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Comment by conductr | Hacker News Reader

As a free roaming latchkey kid, the Life360 stuff is so bizarre to me. I have some family that tracked their kids in high school, then college, then it has continued into their late 20s now. The way they talk about their normal mom-kid dynamics are so strange. Mom constantly checking in, on a drive and stop to use the restroom, mom assumes it’s a flat tire or whatever and has to check in. Stuff like that. I still regularly just go all damn day without picking up my phone, leave the house without it, and all that and just can’t imagine having to answer to anyone. There’s just such a lack of independence that comes with it all that I think I would find defeating. But, it’s these kids norm and they just shrug it off because everyone they know seems to be doing something similar.

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> As a free roaming latchkey kid, the Life360 stuff is so bizarre to me. I have some family that tracked their kids in high school, then college, then it has continued into their late 20s now.

This is crazy to me. I'm 50, so I'm in the "call or be home by dark" generation of kids. While it was tempting, my wife and I operated with the goal of releasing a fully functional human being into the world, so we never opted for Life360 or any tracking beyond "find my" which was a concession to the number of lost devices in the family.

Instead, we operated on a very strict call us if you're going to be late, or plans changed philosophy. It took a few iterations and reminders to make it work, but eventually the updates came proactively from our teen and, surprise suprise, led to development of trust between us.

Occasional course corrections were needed, and I'm sure significant shenanigans I know nothing about happened, but that's life. I care and worry like any other parent, but I also sleep better knowing my child (they're 19 years old now) can handle things on their own.

I'm waiting for the day when some advocacy group pops up that argues not having such tracking for your kids is prima facie evidence of neglect. You're already seeing that in many places in the US with regards to allowing kids to be unsupervised in any way for any length of time, even if they are not being anything other than just normal kids playing and learning about the world outside the walls of their home, and police/CPS being called resulting in parents being charged criminally.

> You're already seeing that in many places in the US with regards to allowing kids to be unsupervised in any way for any length of time, even if they are not being anything other than just normal kids playing and learning about the world outside the walls of their home, and police/CPS being called resulting in parents being charged criminally.

Do you have any examples of this? How common is it? What are they charged with? Where in American is it happening?

..not the only incident.

https://reason.com/2026/01/16/she-let-her-6-year-old-ride-to...

Thanks for the example. A visit from the CPS and having a case on file is terrible. At least in this case there were no criminal charges and the child was not removed and they have some good pro-bono legal representation.

The good news is that many states has passed laws specifically to make this type of parenting legal.

"Georgia, Florida, and Missouri join eight other states that have adopted Reasonable Childhood Independence' laws.

...

"These bills establish clear exceptions to the statutory definitions of neglect and abuse in state laws, ensuring that parents cannot be penalized for allowing their children to engage in regular activities such as walking to the store, playing outdoors, or staying home alone under reasonable circumstances. State laws will still prohibit clearly harmful neglect or endangerment. However, these “reasonable childhood independence” bills reassure parents that they will not face a significant run-in with law enforcement for permitting their child to pursue healthy, independent activities." [1]

So, it seems there is growing and effective opposition to such a trend.

[1] https://reason.org/commentary/new-georgia-florida-and-missou...

...except I get the sense that this creates a shelter such that the pair or members of the shelter never become independent enough to trust that what happens unseen/unwitnessed is trustworthy. certainly that depends upon the dynamics, but it seems that the sooner you begin developing independence and trust with that freedom of some personal secrecy the sooner a real adult relationship formation will abide.

I am not like you, from a long lost generation before the twisted pair gave way. summers from age 8 and beyond were days of unfettered freedom. I feel very fortunate

EDIT: Why is this thing not letting me post?

I feel like ideation around safety and its feeling depend on context, but there are some who never feel safe and some who (blissfully) can around walk freely without feeling endangered.

Even while they can point to no personal experience of violence or danger, some (men) insist they must be allowed concealed carry to assure safety.

This is not a gender issue. People have amygdala and it develops differently in each of us, shaped early and continuously by experience and by random chance

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