Apps like Life 360 are impacting family relationships. Life 360 and other apps like Verizon’s Companion are tracking apps. Parents can see where teens are at all times, what speed they are driving, and who they are texting. 

The dangers in society are known to all, and may affect parents’ style of parenting as many parents of this generation turned to technology for help. According to CNN Health, 33% of teenagers or children are talking to people online that they have never met, and 16% have considered meeting those people in person. Grooming happens all the time, the recipient might not even know it is happening that’s what makes it grooming. Parents are fearing these people who target young children with no internet restrictions. They hear about incidents on the news or on facebook and they think that it is common instead of the one time or two times that it has happened. Children obviously think of these situations differently.The kids of these strict parents believe that they are just being controlled, they don’t think that anything like that can happen to them. 

Emma Baczuk (12), who acknowledges that her parents truly love her and have her best interests at heart, has experienced some of these tough parenting skills.“I didn’t do anything that most kids would think is bad…I got my phone taken away because I had it in my back pocket when I went downstairs because it’s not allowed in the basement.” Her family stands by this rule because they value face-to-face communication and do not want their children to be caught up in the social media world. “It’s easy to get caught up in social media to the point where you get consumed in it, and you compare yourself to other people’s posts and that’s not healthy,” her father Gregg Baczuk said. According to CNN Health, 80% of teens check their phone hourly, and 72% feel they need to respond to any notification immediately. Some parents are genuinely scared that their kids will be addicted and they are trying to prevent that.

Protective or strict parenting does have a line, though, and some parents do tend to cross it when things get out of hand. Harsh punishments have been proven to affect a child’s development of self discipline says Aha Parenting. This trait paves the way for future jobs and family relationships. It’s known that a lot of obedience between parent and child is out of fear. These types of parents are known for raising mad or sad kids who are more prone to lashing out and rebelling. The experience of the world that most parents believe they have is keeping them from giving their children the freedom that they had when they were teenagers. Being involved with a child’s life is good, but drug testing them and going through said child’s phone every day may be considered “Helicopter Parent” behavior.

Tyrannical parents can be addicted to the power having a child brings. Authoritarian parents do not have warm parenting styles, which leaves children with toxic stress and no way to deal with it. These parents have a tendency to use harsh punishments and psychological threats, and yes, these might work at the time, but what these parents don’t know is that this does not help behavioral problems for the long run. The controlling features leave kids crippled. Tayler Chalupa (9), who understands her parents choices and respects them, knowing they love her, has parents that have some strict styles. “I’m not allowed to do a lot of things like