Would you read your kids email?

[mayfly]

Would you read your childs email or intrude in some other way on their privacy? In general I don't do that, but my kids know that there is no true privacy from mom. I will respect their privacy as long as they earn it, and part of earning it is me ocassionally keeping tabs on them. But if I was suspicious about anything I would go through their rooms with a fine tooth comb, no hesitation. I think its a delicate balance, I want to give them their privacy and freedom, and ease up on the reigns a little. But when it comes down to it I am the parent, not the friend, and I still have some parenting to do until they are through the teenage years and adults.

Oh, yes. I told my DS that I did not want him in chat rooms. So, one day I caught him in a chat with someone. I looked at his screen name and initiated a chat with him. Once he said something that I thought was bad I sent him a picture of his dad, the Colonel, in uniform and it said "I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF CHAT ROOMS" it was too funny, but gave us a large lesson in reality. There are so many people out there that want to harm our children and the internet is a viable tool in which to lure them.

[AndersonGal]

When they are small, there is not much privacy.
As they get older I guess I would/did only snoop if I had reason/ suspicion for concern.
Then, dang the privacy.
My childs safety is more important.

[hmsram]

Yes I would read my kids emails...My dd no longer has an email she can check, she has to use mine because about 1 1/2 yrs ago I caught her sending emails to people secretly and lied to me about how many email addresses she had, and also several girls from her school who are on aol had their addresses and phone numbers in their Public profile so I told her nope no more aol messenger for you, and no email addresses that I can not get into, and I check the history on my computer after her or her friends use it... My dd was one lucky girl that she didnt have our info in her profile like her friends did, and the sad thing is the ones that had that personal info in their profiles still do even after I told the parents nothing was done

[bestmidwest]

I agree completely. Privacy is important but our childrens' safety is even more so.

Well, I don't wish to call names, but AOL, and all the IM sites are really bad for privacy. I just hate worrying about the kids on the computer when there are so many useful things they could be doing.