Moms Talk: Is Keeping Close Tabs on your Kids Necessary or just Nebby?

Our Moms Council addresses your concerns about parenting, motherhood, teenage and toddler troubles, and anything in between. Join in on the conversation! We want to hear your thoughts, so drop them in the comment box below. Our questioning readers will appreciate your help.

This week, our Moms Council answered this question: 

I have a friend who tracks her teenage daughter via a GPS device in her cell phone. She knows where she is at all times (even the times she doesn't want to). She hasn't told her daughter this. I know that it sounds awful, but hearing about what she's discovered since tracking her daughter (the bars/night clubs she's found her at late at night), makes me curious as to what my son has been out doing. He's 17 years old, and while "boys will be boys," I'm worried about what that might entail. I haven't done the tracking, cellphone-GPS thing yet. But I won't lie; it's becoming more and more appealing. 

Talk me out of this! Or help me justify it? What do you guys think?

Moms Council member Hillary Garvey had this to say:

I think that the tracking devices are unnecessary. If you have an open and honest relationship with your son then you should know, for the most part, the kinds of things he's doing.

You would be able to tell over time (whether it be by his absence late at night, the crowd he hangs out with, or the things you find lying around the house) if he were getting into anything that would hurt him. 

I say, talk to him. Always keep the conversation open and honest, and let him know that, no matter what he does, you'll always be there for him. I would definitely recommend asking him upfront questions first, rather than snooping around behind his back. 

Moms Council member Judith Reymond offered a different opinion: 

I think that keeping tabs on your kids is a good thing, as long as you're not too overbearing and keep them locked up in their room. A good way to let them go out and enjoy their freedom, while still having an eye on them at all times, is the GPS/track thing. If our kids have nothing to hide, then they shouldn't be concerned if we know where they are or not. 

Moms Council member Heidi McDonald added:

You're his mom, not his friend, and you're legally liable for his activities until he turns 18. That's all the justification you need.