Contents:
Obviously, those children once be caught on lies will be more careful in the future. The effective way of doing it is to install spying software on the mobile device, such as call and sms tracker. You can get help from a spying software company and it can be really helpful for knowing your kids in a better way. You can get to know the activities of your children behind your back with sms tracker. Free apps are available in the market, but they are not very beneficial as you will not get all the information in detail.
This is probably the easiest way to check your kid's text messages, but you also face the highest risk of getting caught. Depending on their. Parents: there's no absolute right answer as to whether it's OK to read your kid's text messages. It depends on your kid's age, personality, and behavior. The most .
Also free text messages monitoring apps may not guarantee invisible for your children tracking process and your full confidentiality. It is better to choose paid software for this purpose and get all you need to know about the mobile usage of your children. With call and sms tracker you can remotely access the activities of your children and know all their activities. Not only text messages, you can also get other detailed logs for:. Your email address will not be published. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids' ages.
Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more. I'm not in the U. Next Question How can I track or monitor my kid's phone? Was this answer helpful? Sign in or sign up to share your thoughts.
Comments i think it's an intrusion on your child's privacy to snoop through their phone. Especially if your parents are paying for your phone, they have the right to look at it. They are responsible for you and they do it to keep you safe - not to ruin your life deliberately. I'm not a really a bad kid. But when my parents searched my phone the first few times, it made me break down into tears.
I've lived a few places over the years, and I don't really like talking over the phone, so text messaging is the only way I talk to a lot of my friends. I use foul language, I admit, so that was in a lot of my messages. But I also told my friends I was bisexual. When my mother informed me of them reading my messages, it went like this,"Caitlin, your father read your messages. You mentioned something about your sexuality I tell my friends everything, and it is private.
I understand that since they are paying for it, it's technically theirs. But this really messed up my relashionship with my parents. I've been drifting away from them for about a year now. Reading your child's messages multiple times, especially if they've never done anything in the past, ruins the bond. But as many people will tell you, stict parents create sneaky children. I'm not telling you not to read their messages, but please don't go indepth.
Maybe do a once over. You still need to consider you child's feelings, even if they only are, just a child.
I have read my kids text messages when they were younger - until they got wise to the fact and password protected everything on their phones. Not a huge deal - because they knew that anytime I asked for the phone for inspection, they had to unlock it and hand it over. When they were younger - preteen ages - not an issue. Since we didn't find anything out of the ordinary, they gained a level of trust and the inspections were less frequent as time went on. I won't go into details but you get the jist of it. Long story short - my son was the one charged with felony assault via text message - and not a danged thing happened to the bully who had been harassing him for 2 years.
The moral of the story is that parents need to be aware of a what is and is not acceptable to send via text message. I've drilled into my kids heads that if it isn't something they could say to their grandparents face-to-face, don't say it all and b know what your state laws are concerning threats, stalking, bullying, cyber-related or not to protect your children. Have a frank discussion with them about what the consequences could be if they do x, y, or z so that they know and understand that even something said flippantly in the heat of the moment can have serious consequences and long-reaching effects to their future down the line.
A lot of the comments written below were submitted by children, who have a lot less life experience than their parents. With technology constantly changing, parenting also must change. Due to the constant access kids have to each other, parents need to be vigilant in their monitoring of texts and social media. I'm sure no parent has ever regretted acting on something they found that concerned them on their child's phone.
As user Everett C. Most of the children responding think this is an issue of "trust" with their parents. Trusting a pre-teen or teenager to know what's right for themselves is like saying a car can diagnose and fix itself when it breaks down. Well, my parents weren't crazy and now that I am a parent of teenagers I realize how wrong I was.
If trust is the issue for the children responding maybe they don't trust their parents enough to understand that monitoring texts and social media is something that very good parents do. As long as I'm paying the bill I will check my children's phones and I don't care if they like it or not. Either I check the phone or they don't have one.
How about the girl who jumped to her death after being bullied over text and social media? How about the parents who find out their kid is using because of an overdose and a trip to the hospital? What about the kids planning to shoot up their school? Check their book bags. No teen on here is going to like it.
So going through your children's phone, is a huge no! You as a parent if this is your situation should not even be asking such a question. Programs such as My Mobile Watchdog can be installed on the child's phone, and then parents can receive reports with full details of text messages, including sender, date, time and content. It seems to me that if I tell my daughter about my plan to spy her, I will lose her trust forever. Why is it that your kids are "young adults" when it comes to doing the laundry or cleaning the kitchen.
I feel this is something I need to cover. My parents are the sweetest parents one could come across BUT they are the kind who feel that they need to know what's going on in my life. You, as an adult or a child, probably came across the same kind of question: Are they spying on me? Just as you adults can practice self-control, we can too. Unless you're my cousin or a rare few. Recently, she was found watching a K drama at night.
It's ok, it's fine, it isn't too severe. They've suddenly gotten interested in my habits, favourite shows and friends. It's wrong to PRY on them, but it isn't to ask and be a little creepy once in a while. As a matter of a fact, we're closer than before! I found our few similar interests and introduced them to my life. They found nothing wrong with my interests and were back to normal.
Maybe that's what you should do. If they are being suspicious with their phone, just ask. They'll come and tell you eventually. The truth always comes out in the end anyways. The question is incorrect. If you pay the phone bill with your name on it and they eat your food, live in your house, drive your vehicles, sleep in your bed, use your electricity, drink or use your water, use your money to go places or buy things, watch your tv with your service provider, play in your yard, participate in the extracurricular activities at school you pay for, you get the idea.
All of this with the full-time job you or maybe even both parents work to provide all these things and so much more. You as a parent if this is your situation should not even be asking such a question. Kids at school know that the text book or tablets they use are school property and are subject to review for content. Yes, even your lunch break can be subject to review.
Doing this is being a concerned parent especially with how the world is today. It has nothing to do with trust or treating anyone with disrespect. It is a privilege, not a right. I know most of the comments on this post are from young people. If you think it is unfair, move out, get a job, completely sever your financial ties with your parents and join the real adult world and suddenly a few read text messages don't seem so bad do they.
You are absolutely right! I love every word you wrote, if only those children responding could understand Too many parents don't monitor or even set expectations for phones, it will eventually backfire when they are expected to comply in the adult world. No, unless your child is particularly defiant and known for participating in illegal activities or sneaking out, do them a favor and do not read their texts.
Please, we are begging you to show some trust in us and we are begging you to treat us like we are human and not some inferior species. My parents not only read my messages, but go through my social media, photos, and search history. I am 17 years old and, while I am expected to act like an adult and forced to care for my five siblings whenever they need me to, I am treated like a toddler and constantly subjected to them going through my phone and personal belongings. So parents, please remember that you were a young person once and consider how you would feel if your parents had no trust in you for no good reason.
My patience actually bought something and they can legit read my texts and look at my calls through their phone. No, going through a child's messages is a complete invasion of privacy. My mother has just read snapchat conversations between me and my bestfriend, where we both joke around, send each other photos and videos we find funny.
We also swear during our conversations, something I never do anywhere else. Obviously, the way I talk to my friends, and the way I talk to my parents or my teachers is completely different.
I was also talking to my best friend about how I lied to my parents about going to her house, when instead I was going to see my psychologist. I have just been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and an eating disorder. I have previously tried to talk to my parents about my mental health, but neither of them cared, blaming my unhappiness on just 'being a spoilt teenager,' so I thought seeking professional help was the only way to solve anything.
My mum is really mad at me right now, and has confiscated my phone and blocked my friend on snapchat. So going through your children's phone, is a huge no! Maybe if the adult population actually listened to us, they'd realise we aren't just rebellious, or spoilt, or bratty.
We don't do things to annoy or upset our parents for the sake of it. Sometimes, we are simply having a conversation with a friend, that is meant to stay between friends. Looking through text messages?? At least for me. I had the type of childhood where you watch through your window all the other kids playing on the front yard, wishing that you could have fun too.
But your not allowed. Now as a teenager I am expecting freedom from my overprotective parents. FOMO is real for me. Now my parents are considering reading my texts! So parents, if you really want your child to loose trust in you, go ahead and read the texts. I think that parents need to respect your privacy. My parents are now reading through my texts, which in my view is completely disregarding my privacy. I talk to people on my phone and I don't need my parents to read through what I have been saying.
Maybe little kids, but as a 14 year old teenager I feel that I should have some freedom with what I do, and I feel that my parents don't respect that. I can't have instagram or snapchat or any social media on my phone, and they're thinking of removing Skype which is the main thing I use on it, which is totally unfair.
Obviously, everyone in the wide category of children are going to have the answer of no, so I can understand how it might be difficult to make a decision with such a biased group. However, I hope that my response better explains why I feel the same way as the majority. I would like to think that I am a fairly good kid. Even without monitoring me, I know that they would be able to trust me.
Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but I have never done anything to make it necessary for my parents to monitor me in the way that that they have. When I first began texting I was around twelve. I think that parents should be able to help kids navigate what is appropriate to look at and share when they are first texting. However, when you know your child, and you trust them, I think that it is important to give them that space. However, it continued up until now. Again, I understand the care and concern put into this, but I think that it can become a bit intrusive.
It intrudes on conversations that I am having with friends, and I feel as if i do not have any privacy sometimes. If anything this has made me more possessive of my phone. I feel as if there would be more trust between my parents and I if there was no phone-checking. If it was not done in the way it is, I think I would be more open to them.
Parents, again, I understand where these thoughts are coming from. However, I think that there is a point where everyone deserves privacy. If you have a good child that you know that you can trust, I think it is important to build that trust by proving it to them. By doing so, your kid will be more open with you when it matters most.
It will decrease your kids attachment to their phone and provide for a better relationship between you both. I don't think that parents should do this unless they apsolutely have to. With my devices, my parents don't read my messages they told me that they have the right to. Let's just say I have mega strict parents, and I kinda get that seeing as they obviously didn't grow up where I am now, and yeah they're just.. I'm not gonna put all the blame on them since like I did make a lot of mistakes, but it's gotten to the point where my photos, apps, browsing history and calls are all checked.
I don't even know what to do. Even my games, if there's even like an ad about idk, romance, I'm grounded for like a month. I used to have WhatsApp, they deleted that. I even have a restrictive password put on my app store I mean I guessed it though so.. Idk how to make them understand that I have rights, and they shouldn't constantly be so paranoid. They really don't get the fact that I'm a teenager, and yeah I may be having a few crushes here and there, and it's such a pain to not be able to actually talk to my friends freely about all that sort of stuff.
It has led to me and my parents just not trusting eachother, and because of the lack of privacy and freedom I have, I simply cannot wait till I can move out for other reasons as well. I have completely lost trust in my mom with this. She will go over every detail and then bother me about it next opportunity. I can't have any privacy and my relationship with my mother is pretty much past the point of no return with this and other issues. My mom doesn't understand that I am actually very mature and I can deal with my own issues, in my own privacy, without becoming unhealthily anxious. I have almost always been a non-problematic kid, but at the end of each year, I start making mistakes.
My mother went through my phone for this reason because she wanted to see if I had any apps or things that I wasn't allowed to have. That is okay, especially if you have a child like me. But text messages and notes are on a whole other level. She hasn't confronted me about it because it only happened last night but she did read them, because when I double-tapped the home button, the messages with me and my friend popped up and I didn't check them within the past 7 days. If children are hiding something, they will tell you eventually.
If they don't tell you, you don't need to know. Knowing that my mum went through my texts has freaked me out and I've spent the past hour looking for a solution and texting my friends in panic.