Gen Z's Latest Obsession Might Come At A Serious Cost To Their Mental Health (And Safety)

Yahoo

30-05-2025

Trends change, technology advances, yet teenagers always seem to stay the same. They find new ways to maintain social relevance — often by doing things older generations don't understand. (Don't believe me? Just try to guess what any of their slang terms mean.) One of the latest teen trends is something that might raise a few eyebrows among parents, due to safety and privacy concerns: location tracking.
Although teens crave independence from their parents, they are voluntarily sharing their real-time whereabouts with their friends. Popular phone tracking app Life360 recently found that Gen Z is 70% more likely than any other age group to share their location with friends. And 94% of Gen Z surveyed said their lives benefit from location sharing.
In May 2025, Snapchat announced that its location-sharing Snap Map has more than 400 million monthly active users, per TechCrunch. This influences other social media platforms, as Instagram is reportedly working on a similar Friend Map to allow users to see their friends' locations.
Many adults, including Leigh McInnis, the executive director of Newport Healthcare, may feel wary about this trend; however, McInnis keeps an open mind. 'While my immediate instinct is related to the protection of privacy and boundaries,' she told HuffPost, 'I realize that this impulse is likely more related to my generational identity and discomfort with technology and tracking than the social needs and preferences of today's teens and young adults.'
McInnis added, 'I think that it is important to explore the function of a behavior before judging it or intervening in it.'
Not sure what to think about it — or how to ensure your teen uses an app like this safely? Keep reading for expert-backed opinions to help you understand why your teens might like sharing their location, as well as tips on setting boundaries and red flags to look for.
Location Sharing Isn't Necessarily New
'Many of the teens I work with — including my own daughter — share their location with their friends,' said Dr. Cameron Caswell, adolescent psychologist, host of Parenting Teens with Dr. Cam podcast, and parent of a teen. 'It's a little about safety, but mostly 'because it's just fun to see what each other is doing.''
Back in the olden days (circa 2006), teens would update their Myspace status to let you know what they were up to. Later, they 'checked in' to places on Foursquare and Facebook, shared real-time updates on Snapchat and Instagram stories, and tweeted every detail of their lives. Now, they use Snapchat's Snap Map, Life360, or Apple's location sharing to share with their friends everywhere they are in real time.
'This isn't new,' Caswell said. 'In a world where nearly everything is shared, this doesn't feel invasive to teens — it feels normal. It's just another way they stay looped into each other's lives.'
Teens also use apps like this to track their parents, according to Caswell, whose own daughter will text her if she sees her mom is at Ulta and ask for lip gloss.
'For many teens, location sharing is about connection and a sense of safety,' Caswell explained. 'It's their way of saying, 'You're in my circle' and 'I've got your back.''
Understanding The Risks
Even though sharing your location with friends might be popular, it doesn't come without consequences. Cheryl Groskopf, an anxiety, trauma, and attachment therapist based in Los Angeles, sees teens sharing their locations as a way 'to manage anxiety, track social dynamics and feel less alone.'
'There's comfort in knowing where your people are, especially in a world where teens constantly feel like they could get left out, replaced, or excluded,' she said. 'But that comfort is fragile — it relies on constant access (which leaves their nervous system hypervigilant to feeling 'left out').'
'If you're checking someone's location because you don't trust what they're telling you — or because they don't trust you — then it's already crossed into a control dynamic,' Groskopf said.
In her practice, she's seen teens 'spiral' when they spot their friend at a party they weren't invited to, or 'because someone didn't respond fast enough, but 'was clearly at home.'' She explained, 'It becomes a setup for overthinking, panic, and social surveillance.'
'Teens shouldn't use location sharing when it's being used to avoid rejection, manage someone else's anxiety, or prove loyalty,' she added.
McInnis said, 'Teens sharing their location and having their friends track them could harm their mental health.' Constantly seeing (and comparing) your friends' social activities 'can lead to feelings of inadequacy,' she added.
Caswell agreed. 'Location sharing can intensify FOMO (fear of missing out) and social exclusion,' she said. 'Seeing a group of friends hanging out without them — even unintentionally — can make them feel lonelier and more left out.'
In addition to these emotional risks, there are physical risks, too. Like a teen's location data being available to someone who might wish them harm. 'In the wrong hands, it can make [teens] more vulnerable to stalking, harassment or even predatory behavior, especially if they are in controlling relationships,' Caswell said.
There's A Gender Gap
Teen girls may be more likely to use location sharing as a way to feel safer. According to the Life360 survey, 70% of Gen Z women believe their physical well-being benefits from location sharing. In the field, our experts also found that females were more likely to do this.
Caswell said that 'mostly girls' will openly share their location with friends, 'both for fun and because it makes them feel safer knowing someone always knows where they are.'
However, this sense of safety is a double-edged sword, as it can 'increase the risk of stalking, harassment, or even sexual violence,' Caswell said. 'Especially when their location is shared with the wrong person, which is often someone they know and trust.'
Groskopf warns of the dangers girls and femme teens may experience when their use of location-sharing is weaponized against them. 'It can easily turn into emotional surveillance disguised as closeness,' she explained. (For example, a friend or partner telling them, 'If you trust me, you'll let me see where you are.')
'I see these kinds of patterns play out in high-control dynamics — friends or partners checking locations not to stay safe, but to manage anxiety, jealousy, or power,' Groskopf said. 'And girls are way more likely to internalize that and comply, even when it feels off. They're more likely to be conditioned to avoid conflict, manage other people's emotions, and keep the peace — even if that means overriding their own boundaries.'
That's why teaching your kids how to set boundaries, in real life and online, is important.
Setting Boundaries
Teaching your teen how to handle location-sharing in a safe way starts with conversations around consent and the ability to say no.
When asked if there is a safe way for teens to share their locations, Groskopf said, 'Only if there's real consent, boundaries, and the freedom to opt out without punishment.'
In this case, the punishment could be feeling guilt-tripped or rejected by a friend. 'That means not just technically having the option to stop sharing, but knowing you won't be guilted, shut out, or shamed if you do,' Groskopf continued. 'A parent saying, 'I want to know where you are in case of emergency' is one thing. A friend saying, 'Why'd you turn off your location?' with passive-aggressive silence afterward is something else entirely.'
She added, 'Safe tracking only works when it's not being weaponized to regulate someone else's fear, jealousy, or insecurity.'
How To Talk To Your Teen About Location Sharing
Start the conversation with curiosity, not criticism, Caswell said. 'Instead of banning [location sharing], I recommend walking through privacy settings together and having calm conversations about why they're sharing in the first place,' she said. 'Is it for safety? To feel connected to their bestie? Because they feel pressured to? Helping teens understand why they are doing it makes location sharing a lot safer and more intentional.'
From there, encourage your teen to only share their location with 'a small, trusted circle of close friends or family,' and check in on this list frequently.
'One mom I worked with told me her daughter was shocked to find an ex-boyfriend still had access to her location,' Caswell said. 'Of course, that explained why he kept 'randomly' showing up wherever she was. Instead of freaking out, the mom used it as an opportunity to talk with her daughter about how to use tech more safely moving forward.'
It's always a good idea to talk with your teens about how to stay safe online and set boundaries around privacy with their friends. But keep in mind, this starts at home. 'Let your teen say no to you sometimes,' Caswell suggested.
'Practicing boundaries with someone safe gives them the confidence to do it with someone who isn't,' she added. 'That's how they build real-world safety skills — not just digital ones.'
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.