By Greg Bartlett
GPS vehicle tracking devices are being used by more and more parents to monitor the driving habits and destinations of their teen drivers. While it appears on the surface that these parents do not trust their teenagers, the fact is that having these vehicle tracking devices in place and allowing the teens to know about them is a good way to improve the parent/teen relationship.
Parents are able to address poor driving habits, such as speeding, in a timely manner that can not only save their child a speeding ticket, it could save their child’s life. At the same time, good habits, such as going to the destination the parents are told to expect and obeying the speed laws en route can be positively reinforced. With dialog flowing both directions about the teen’s driving practices, a relationship of trust is built between teens and parents.
Many teens have reported that they have a much better relationship with their parents because they know that they will not be given the third degree as soon as they come in the door about where they have been and what they have been doing. Their parents have the information already, but that does not seem to bother teen drivers nearly as much as fear of being questioned interminably about their activities while away from home.
At the same time, parents whose teens are cultivating good driving habits and going only to the destinations they have told the parents they would be going to are finding that having the vehicle tracking device in place is not so much a method of spying on their kids as it is an extra layer of protection the parents can put between their teen and the harsher realities of the adult world.
The general consensus is that teens who know that their parents are monitoring their movements with vehicle tracking devices do not feel that they are being spied upon or denied their privacy. They are able to talk to their parents about their driving habits and receive positive feedback on the good points and corrective steps can be taken to eliminate bad habits behind the wheel. Parents find that they have more trust for their children and are much less likely to view the GPS tracking device as a way to spy on their kids as a way to help protect them when the parents can’t be right there. For more information about ways that you can track your teenager, call Rocky Mountain Tracking at 1-888-242-0500.
