With technology advancing beyond measures every day, parents are cracking down on supervision of their children. An abundance of apps have been created to track the location of others, such as “Find My…,” “Life 360” and “Spoten.” Students and teens are intimidated by the fact that others can “track them down,” which is understandable, but there are also so many benefits to having supervision of where you are at all times.

When I first got my driver’s license, my dad sat me down and told me that he was going to start tracking my cell phone using the “Find My Friends” app. A little disclaimer about me: I am probably one of the most boring teenagers you will ever meet. I don’t go to parties. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I have always been independent and have gotten bounds of trust by my parents, so the thought of being under surveillance at any given point came off as offensive. Did they not trust me? 

I eventually got over the initial shock of the circumstance and started to understand and dissect the severity of the issue. With a driver’s license, I am not only in charge of my own life but also others around me whether they are in my vehicle or not. 

One night as I was driving home, I was tired from the long day I endured. I ran slightly out of the lane line, and the drive was slightly bumpier from the unfamiliar gravel I was driving over in place of the paved road. It was no big deal physically. I corrected myself and went on my way in a safe matter; however, it made me think about my own vulnerability if I was to be any more careless, or rather, if anyone else was to be not paying attention.

Numerous parents have found their child on the side of the road before anyone else because of the apps available for drivers. In a lot of cases, there is a small amount of traffic on the roads at night, especially living on the outskirts of town. Besides, in the society we live in today, it is not safe to stop on the side of the road to help someone, so even if there was some traffic, no one is guaranteed help. Because there is easy access to roadside security, lives have been saved by parents being first on the scene.

It is not uncommon to be intimidated by a tracking device on your phone, for there is legitimacy in wanting to grow up without your parents knowing about your every step. However, the app sounds like a “party pooper” until you are stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night with no one around to help you. 

The truth is, our parents don’t track us because they want to ruin our lives and laugh at our sorrows. They want to make sure they are doing everything they can to do in their power to make sure we are safe and sound. Isn’t that the #1 object of the parenting game-keeping us alive?  

It is so easy to make mistakes on the road, especially as a young driver. Because we are young and naïve, we think that we are invincible, but we need to realize that our privacy isn’t better than our safety.