Well, the black and white answer as to whether or not snooping is wrong is, in my opinion, yes. Now add in kids – tweens and teens especially, and is snooping still wrong? I want to trust that my kids will tell me things. I want to be sure I know what’s going on in their lives. But…what if they leave something out, afraid to tell me, for whatever reason, and something terrible happens? What if I had known things that could have prevented the bad?
This is something I am currently struggling with as my oldest, my daughter, turns 11 years old tomorrow (OMG, TOMORROW!) Yes, she does have a cell phone (let’s not go there, okay? That’s an entirely different subject to discuss) and she does use my computer, so she has email, Instagram, and Facebook. I know all the logins for these sites and she knows I know. She also knows I check up on her randomly. However, what about as she gets a bit older? How old is too old for me to be checking up? At what point is that crossing the line of privacy and respect?
If you ask my parents, I had NO privacy in that regard until I was 18. Up until then, they had a right to know what I was up to. Is this an archaic way of thinking? Or does this fall under the whole “my house, my rules” concept?
So for now, my kids know I poke around in their stuff and they’re okay with that. As for my daughter though, I’m not sure how long she’ll be okay with this. I guess she’ll freak out if I start going through her drawers, book bag, and purse, lol. But seriously, when does it stop? How ‘far’ should a parent go to find out what their kids are up to? And what if the parent finds something they wish they hadn’t? Oh and what about when kids start to explore their sexuality?
I’d love to hear from you – what are your thoughts? Do you snoop?
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