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Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Raising Tweens & Teens

128: Encore: Should I Track my Teen's Location?

Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Raising Tweens & Teens

Dr. Lisa Damour/Reena Ninan

Mental Health, Kids & Family, Health & Fitness, Parenting

4.7 • 824 Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s easy to track kids using cell phone technology. But is it a good idea to do so? Today's technology allows us to know a lot more about our kids than our parents ever knew about us. While parents might track their teens for supervision and safety reasons, teens often long for more independence and privacy than tracking allows. Dr. Lisa explains why this tension is an expectable, healthy part of adolescent development and unpacks two key questions: What, exactly, does tracking accomplish? And does it really help to keep teens safe? Reena asks about the downsides of tracking a teen’s location and Dr. Lisa lays out the tricky scenarios she's encountered in her practice.  ________________ Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Raising Tweens & Teens is the essential podcast for parents seeking expert guidance, tested strategies, and psychological insights on raising kids, especially tweens and teens. Join renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour and former journalist and mom of two Reena Ninan as they explore real-life parenting challenges.  Looking to learn more about how to boost kids’ resilience, build their confidence, or support their emotional well-being? Dr. Lisa and Reena have got you covered! Together they address listener questions about stress, anxiety, social media concerns, school pressures, and challenges in peer relationships. Each episode provides practical advice and science-backed solutions to help parents raise resilient, confident, and emotionally healthy kids. Tune in every week for the latest topics in parenting, child psychology, and family wellness. Get answers to your most pressing parenting questions. New episodes drop every Tuesday. AVAILABLE NOW: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers by Dr. Lisa Damour. Available at www.DrLisaDamour.com and everywhere books are sold. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn @AskLisaPodcast, @LDamour, @ReenaNinan Checkout Dr. Lisa’s website for more resources:  https://www.drlisadamour.com/ Ask Lisa is produced by:  Www.GoodTroubleProductions.com

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Rina Ninean and this is Ask Lisa, the Psychology of Parenting Podcast.

0:10.9

It's a podcast to help parents better understand their kids. Dr. Lisa DeMore, a psychologist with three

0:17.2

decades of experience, and the author of three New York Times best-selling parenting

0:21.9

books takes your questions.

0:23.9

Both of us are moms ourselves, and we're eager to hear from you.

0:27.2

So send us your questions to Ask Lisa at Dr.Lisadamore.com and join our community by following

0:33.2

us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter at Ask Lisa Podcast.

0:39.5

Encore episode 128. Should I track my teen's location?

0:47.3

It's easy to track kids' location using cell phone technology, but is it a good idea?

0:52.7

Today's technology allows us to know a lot more about our kids

0:55.5

than our parents ever knew about us. And while parents might track their teens for supervision

1:00.3

and safety reasons, teens often long for more independence, for more privacy than tracking allows.

1:07.0

Dr. Lisa explains why this tension is an expectable, healthy part of adolescent development,

1:12.9

and she unpacks two key questions in this episode. What exactly does tracking really try to

1:17.9

accomplish? And does it help keep our teens safe? I ask about the downsides of tracking a

1:22.9

teen's location, and Dr. Lisa also lays out the tricky scenarios that she's encountered in her practice

1:28.0

with tracking kids using cell phone technology. We hope you enjoy this encore episode. Should I track

1:33.4

my teen's location? So since I haven't gotten my kids a cell phone, there's this whole world

1:39.3

once you've given your kid a cell phone that I'm unaware of. But I didn't know that sometimes

1:44.0

parents track their kids' location via cell phone. I'm unaware of, but I didn't know that sometimes parents track their

1:45.4

kids' location via cell phone. They turn it on and can know exactly where they really are.

1:50.8

Is that a big thing? They do. It's a huge thing. And it's a hugely controversial thing,

...

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