To what extent do parents have the right to “spy” or check up on their children? What circumstances might allow or prevent this?

Parents spying on their children is very common today. But how far is too far? Is it right for a parent to rummage through their teenager's belongings when the teen is not home? Is it okay to read every text message sent and recieved or every called dialed and recieved? Although parents want the best for their children, and always want to proctect them from any type of danger, these actions would be considered to be "Spying" and irrational. It is an invasion of his or her privacy. Spying is wrong, and will just anger a teen and make them want to rebel even more. Spying also will stress a teenager out. They already have so much stress on their shoulders, why add to it?

Trust is a major factor. If parents trusted their teenagers more, rather than treating them like small children who need to be constantly supervised, I believe that with respect, teens will respect their parent's wishes. If a teen recieves this trust and respect from their parents, he or she will try their hardest not to break what they have because it will make them feel more mature. The newly added trust and maturity, will make the teen think twice the next time he or she gets the opportunity to something that their parents wouldn't aprove of.

I know this, because my parents trust me. There is no need to spy because we have an open relationship where I don't need to hide anything from them. They don't spy on me, and I am thankful for that. It is a more appealing approach to both teenager and parent to have an open relationship. The teen won't break the trust given to them, and the parents won't stress their child out by having expectations for them to live up to when they spy, and see somthing they don't particularly like.

Although spying is wrong, there are some circumstances where it is okay for a parent to intervene. Drugs, alcohol, or physical harm towards the teen, call for parent intervention. For one to stop these bad habbits, sadly their every move should be monitored, so they can have a bright clean future. But that should be the only time that a parent should have to monitor their kid. It's pointless to make a teen live under a magnifying glass if they are doing nothing wrong. Parents should let teens be teens and give them their trust.