Debates about children and their right to privacy always astound me, particularly when it comes to smart phone use. I am an out and proud stalker of my children via technology, having given each of them a phone of their own to make my monitoring of them easier.
Thank you technology.
But there are still parents who feel as though they don’t have a right to keep a close eye on their children’s smart phone use, even though their kids are their legal responsibility until they are 18.
A mother has posed the question “Should I have access to my nearly 12-year-old’s dd’s [daughter’s] phone” and on parenting forum Mumsnet and the resounding response was “hell yes”.
She writes:
So far I have always known her password but now she’s changed it. I check her messages etc every so often. She knows this and has changed the password more than once. She is sensible and I don’t think she would do anything daft online and I’ve spoken to her about messages from people she doesn’t know (she says sh3 just blocks them instantly). Should I just leave her to it and let her have privacy?
Because, apparently, being a neglectful parents means being a good parent. Until something happens to your child and then you’re the worst parent in the world.
We can’t win, and that’s why we should just parent in a way that makes us feel comfortable.
I’m yet to meet a mother of adolescent and teenage children who don’t worry about their smart phone use, concerned about predators and bullies who can potentially contact them using a device we have purchased for them.
So the answer is of course this mum should have access to her 12-year-old daughter’s iPhone and should do until her daughter turns 18.

Top Comments
Surely you can lessen the chances of your kid being the victim of predators if you get them a regular phone and not a smart phone? There is absolutely no reason I can see that a 12 year old should have a smart phone, when the point of a child having a phone is to contact their parents in the event of an emergency.
Of course you should have access....the only time I would have say that a parent should respect their kids privacy is their child keeps a personal diary or a journal. That in my opinion is off limits. Anything else (especially if your paying the bill) is fair game. If your child changes the password, then take the phone from them. They'll play ball soon enough.