Is it wrong for a parent to ask their child to share their location?

Not inherently, a parent asking a child directly, for safety or logistics, is different from a parent using a child's phone to monitor the other household. What matters more than the request itself is the reason behind it and whether it's something both parents have discussed, not sprung on the child as a secret.

Can location sharing be used to track the other parent instead of the child?

It can, and this is one of the more common complaints raised about location-sharing apps in co-parenting situations, a parent effectively monitoring the other parent's home or schedule through the child's phone. This is a different problem from child safety and worth naming directly if it's happening, rather than treating it as a location-sharing issue generally.

Should this be written into a custody order or parenting plan?

For families where location sharing has become a point of conflict, yes, spelling out whether it's used, by whom, and for what purpose removes the ambiguity that tends to cause disputes. See what goes into a parenting plan for how to structure this alongside other technology agreements.

Children, Phones & Technology

Can a Co-Parent Ask a Child to Share Their Location?

Whether a parent can ask a child to turn on location sharing, and why the more useful question is what it does to the child, not just whether it's allowed.

Generally, yes, a parent can ask their child to share their location, there's usually nothing legally or practically stopping a parent from making this request. But whether a parent can is a different, less useful question than whether it's a good idea in a specific situation, and why it's being asked matters more than the fact that it was asked.

Why this comes up

Location sharing between a parent and child is common and often uncontroversial, plenty of families use it for ordinary safety and logistics, knowing when a teenager left practice, confirming a pickup happened. It becomes a co-parenting issue specifically when one parent suspects the request isn't really about the child's safety, but about keeping tabs on the other household, what time the child arrived, where they've been during the other parent's time, or who they're around.

The distinction that actually matters

Location sharing for the child's safety is generally about the child directly: knowing they arrived somewhere safely, being reachable in an emergency, or age-appropriate independence with a safety net. This is a reasonable, common parenting choice.

Location sharing used to monitor the other household is a different thing wearing the same technical feature, using a child's phone as a way to observe the other parent's home, schedule, or decisions without their knowledge. This is where most of the actual conflict lives, not in the technology itself, but in what it's being used for.

The same app, used the same way, can be either of these depending on the intent and whether it's something both parents know about.

What to consider before asking

Is this about the child's safety, or about the other household? Being honest with yourself about the actual reason changes what a reasonable version of this looks like.
Does the child understand why? A location-sharing request that's explained to the child ("so we know you got to your friend's house safely") lands very differently than one that isn't, and that a child later realizes was being used to report on the other parent.
Have you discussed it with the other parent? Location sharing that's agreed to by both parents, even informally, tends to cause far less conflict than a request one parent discovers after the fact.
What happens with the information? Using location data to confirm a child's safety is different from using it to question or confront the other parent about their choices during their own parenting time.

Common mistakes

Treating the child as the messenger. Asking a child directly, "why were you at that address," puts them in the position of explaining or defending the other household's choices, a burden that belongs with the parents, not the child.

Assuming location sharing is inherently a safety measure. It can be, but calling it that doesn't automatically make it so, worth being honest about the actual motivation before framing it that way to a co-parent or a court.

Making it a secret from the other parent. Location sharing that's hidden or denied when asked about tends to escalate conflict far more than the sharing itself would have, transparency here works in your favor even if the other parent doesn't love the answer.

What to do next

If location sharing has become a source of tension, the most direct path is a conversation with the other parent about the actual purpose, framed around the child's safety and independence rather than either household's privacy. If that conversation isn't productive, or the pattern continues, see location sharing rules between two homes for how to set up something both parents can agree to, and how to keep children out of co-parenting conflicts for the broader principle this fits into.

FAQ