Alibio

Well, you thought your responsibility ended by enrolling your teenager in a driving school. But that isn’t so. Parents are supposed to assist their offspring to become matured, responsible and develop the proper attitude which will help him/her not only become a cautious driver but also lead a successful and prosperous life. When every other animal species in nature do it, why shouldn’t we?

If you took time off from your busy schedule and fulfilled the serious duty of being a friend of your teenager, he/she would have been far more matured and responsible by now. There wouldn’t have been any need for any electronic teen driver monitor whatsoever.

Teenagers must be given space and independence to work out their own social paradigms and associated dynamics. This is the only way they can mature and lead a meaningful life. We would as parents be doing a great harm if we stifle this maturing process with these electronic gizmos which are euphemistically termed teen tracking devices.

But nervous parents are always anxious for their teens. For them, the teenagers are not really in their teens – they are oversized toddlers! These toddlers need to be constantly supervised and pulled back whenever their parents think so. These overprotective parents have a ready comrade in companies that manufacture GPS tracking devices in their struggle to monitor every step their teenage sons and daughters take.

The marketers are there waiting with a range of gps teen tracking devices which they claim would like a magic wand forewarn parents of any trouble the youngsters are about to fall in.

But what is a gps tracking device? It is an electronic gadget based on satellite tracking which helps you to locate where your teen is and in some costlier models you can also find out the speed at which he/she is driving. What benefit would you gain from that information? Obviously as a worried parent you will retort that your teenager will always be under supervision and parental control and what better can it be than that.

This is where things tend to turn sour! You are not willing to accept that your teenager has matured enough to handle things on his own and it might be hazardous to let him be behind the wheel on his own. If you feel so, don’t let him/her drive on his/her own, as simple as that. Why invite a tension and try to find ways to reduce it? That’s pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?

Don’t do such a ludicrous thing. Like a matured adult have patience and let the teenagers learn it the hard way. That’ll be growing up in the true sense.