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Teen Driver

By Greg Bartlett

Teens do all sorts of things these days, and some of them aren’t activities that parents want to encourage.  For instance, one study shows that 34-39% of 9th graders drank alcohol in the last month, teenage pregnancies are on the rise again, and suicide rates have also increased.  Smoking and substance use and abuse are also among many parents’ concerns.

Keeping your teen safe from the many dangers of some teenage activities can be a daunting task.  How can you find out where your teenager is and what activities he or she is involved in?  Teenagers may be willing to tell their friends what they’re doing, but probably won’t tell their parents, even if what they’re doing is harmless.

So some parents are turning to a different way to find out whether or not their teen is safe.  They track their teenager with a GPS system.

Teenagers may not be any happier about their parents tracking them than they are about telling their parents about their activities, but with the right incentive, teenagers are willing to change their minds.  And the incentive may be a cell phone.  Take a look around at teenagers today.  That’s right, it seems like all of them have a cell phone attached to them somewhere.  And if the phones have options such as unlimited text messaging and web browsing, teens are even more likely to choose to carry the phone even if they know they are being monitored through the GPS system in the phone.

One researcher gave cell phones to teenager girls, trying to track their activities and discover any risky behaviors. The researcher could follow the girls’ movements and ask them about unusual or suspicious behavior.  Using the GPS tracking in the phones, the researcher hopes to discover if the location of the teens pushes them towards risky activities.

Monitoring the activities and the locations of the teenagers with a GPS system will hopefully lead to an understanding of what pressures can cause teenagers to engage in risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, and using controlled substances.

Many parents are trying to give their teenagers as much freedom as possible, but they have to balance giving that independence with the concern over what their teen is doing.  You can’t physically follow them around to ensure that they’re being careful and making the right choices, but you can monitor their activities and help ensure their safety with a GPS system.