Times have certainly changed from the days when Baby Boomers were children. While kids who grew up in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s were allowed to explore the neighbourhood without parental supervision for hours on end, it’s clear that the rules around what is deemed ‘acceptable parenting’ have changed.
For example, TV chef Jamie Oliver recently revealed that while he gives his teenage daughters independence and freedom, he also spies on them at all time. The father-of-five, who has been open and honest about his parenting techniques in the past, explained that he uses a mobile phone app to keep tabs on his two teenage daughters.
His eldest daughter Poppy is 16, while Daisy is 15. He also has three younger children. Petal, who is nine, Buddy, seven, and River, two.
“We use an app to keep track of our kids’ whereabouts,” Oliver told Woman Magazine in the United Kingdom, as reported by Hello. “The older girls, Jools [his wife] and I are all on an app called Life360, which means we can see exactly where everybody is and the route they’ve gone.”
He explained that the app comes in handy, particularly if one of his daughters says she’s going somewhere, but the app exposes that she has actually gone somewhere else. According to Oliver, it’s also a chance for his family to see what he’s up to as well, adding that the app can also show his wife how fast he’s driving.
According to the app’s website, the intention of Life360 is to give parents and families peace of mind by keeping them connected through location sharing, messaging, driving details and even phone usage. It’s said to be used by more than 50 million families around the world.
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Social media website Facebook has a similar function called Nearby Friends, which allows Facebook users to keep track of friends and family who are in the area. Many Apple iPhones and iPads are also equipped with application called Find My Friends, which shares the exact location of friends and family on a map.
In addition to keeping track of his daughters, Oliver recently revealed the one time he’s comfortable with his children using naughty language. Speaking to IOL last year, the 43-year-old admitted he relaxes his strict rules when it comes to swearing at Christmas time. In fact, the kids can say whatever they want for 60 seconds during the Oliver Christmas family dinner.
While he’s famous for dropping cheeky innuendo in his own TV shows, he said he wasn’t happy with the idea of his children using such dirty words.
“I love it but as a dad, I don’t like it,” he admitted to the publication. “I say, ‘How do you know that?’ My boy makes them rhyme as well.”