Spying on Children
At what age does spying or snooping into children’s phone and internet activities, become an invasion of privacy to your kids? Can looking out for children’s best interests be considered inappropriate snooping past a certain age? For many parents it is a tough topic. Perhaps spying or snooping is not dependent on a certain age, as there are many different scenarios to take into consideration.
It is obvious that every parent wants to ensure his or her child a bright future, which could lead to snooping. However once children reach a certain age they should be able to make their own choices, right or wrong, and be held accountable for their actions, independently from their parents. Each parent should decide at which age this occurs, but once parents make the decision it becomes an invasion of privacy to snoop on your kids.
Many children learn through their experiences away from their home and parents. I know as a teenager growing up I did much of my learning through my friends and in the media. A poll showed that a whopping 22% of “teens and tweens” log on to their social media of choice at least ten times a day! (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full) That is incredible that kids are spending so much time on social media, where much of their learning is probably derived. In the study it added that of the polled teens and tweens 75% owned a cell phone, 25% of them use their phones for social media, and a total of 54% of them use it for text messaging. The fact that these teens have the ability to communicate instantly only increases the connection to each other.
Having parents snooping through children’s social media can be annoying and can make kids feel like they are not trusted or have bad judgment. As a teen, parents spying can be one of the worst nightmares. What if they find something? What’s going to happen after they do? It is very common for teens to hide things from their parents such as where they are, who they are
It is obvious that every parent wants to ensure his or her child a bright future, which could lead to snooping. However once children reach a certain age they should be able to make their own choices, right or wrong, and be held accountable for their actions, independently from their parents. Each parent should decide at which age this occurs, but once parents make the decision it becomes an invasion of privacy to snoop on your kids.
Many children learn through their experiences away from their home and parents. I know as a teenager growing up I did much of my learning through my friends and in the media. A poll showed that a whopping 22% of “teens and tweens” log on to their social media of choice at least ten times a day! (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full) That is incredible that kids are spending so much time on social media, where much of their learning is probably derived. In the study it added that of the polled teens and tweens 75% owned a cell phone, 25% of them use their phones for social media, and a total of 54% of them use it for text messaging. The fact that these teens have the ability to communicate instantly only increases the connection to each other.
Having parents snooping through children’s social media can be annoying and can make kids feel like they are not trusted or have bad judgment. As a teen, parents spying can be one of the worst nightmares. What if they find something? What’s going to happen after they do? It is very common for teens to hide things from their parents such as where they are, who they are