'Tracking is important now my family don't live together'

A MAN who tracks his teenage daughter at university said he thinks those who have been critical of him doing so are misguided.

- JONATHON HILL

It comes as 67% of parents across the UK admit to tracking their kids according to Unite Students, which has conducted a nationwide survey at many of Britain’s universities.

Steven Medway, from Michaelston-y-Fedw, near Cardiff, has been tracking his daughter Martha, 19, for some time as well as other members of his family and said he has found it is perfect for peace of mind now his daughter has gone to university.

Last month Martha, an architecture student, went to the University of Reading, having travelled to Japan and across Europe with friends over the last year.

Steven said it is important his free-spirit daughter retains her independence, but in a world which seems to be becoming more dangerous, he'd rather have the tracker just in case she finds herself in trouble.

“Martha is a very independent young woman but she still is very happy to be tracked,” Steven told the Western Mail.

“There are some parents I've seen on LinkedIn who don’t agree with it. But my whole family has trackers on each other ~ all four of us are on the app. It's voluntary and you can switch it off whenever you like.”

It comes as data collected by Unite found eight in 10 parents report “extreme grief” when dropping their child off at university for the first time and 67% admit to tracking their children digitally now.

More and more parents are turning to tracking apps such as Find My Friends to keep a watchful eye over their offspring from afar and according to Unite it is fathers (71%) who are more likely to use the tracking apps than mothers (59%).