With more than half of UK parents feeling anxious about the new school year, location-sharing technology offers a way to lighten the mental load, reclaim time, and achieve more.
Over half of UK parents admit they’ll be stressed when the new school year begins (54%), and many agree that getting children ready to return to school in September is one of the most stressful times of the year (52%).
This is according to new research released today by Life360, the family connection and safety company, which found that nearly half of parents are concerned about how they will manage the hectic term-time schedules when their children go back to school this September. Additionally, more than three-quarters of parents agree that tweens and teens are reluctant to think about returning to school until the very last moment (77%), adding further to the mental strain on parents.
Half of the parents surveyed acknowledged that they find it challenging to prepare their children for the new school term after the summer holidays. Challenges include establishing a new routine after the relaxed holiday period, 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 name tags, ensuring the family’s technology is properly set up ahead of the new term can provide peace of mind while giving children more independence. In fact, 40% of those surveyed have used location-sharing apps to help reduce family stress and coordinate busy schedules.
Luisa Zissman, podcaster and mother of three, including her teenage daughter Dixie, has partnered with Life360 as parents look for ways to manage the chaos of family life and reduce 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 about the top behaviours of their children that frustrate them as the back-to-school season approaches, parents cited ignoring calls and texts, failing to provide updates on their whereabouts, not informing them of after-school plans, forgetting to charge phones, and returning home later than expected. The survey also revealed 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 ascertain when their child will be home.
As a busy working mother, Luisa is all too familiar with the stresses of managing 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 almost half of the parents who use location-sharing technology with their children agreeing that it makes them worry less about what their children are up to (47%), the top reasons cited for using this technology include:
- Ensuring my child is safe (61%)
- Peace of mind (56%)
- Being able to quickly locate 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 useful features such as real-time location sharing, arrival and departure notifications, low battery alerts, location history and SOS with emergency services dispatch, Life360 can genuinely help alleviate frustrations for parents as their kids head back for the new school year.”
