Checking teens phones

[questioningquestion]

Have seen a few things on here about parents checking kids phones.

I have two teens DS (15) and DD (17) and do not check their phones... Should I be? What for?

I don't want to be that parent who is reading all my child's text messages and I figure things like snapchat I wouldn't be able to see anyway as it all deletes. I have never had any problems with my kids on social media so trust they are behaving (or if not I wouldn't know!).

What are people's thoughts on this? Do you check your kids phones and if so what do you look at?

I wouldn't and haven't checked my teens phones. I suppose that had I huge worries about one of them I might consider breaching their privacy but o certainly wouldn't in the normal course of events

Have you never? It think its too late for you to start now, especially with the 17y/o. I don't actually check my kids phones because I want to trust them untill the give me a reason not to and want to give them have privacy but while their children and I'm paying for the phone I know their passwords, they get plugged in outside my bedroom at night and I'm allowed to borrow it do do something if I need to. They're younger than yours and if somethings happens they come show me but if they didnt and I thought something was going on I would confiscate it and look.

No I never have, so was just curious really about what people look at.
I wouldn't want to check DD's phone anyway as she has never given me any reason to want to, if anything I would be more curious about DS as he tends to have more dalliances with girls, but would just worry I would stumble upon stuff I didn't really want to see and then feel awful for looking!

At 15 and 17 I think that ship has well and truly sailed - it’s a bit late to start now.

When I started buying mobile phones for DC the understanding was that I could and would have a look through them whenever I fancied - the implication being that they should think very carefully what they are messaging/texting and later putting on social media and if it was unsuitable for me to see it, they shouldn’t be doing it. Also it meant I could check up on who was talking to them.

There are parents who bleat about their DC’s privacy but certainly when they are young it is our duty as parents to monitor what they are doing online.

I work with teens and regularly see the fallout from unwise use of mobile phones and the internet. It is far reaching and not something that I would wish on me or mine.