We can see the value of today's technology and even tracking apps like Life360. But that doesn't mean they're for everyone.

Lots of us remember the sense of freedom that came with surpassing milestones of youth and young adulthood.

Dating, driving, moving away to college, and heading down the shore without adult supervision (and without cell phones) told us we were growing up, and it was exhilarating for many of us to spread our wings and develop an identity independent of our parents and older family members.

There were probably nights when we rolled down the windows and drove too fast in a too-crowded car with a too-loud radio. Looking back with the wisdom that comes from maturity and lessons often learned the hard way, we can see the value of today's technology and even tracking apps like Life360, which was the subject of a story in the Bucks County Courier Times last Sunday. But that doesn't mean they're for everyone.

Life360 and similar tracking apps like Find My Friends, Footprints and Family Tracker are becoming more popular among parents who want to use their monitoring features to keep tabs on their children.

Life360 groups people into private circles where users can view others' recent and real-time whereabouts, see if someone in the circle has been texting while driving, get notifications when members arrive at their most-frequented places, like home, work and school. It also can mark the top speed the phone reached during a trip in the car.

Supporters of the app say they use it, not just to monitor circle members' activities, but also to help the family coordinate schedules and assist with the everyday logistics that's involved in getting everyone where they need to be for sports, activities, errands and meals. They also like the peace of mind of having an extra tool they can use in an emergency.

Detractors, on the other hand, decry young people's loss of privacy and how these apps give helicopter parents a new way to hover. Others say they can provide parents with a false sense of security or even make them feel more anxious about what their children are up to when they're away from home.

Our editorial board members grew up at a time when cell phones were either rare or non-existent, so we can't relate to young people who've grown up with a way of contacting their parents attached to them at all times. We told our parents we'd be home at a certain time and that's when we next spoke. We had no contact with them at all during the school day and checking in from the road meant finding a pay phone and calling collect.

But times have changed. Many parents today would feel uneasy if they couldn't reach their children even for a few hours. At the same time, most young people today are accustomed to having that always-open line of communication. So the leap from there to being part of a tracking app circle may not seem as significant to them as it would have felt to us.

Still, we hope that families will use these apps wisely and in a way that gives their children some measure of alone time. As parents, our duty is to help them know right from wrong, carefully measure the consequences of their actions and to make smart choices when they're away from home.

Finally, we have to realize that we can't be stowaways on our children's journey to adulthood, but we can make sure they feel comfortable telling us about all the places they've been along the way. Building that mutual trust is absolutely crucial. And there's still no app for that.