With more than half of UK parents stressed about the upcoming school year, location-sharing technology provides a way to ease the mental burden, regain time, and get more done.
Over half of UK parents report that they’ll be stressed when the new school year begins (54%), and many agree that preparing children to return to school in September is one of the most stressful times of the year (52%).
This insight comes from new research released today by Life360, the family connection and safety company, which found that almost half of parents worry about how they’ll manage the busy term-time schedules when their children go back to school this September. Furthermore, more than three-quarters of parents agree that tweens and teens don’t want to think about returning to school until the last possible moment (77%), adding to the mental load of parents.
Half of the parents surveyed agreed that they find it difficult to prepare their children for the new school term after the summer holidays. Issues include establishing a new routine after the more relaxed holiday schedule, planning and organising school transport, coordinating extracurricular activities, adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times, motivating children to be enthusiastic about the new term, shopping for school supplies, and re-establishing homework routines.
As parents busy themselves with preparing packed lunches and sewing on name tags, ensuring the family’s technology is properly set up for the new term can provide peace of mind while granting children more independence. In fact, 40% of those surveyed say they have used location-sharing apps to help reduce family stress and manage hectic schedules.
Luisa Zissman, podcaster and mother of three, including her teenage daughter Dixie, has joined forces with Life360 as parents seek ways to manage the demands of family life and alleviate stress during the back-to-school season. She said: “Back-to-school season can be super stressful trying to co-ordinate the family’s busy schedule. It can be made even more difficult when my daughter is off doing her own thing and doesn’t answer calls or texts, or let me know what her plans are after school. But I’ve found that giving her the freedom she craves, while staying connected through Life360, really helps us both.”
When asked what their children do that frustrates them as the back-to-school season approaches, parents mentioned ignoring calls and texts, not providing updates on their whereabouts, not informing them of after-school plans, forgetting to charge phones, and returning home later than planned. The survey also found that parents send an average of five messages each week asking about their child’s whereabouts, with 59% sometimes being ignored, and another four weekly texts trying to find out when their child will be home.
As a busy working mother, Luisa is well aware of the stresses involved in organising a hectic household. She continued, “Knowing where she is without having to constantly chase her for updates has taken a lot of stress out of our routine and helped me better coordinate our family’s busy schedule. It’s comforting to know exactly when she’s on her way home or heading to a friend’s place. This peace of mind lets us navigate the back-to-school chaos with a lot less stress.”
With nearly half of parents who use location-sharing technology with their children agreeing that it makes them worry less about what their children are doing (47%), the top reasons cited for its use include:
- Ensuring my child is safe (61%)
- Peace of mind (56%)
- Being able to quickly find my child if something goes wrong (47%)
- Reducing anxiety by providing real-time updates on their location (45%)
- Keeping an eye on where they go to avoid dangerous situations (35%)
- Building trust when I can see they are where they said they would be (28%)
- Ensuring they are home on time (20%)
- Making it easier to plan transportation and avoid delays (19%)
- My child doesn’t usually respond to my messages about their whereabouts (16%)
- Ensuring they are attending school regularly (13%)
David Rice, International General Manager at Life360, commented: “The back-to-school season is stressful enough for both parents and kids without constantly chasing each other for updates on each other’s whereabouts. By ensuring the whole family is always in the loop, parents and kids can ease some of that anxiety and navigate the chaos with a bit more confidence.”
He added, “It’s no wonder Life360 saw a 66% increase in UK registrations in the first week of September last year. With features like real-time location sharing, arrival and departure notifications, low battery alerts, location history, and SOS with emergency services dispatch, Life360 genuinely helps alleviate frustrations for parents as their kids return to school.”
