ADN

Sir Jig-A-Lot wrote:Children have rights. Just like anybody else. Just because they cannot support themselves doesn't mean they cannot support themselves.

They have basic rights but they also need supervised. If they are under 16 they can't drive. That's a right they don't have. If they are under 17 they cannot watch a rated R movie. That's a right they don't have. They can't vote. That's another right they don't have.

Before we continue I need to know if you are a parent because you surely don't sound like you are. If not then there really is no room for continuing our conversation here. I (as an actual parent) will not talk about parenting with someone that doesn't even have a kid.

I am a parent and I wouldn't invade my kids privacy in that way. Also I have had some great conversations about parenting with people who don't have kids...and before I had children (although I had had experience working with kids beforehand) I had some great and productive conversations about parenting with people who were parents.
If your child is old enough to not want to friend you on face book then they are old enough to use a dummy face book account
or some other social networking site, that they will hide from you. Of course if my child went missing or was suffering from serious mental illness, the circumstance change. How can I teach them to respect privacy (and you may have noticed these days kids will pick up anyone's phone and just start trolling thru it) if I don't model a respect for privacy?

blixa wrote:I am a parent and I wouldn't invade my kids privacy in that way. Also I have had some great conversations about parenting with people who don't have kids...and before I had children (although I had had experience working with kids beforehand) I had some great and productive conversations about parenting with people who were parents.
If your child is old enough to not want to friend you on face book then they are old enough to use a dummy face book account
or some other social networking site, that they will hide from you. Of course if my child went missing or was suffering from serious mental illness, the circumstance change. How can I teach them to respect privacy (and you may have noticed these days kids will pick up anyone's phone and just start trolling thru it) if I don't model a respect for privacy?

You provide the child internet access via YOUR home internet or a cell phone.

I'm not saying to monitor everything your kid does. I'm saying to be aware of what's going on in their lives. That girl that committed suicide over that stuff on MySpace...her parents were completely oblivious to it. Be aware of what is going on in your child's life. Talk to them and communicate.

This whole article from the OP is regarding kids not liking the fact that their parents can see what they are doing/saying/etc. Every teenager thinks they are the smartest in the world and know everything and that their parents are clueless. How little do they all know that their parents were teenagers too at one point.

Nuff said on this.