I was more of a free-range parent when my kids were little. Now that one is old enough to drive, I track him.

Tech Insider : Business, Style
A teen boy sits in the driver's seat of the family car before taking his two younger siblings to school (also pictured in the car).
The first time my son drove both of his siblings to school, I was glad I could track them on an app.

Courtesy of Kathy Larson

I'm trying to be hands-off as my teen applies to college. It's been difficult for me, especially when they missed a deadline.

Tech Insider : Business
A pile of college mailers
The author's son is applying to college.

Courtesy of Trisha Daab

Parents, please stop asking me to hire your kids

Tech Insider : Business
A man and woman stand in front of a retail store.
Scott Tannen and his wife cofounded the bedding company Boll & Branch in 2014.

Clark Adams

My teen just got his driver's license. I refuse to install a tracking app on his phone even though I'm scared for him.

Tech Insider : Business, Style
a teenage boy being the wheel holding up his driver's license
The author's son, not pictured, is a teen who just got his driver's license.

Aleksandr Zhurilo/Getty Images/iStockphoto

I let my 2 young kids walk to sports practice by themselves. Other kids started asking their parents if they could join them.

Tech Insider
Two girls carrying skateboards while walking on a bridge on a sunny day
The author's daughters (not pictured) walked three blocks alone to sports practice.

Maskot/Getty Images/Maskot

I moved to Germany from the US with 4 kids. Here, I have a lot more time for myself.

Tech Insider : Travel
Children in front of the Berlin Wall
Robbins and her family relocated to Berlin in May last year.

Celia Robbins

Millennials and Gen Zers are now helicopter parenting their parents

Tech Insider
two hands each holding a phone with a security camera pointing at each other with a cutout of a map in the background

Getty Images; iStock; Natalie Ammari/BI

A pool director at a country club hires teens as lifeguards. She sees parents applying for their kids to make life easier, but it has the opposite effect.

Tech Insider
A lifeguard watches over a swimming pool full of children.
Susie Johnson (not pictured) — who believes helicopter parenting impairs kids' independence — hires teenage lifeguards to supervise swimmers at a country club.

Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images

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