Increasing Safety Or Invading Privacy
The Teen Monitoring Debate
As soon as you reach the age when you see a kid with either dyed blue hair, skin-tight jeans or a mohawk and think to yourself, “What the hell is that kid thinking?” you know you are old. Parents understand the importance of letting teens express themselves and therefore will often let their sons or daughters enter into the world knowing all too well that their kids look like a circus freak (apologies to any circus freaks who may have been offended). Although parents will let their teens listen to some questionable music, dress goofy or even engage in unique hobbies, teen safety is always a top priority for any parent. This is why some parents will routinely review text messages stored in the inbox and sent box of their teen’s cellular phone. However, our GPS tracking systems expert would like to know if you believe the practice of reading teen text messages is appropriate, or if it is an invasion of teen privacy?
Cellular phones are the communication weapons of choice among all teenagers, and the text message is the tip of the spear. Text message communication is so common that many teens will send and receive approximately 3,339 SMS messages per month! Text messages are not the only things holding the secrets of many teen’s lives, social networking apps, camera phone photos and instant messaging conversations can all be stored on mobile communication devices as well. Therefore, having access to a teens cell phone means having access to vast amount of knowledge that could be critical to safety. With so much information being stored on a single object, and with many teenagers being so secretive and closed off, should parents review data stored on cellular phones if they believe it would improve teen safety?
Teen safety is a major reason why the GPS fleet tracking professionals at Tracking System Direct began developing consumer-grade monitoring solutions aimed at helping parents improve teen driving safety. Parents looking to monitor the driving activity of novice teen drivers routinely purchase GPS vehicle tracking systems that use state-of-the-art GPS monitoring technology. This is because, according to the statistics, automobile accidents are the number one cause of early death among teenagers. Parents understand the dangers associated with driving, and this is why so many invest in GPS car tracking units. The data allows them to know if a teen is being responsible while driving, the same way parents who review text messages can identify if their teen is being responsible in their everyday life.
GPS Tracking Opinion
Is it okay for parents to review a teenagers text messages if they believe their child is using drugs, hanging out with the “bad” crowd or engaging in sexual behaviors?
If the teenager is paying their own cell phone bill does that change things, even if they are still living under the parent’s roof?
Should parents leave teens alone and let them figure out their mistakes on their own?
