagers can be particularly tricky because teenagers need to have a sense of privacy and independence. It is part of them growing up. When teenagers feel that their parents are going too far in their parental duties, they may rebel. This may lead the teenagers to resent their parents, and their relationship will suffer. Many teenagers will turn their phones off, let their battery go dead, or stop answering texts. 

If you track your child, tell them you are doing it. Your relationship with your child should be based on trust and respect. If your child discovers that you have been tracking them without them knowing, your relationship will suffer. Especially, the older they get.  

Consider also the information you receive. You will only know your child’s location but not what he is doing or who he is with.  

What Happens with the Data that Tracking Apps Collect? 

This is a concern for many experts. In 2020, Life360 App made $16 million from selling location data. Who buys them? Insurance companies and any other company that finds value in having that data.  

There are many other control apps. Apps such as Find My or Google Maps can be used to see the real-time location of your child’s device.  

On Android phones, Location Sharing allows your child to share their real-time location. On iPhone, you can know where your child is through the Find My App.  

Final Words 

At the end of the day, it is entirely up to you whether you track your child’s phone. If your child sees it as a way for you to control him and invading their privacy, it will probably not be good for your relationship. In contrast, if your child thinks that the tracking is out of concern and care and/or they want you to track them because they feel safe that way, then it won’t harm your relationship. I would recommend that if you do track them, you do it for safety and open communication and not to police and punish your child.  

If you have any questions or comments, get in touch with me!

Love,

Ana

Dr Ana Aznar

References 

⁽¹⁾ Burnell K, Andrade FC, Kwiatek SM, Hoyle RH. Digital location tracking: A preliminary investigation of parents’ use of digital technology to monitor their adolescent’s location. J Fam Psychol. 2023 Jun;37(4):561-567. doi: 10.1037/fam0001067. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36877491; PMCID: PMC10238636. 

⁽²) Racz, S.J., McMahon, R.J. The Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Monitoring and Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems: A 10-Year Update. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14, 377–398 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-011-0099-y 

⁽³⁾ Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Burk, W. J. (2010). A reinterpretation of parental monitoring in longitudinal perspective. Journal of research on Adolescence, 20(1), 39-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00623.x 

⁽⁴⁾ Kakihara, F., Tilton-Weaver, L., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2010). The relationship of parental control to youth adjustment: Do youths’ feelings about their parents play a role?. Journal of youth and adolescence, 39, 1442-1456. DOI 10.1007/s10964-009-9479-8 

⁽⁵⁾ Auxier, B., Anderson, M., Perrin, A., & Turner, E. (2020). Parenting approaches and concerns related to digital devices. Pew Research Center.