Parents, Is It OK to Spy on Your Kids?

Well, to me I think children should have a bit of privacy, but they must gain it. I think that, if they are trustworthy, and prove that they canbe given privacy, then yes. But as parents it is our right to protect them, and if there are clues that they need protecting we should be all over it, in any way possible. I think, it is my house, my rules, and you are my kid. If you can prove that you deserve privacy, by doing what you should be then you can have it otheriwse, I will fulfill my duty as a parent to protect and lead you the best way I can. Maybe that seems harsh, but the goal of parenting is to have them ready for the world on their own, and to teach, guide, and protect them, and I take those very seriously.

I'm a parent of a 2 year old toddler so I don't have the experience yet about parenting teenagers. Though I think everybody deserves their own privacy if they can be trusted enough, I agree with some parents that they need to spy on their kids just to be sure about a certain situation. Confrontation is another issue, the manner of the parent in confronting their children about something really important may make or break the situation.

its our role to guide our children to the right path and one way of doing it is to know here activities and whereabouts..know who theyre friends arein that way we can at least prevent if there is something bad going on in his life

I agree with the fact that parents should check their kids once in a while . . . yet I don't agree with reading their diary . Even though you can find interesting things about your child , the diary still remains something private . Maybe they should just keep an eye on them when they feel that something is wrong . . . I think parents can feel that . In general for us , the youngsters , is hard to hide something especially from our parents . . . You can tell that by the character changes and unusual reactions that appear when someone is feeling guilty or is hiding something . . .

I am not agreed parent to read their childrens diary, these days children are very sensitive, if parents look their diary they may fell parents infringe up their right may not talk with their parents .If parents want to know their children's life ,please take more time to play with them and learn what they want ,what they think .parents can be friend with their children , then you children will glad to share their secret with you. don't read you children's diary unaccept by you children ,it may hurt you and your children 's relationship.

SPY TO A DEGREE! We have to know what our children are doing now a day! There are so many bad things! If you have a computer they are on GET A KEY LOGGER! Don't read the diary, I NEVER did that. Snoop the bedroom, you'd be shocked at what you might find. A little video cam is great if your away alot! Just a few suggestions for you and Good Luck!

Well I wouldn't know about that. I mean I wouldn't say it's not okay just being careful and wanting for your kids to be safe. It's not that you don't trust them just that you feel not sure, unsecured.

A parent has a responsibility to guide and protect their children. Checking up and keeping track of what they are doing is not spaying, it is being a responsible parent. That includes monitoring their viewing habits, computer time, friends, and anything else that has the potential for them to get into trouble.

i am half and half on this one, i do believe that you should keep a close eye on your children, and a certain amount of spying is needed in that area, going into their rooms on occasion is a must! having an open door policy helps too. if you feel your child.children are being secretive, then you need to snoop around somewhat. having your pc in the living room rather than closed off somewhere private is also a good tacktic (that way they can keep secrets to do with the internet from you, and yes my pc is in my living room). but i am very much against reading kids diaries, i believe them to be extremely personal, and it is a violation of trust to go sneaking around in something that is not meant to be read by you. thankfully as a teen i never kept a diary lol, i was far too lazy to be bothered to keep a daily track of everything that i got up to. if my son ever decides to write in a diary, i will stay well clear!

I think to some extent all parents should be doin it..Atleast till an age...You should be knowing what your children are doing,what they up to when they in thier room,what they doing in computer,what all sites they go into?,Who all are his friends,where all they go out and what all they do as a gang etc...It helps to know whether your kid is going in the right track or not...

I dont want to have to spy on my kids but if i see that their safety is going to be endangered in some way then i would intervene and do it. I want to protect my kids the best that i can and if that means going over them to protect them is what i will have to do.

Everyone needs and deserves their privacy. It should be given as long as you deserve it. I believe that the second a parent has serious reason for concern, a very wise choice should be made before spying on them. You better have a very good reason to have some suspision and the child needs to fully understand what that is, otherwise the trust relationship could suffer. Of course, my son is only 2.5. I may well change this answer in 12 years. Haha.

HMMM... as a daughter, I know the difference between simply checking on me and what I do with spying. Spying is a BIG NO, Spying is when the parent is monitoring you in an offensive manner... The consequences of spying on your kids is big, the child will lose their trust to their parents so if before they share their whereabouts now, because of spying they will tend to keep things to themselves, another is that they would do more rebellious things to annoy spying parents... hehehe as a child, I don't think spying is ok.. it is enough that the parents will give me advice and tell me my limits, and on that I should know my actions, if ever I commit mistakes, it's for me to solve for my parents have no shortcomings whatsoever in bringing me up as a human with proper character and moral standings. I will be responsible for any mistakes I commit, and from that mistakes I will learn my own lesson and I will value more the things my parent's have taught me.

i am a kid and i think that it is ok for parents to spy on me, i mean they are my parents and i think that they deserve to know eavrything becuase i know that htey are still the ones that i run to whenever i will have problems.. atleast thaey know what i feel. if i will be open to them then there would be no problem with that i can create a bond between me and my parents

I dont think its right to spy on kids. Parents should have trust on their kids. they should not make them feel that they dont trust them. And also, kids also should not give them a chance to their parents that they starting spying on them.

i guess that it is all relative.as a child i most certianly would not like for my parents to go snooping into my oersonal stuff.but i guess as a parent i can see that if i have some concerns then maybe as apreventive measure i should.either way like i said it ios all relative,depends on whose point of view you are looking at this issue! http://blogs.webmd.com/healthy-children/2006/09/big-mother-is-watching-should-we-spy.html http://family.netscape.com/story/2006/06/21/should-you-spy-on-your-kids-every-online-move/

I think it is okay to spy on your kids if you have doubt on your kids then you have to spy them so that you may know what really happens with your child.It is good also because you are concern with the future of your friends you want them to be in the right road of life.

I know that a lot of parents do this. But I think parents should come up with a more proactive way though. I believe it starts with building a good foundation. I think early on we, as parents, should establish a good relationship with our children y being a friend to them. That way they are able to confide in us and discuss things the way they would with their friends. Of course it is important that the respect is there which means that it's not only your children respecting you but you respecting them as well. It helps if we can control ourselves and do away with violent reactions and just listen first before saying anything. I think it's the reaction they get from us that discourages them somehow to open up to us which makes other parents resort to spying.

Parents have the right to spy on their children because first and foremost, parents are held accountable if something bad happens to them. We don't want our children to end choosing the wrong path. We live to protect them until they're well off without us. Yes, I believe in open communication, that way we don't have to do the extra mile just to find out what they're up to.

I don't have any kids but i would still like the answer this question. I think that kids deserve to have privacy too and parents need to have some trust in their children. I believe that certain things are ok like monitoring you child's computer usage, television shows, and even their phone calls. But I don't think it's appropriate for you to be on the other line secretly listening in to your child's conversation or reading your child's diary. What's important is talking to your children and keeping them busy with positive things so they don't have time to get in so much trouble. Talk to your child's teachers and find out your child's behavior in school. Make sure you know the parents/family of your child's friends before you let your child go over thee. No one can expect a parent to monitor their child 24/7 and if you do try to do that you are just asking for trouble because you child will rebell. Honestly my parents have kept and eye on me and disciplined me since I was a young child. They never tried to be my friend and as a result i respected them and that helped keep me in check when i was growing up. I got a couple things past them but for the most part i was too afraid of the consequences if i would get caught doing something really bad.