It’s easier than ever for parents to get involved in the minutiae of their teenage children’s lives. With apps like Life360, parents can see exactly where their teens are at any given moment. The tracking app sends GPS location and safety alerts in cases of car crashes to the groups the user is connected with on the app, usually parents and other family members.

With 42 million monthly active users reported by the app, Life360 is just the newest manifestation of “helicopter parenting,” a style of child-rearing in which parents “hover” over their children and try to control every aspect of their lives.

Studies have shown that helicopter parenting can be incredibly damaging to children, including long-term effects of increased levels of anxiety and depression. 

“The over-involvement of the parent makes the child believe that their parents will not trust them if they do something independently,” developmental neuropsychologist Laurence van Hanswijck explains. “It, therefore, leads to lack of self-esteem and confidence.” 

“[Over-protected children] are always on the lookout for guidance, and when left alone, they become too nervous to make a decision,”  he continues.

I have seen this situation play out with friends of mine whose parents don’t let them go out and try new things. Lack of trust and freedom from their parents decreases their confidence in their ability to make good decisions for themselves. They feel as though they lack the necessary resources to succeed because they’re not given chances to try, fail, and grow from those experiences.

Poor confidence in decision making among “helicoptered” young adults is not just based on observation, it’s backed up by science. According to a 2017 study, withholding from children and teenagers opportunities to discover how to make choices for themselves leads to underdevelopment of the brain, which is associated with anxiety, aggression and depression.

Another problem with tracking is that it hinders parents and children from building relationships that are based in mutual trust. As one Beachwood junior put it, “I feel like it’s [Life360 monitoring] overcontrolling…it steps over my boundaries”.

Many parents aren’t just using Life360 when their teens are at home — they continue to keep digital tabs on their children even as they go to college and try to start their own lives. I have seen this occur with many friends of mine who have gone to college but still feel tethered to home. These young adults are kept within the proverbial nest and infantilized, which is harmful, as they’re not even equipped with the necessary tools to take care of themselves, and if they can’t take care of themselves, how can they be expected to give back to their communities?

Space to experiment and just exist independently is essential for teenagers in the process of self-discovery that leads them to become autonomous, functioning adults — and Life360 is one of the greatest threats to that process.

However, it’s important to note that Life360 and other similar apps aren’t used solely by parents. Couples and friends also employ tracking apps to keep tabs on each other. And while individuals can actively avoid using Life360 in a harmful way, they can’t stop the app from selling their data to data brokers such as X-Mode, Safegraph, and Cuebiq, who then do with it what they wish. In fact, the company made $16 million from selling data in 2020 alone. Users aren’t just tracking each other, huge companies are tracking them as well. 

Not only are overbearing parents a threat to adolescent safety, so are overbearing tech and data companies. Life360 is much more dangerous than it appears, and considering the huge unknowns regarding the ramifications of data brokering, I would strongly advise that parents refrain from downloading the app.