With an increase in technology and the use of location-tracking software, apps like Life360 have made a full 180 impact in the world of family safety.

At the end of 2018, Life360 reported nearly 18 million active users on the app.

“I actually think it’s really convenient,” sophomore Carrington Langston said. “Especially when I have to get picked up from a theatre rehearsal or drill team, I can see that my mom is at Kroger or that she’s turning into the high school.”

About 80 percent of teenagers have their own phones, according to LetGrow.org. With location-sensitive alerts that are based on where the phone is at that time, some notifications can be misleading.

“If I leave [the school]  for a second, like to go to the portables, my mom will ask where am I going, because she sees that I’m leaving,” sophomore Shreya Algole said. “It’s good when your parents are trying to pick you up, but it can be a little weird.”

More than half of parents and students in a survey conducted by Life 360 said they felt safer with the app on their phone.

“I feel that if parents have that, then they have it for a reason,” junior Nikki Hansen said. “It’s necessary for those parents who need it, which is another way of protection, because that is a parent’s job — to protect their kids.”

Infographic created by Haley Medeiros, using Piktochart.