In the days before mobile phones, in fact we did not even have a house phone till I was a teenager, my parents new exactly where I was and who I was with they insisted on it. Nowadays some parents do not know or care what their offspring are up to. We occasionally overstepped the mark. If we were caught we were punished. We were grounded or we had privileges or treats withdrawn. Now kids do not have any "boundaries" to overstep and as for punishment forget it.