[pragmacoders]

Every generation throws off the ideals of the generation that came before.

Parents monitor their kids for a combination of:

1. Worry about the outside world. Justified - but monitoring location doesn't make it any less likely that they'll get hurt.

2. Worry about their child doing something they consider dumb. Again - justified. They will absolutely do something you consider dumb. But monitoring your child won't make then agree with you and won't stop them from doing something you don't like. The tighter the grip, the more they'll fight and the more they'll resent you for making them fight.

Parents like to think that this resentment will go away when the child is older. It doesn't. Many of you probably resent something your parents did when you were younger. But it does become less intense with distance - like everything else.

Anywho - Monitoring teenagers doesn't actually help anything. Monitoring younger children might make you feel more safe, though.