Do you read you child's text messages?

Well If I am suspecting that he is involved in something that I don't like I will sure do it for his saftey. However we hava also to have a bit of faith in our children, we have to leave them some private time for them. I agree that we have to monitor our children since there are lots of things that can ruin our child's future, but we have to be sure that they will come to tell us if they are in some type of trouble.

My grandkids, aged 12 and 14 (or they will be soon, they both have birthdays coming up in a few weeks) both got cell phones for Christmas and they've already each sent over 5000 text messages so it would be a full time job to go through them all. My thoughts would be if they haven't done anything to make you suspicious or if they don't seem to have any questionable friends or activities their privacy should be respected to a point. However, with some of the things I've heard of that go on these days, like kids texting naked pictures of themselves, I would certainly do so if there was any chance they could be involved in that kind of activity. Annie

I dont find anything wrong , now am 20 i remember when i was 18 that was 2 years back my mom used to read all my texts i was so feeling very bad because she reads in front of me, then later i felt what if i was a parent may be even i would do so , she has some concern over me and fear that i should not be in a wrong path.. i know some of my friends who are not walking in the right path ! so i felt i have a caring mom .. :) likewise reading messages isn't wrong .. now am grown up and my mom know that gained some maturity and we are more than friends now.. so at certain point of time parents should be having eye over their children especially on teenage kids !

To me that is not showing that you trust them. To me if they want you to know they will tell you. To me if you invaded your kids space they can always turn against you. To me I know you want to know what is going on. But to me you have to draw the line. To me if your kids are troublemakers then you can do everything to found out something. To me you need to have faith in your kids and talk to them. Tell them that you are going to be there for them. If you give them the space that they deserves then you are going to have a strong relationship with them. To me people have different technique of founding out what is going on in their kids life. So my question is how would you like it if people were reading your text messages and invading your space?

Hi there Uicbear. I admit that i am not yet a parent, but my parent's never did this to me, and i don't plan on doing this to my children when i will have them. I believe that they deserve their privacy, and as long as i desire to have privacy on my own, it's only natural to give them some of theirs. I think that i will deal with them in a proper manner letting them have their own space as long as they behave, and if they don't there will be other measures i am sure that i will take without violating their privacy.

No I dont how would you feel if they read yours? I think that is wrong it is an invassion of their privacy.

I'm going to come at this from a growing perspective. First a child is growing and learning new things, they need instruction and guidance so that is when you are watching over them, as you learn to develop trust in that they know and remember their lessons you can talk through with the child instead of looking through. What that means is in the beginning you are watchful and as time goes by you release the child to live free and make their own choices, you should always be allowed to look over the shoulder of your child, that is showing respect to keep a watchful eye on your loved ones. That is showing respect to them and they are showing respect to you by allowing you the courtesy to see and to be open about what you are going to see. That places an element of accountability on all involved. But some people see this as an intrusion upon a person's privacy, and then they wonder why our leaders are caught in an endless struggle of, strife and war, not understanding that the children grow up to be our leaders and they are deluded by so many lies and devious practices because they were overly (protected and neglected) as children. But what do I know, I'm just an innocent truck driver falsely accused of being a horrible person... Words of wisdom: Check up on what your children are doing and teach them how to behave properly, other wise don't be surprised when the worst of all consequences comes knocking upon your door.