Monday 29 December 2014

Tracking

Last night we (Mr Ripe, Ms Ripe and I) grabbed a few bottles of wine, a salad Ms Ripe had whipped up and some leftover Chrissy chocolates - are they multiplying in the cupboard? - and moseyed over to our neighbours for a BBQ. Another couple was there with their teenage daughter and the neighbours also have two teenage girls. We'd been planning to catch up for a while but you know - life. It just gets in the way. There was talk about the neighbours of course. We have two families where the dads are carrying on a bromance. They spend most weekends sitting in the garage of one house drinking, watching sport on the telly and every so often whip out the clippers and give each other a haircut. We're not sure where it's headed but makes for interesting viewing! What stopped us in our tracks at last night's gathering was a conversation between our neighbours and their outspoken 15 year old (is there any other kind of 15 year old girl??) The parents have got a tracking device on her phone because they are concerned about where she is, who she is with and the weirdos in the world waiting to prey on their daughter.
They say it's not about her necessarily, but if she got kidnapped they would be able to find her. I admit to being a bit gobsmacked by it all. Whilst I'm all for safety, I think tracking your teenage daughter's movements is a big step. As a parent of three now adult children - Ms Ripe is now 18 - I think trust and responsibility for your own actions are so important for a child as they grow to be an adult. Course I said so. Dur. But privately, not in front of the feisty 15 year old who thinks her parents are paranoid and delusional. I know the world can be dangerous and there are plenty of crazies out there. But there are plenty of good people too. How does anyone decide between the two if they aren't equipped? If they haven't had to mature and make decisions themselves? Trust is such a fragile thing between parent and child. For me, I couldn't put it at risk in this way.

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