Teens Flip the Script and Location Stalk Parents in Latest Viral Trend

Published: June 24, 2025

daria-nepriakhina-_XR5rkprHQU-unsplash — Photo from Daria Nepriakhina via Unsplash

By Mallory Mattingly

With location-sharing services like Find My Phone and Life 360, parents can keep track of their kids no matter where they are. But nobody thought kids would use those services to keep track of their parents.

A new trend called “fambushing” has begun to take over social media, and teens everywhere “aren’t just bombarding them with texts; they’re even showing up at their locations unannounced,” according to Parents.

A TikTok user, who is also a mother, shared her experience of “When your daughter stalks your location and sees that you’re out eating Mexican food.”

@chrystamckenziesapp

I hate life 360 #mexicanfood #stalker #daughter #girlsnight #fyp @Misty @carley

♬ Anxiety – Doechii

“I hate Life360,” the mom wrote in the post’s caption.

Another mom posted on TikTok, “You downloaded Like 360 when your teen started driving to make sure they were safe, but now they track your every move.”

@nicolederoy

I can never run errands in peace 😂 #life360ambassador @Life360
Related: Teens Are Sharing Their Location With Friends. Is That a Good Thing?

♬ original sound – Nicole DeRoy

According to a study conducted by Life 360, Gen Z is “70% more likely than other generations to use location sharing. Ninety-four percent of the age group feels it benefits their life in some way.”

“‘Safe’ is the number one term that comes to mind for 66% of Gen Z respondents when thinking about location sharing,” Lauren Antonoff, Life360’s Chief Operating Officer, said of the study. “Eighty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said they use the technology for long-distance driving, 80% when visiting new or dangerous places, 77% when going to an event, concert, or festival, and 78% when they are going to party or on a date.”

“72% of Gen Z women believe their physical well-being benefits from location sharing,” she added.

Though there are definitely pros to location sharing, there are cons, too, and fambushing could teach parents and teens alike some important boundaries.

“When teens track their parents and show up unannounced to ask for things like Starbucks or rides, it can blur the line between connection and control,” Dr. Mona Amin told Parents. “While location sharing can be helpful for safety and coordination, it should never replace open communication. If a parent were tracking a teen this way — constantly checking in or popping up — we’d probably call it helicopter parenting. So it’s worth asking: are we normalizing a dynamic we wouldn’t accept in reverse?”

“The key is making sure there are agreed-upon boundaries and that teens still learn how to ask, not just access,” she added. “Parents are people too — and teaching that early helps foster mutual respect.”

While fambushing might be a funny prank for teens to pull on their parents, it’s important that parents set boundaries for both themselves and their kids when it comes to location sharing.

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