Spying on your kids is a great idea. This gets some parents riled up and if it does, you're silly and I'll tell you why. Minor children living in your home have no rights. Our primary job as parents is to keep our kids safe.
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Susan Merrill wrote an interesting article about this issue titled, “3 Reasons You Should Spy On Your Kids.”
“Think about a mom who’s lost her child to drugs, or found out too late her child was sneaking around with someone who would eventually harm her, or discovered that her son is addicted to pornography. Would a mom in that situation ever say that ‘I might not have known what was going on, but at least I respected my child’s privacy?’” She writes.
Kids do not think with the future in mind. They think in the immediate present. They don't know the long-term effects of posting inappropriate photos or sending a mean or angry text.
Children are immature on the internet
“Kids are immature... We’re expecting them to maturely handle freedom they’re not ready for,” Merrill says. So, what if you have a straight-A kid? They're still emotionally immature.
If you don't check your kid’s texts and posts, you’re expecting them to maturely handle freedom. They’re not ready to do that.
“If you don't know what they're doing, you won't know what they need to learn,” Merrill writes.
Minor children shouldn’t expect privacy in the home on their iPad or iPhone. And I know there's technology allowing the parent to simultaneously receive anything that goes on to the kid’s phone or internet. Take advantage of that knowledge to protect your kid because kids are immature no matter how smart or manipulative they are and no matter how guilty you feel because you never got married, you got married, divorced four times, whatever.
You need to find out what they're researching because kids doing research is often inadequate. There's so much garbage information on the internet that supports their self-centered, immature point of view. You should know what they're checking out and what they're looking at.
Parenting is protecting your kids
“This isn’t spying—it’s parenting,” Merrill writes.
Be forthcoming with your kids from day one.
“When you give them phones, tell them you’ll monitor them. Remind your kids they can come to you with problems and that you’ll love them through whatever they struggle with,” Merrill writes.
But it's your job to protect them, and most likely from themselves.
