Can Parents Check Their Children’s Social Networks?
Social networks have become a global social phenomenon that has changed the way we communicate and even live. But for parents this can become a major headache.
Indeed, it is natural that children and adolescents feel the need to belong to some virtual community to which their friends belong. It is also natural for parents to allow it. However, it is essential to exercise control over the use of technology and social networks, due to the risk they imply.
This is not always an easy task and can lead to conflict between parents and children. Most teens don’t agree with their parents checking social media or messages.
The question is: can parents control their children’s internet activity without their consent? Next, we will see some elements for reflection on the control that parents should exercise over their children’s social networks.
How to control the movement of a teenager on social networks?
The interference of parents in the social networks of their adolescent children is always going to be a source of conflict. And if parents try to impose themselves and, in extreme cases, prohibit their use, young people will easily find a way not to follow that rule and end up opening a secret profile or modifying privacy settings.
On the other hand, social networks do not only have negative things. They are also a good opportunity for the children to learn to socialize and consolidate a group of friends. The best solution is to control adolescent children’s activity in them, but not restrict it. It is necessary to put certain limits to the activity to be able to know where they move.
It all also depends on the age of the child. When children start to use social networks, it is convenient to set schedules and limits for it. It is also important to advise them and explain a few things about the dangers that exist. It is very useful, for example, that parents are part of the child’s contacts on social networks.
The ideal is to find a middle ground so that children have the confidence to share their movements online with their parents, and that they gradually become responsible for being able to use them. Parents, for their part, must also respect the privacy of their children and establish certain progressive and controlled guidelines.
A progressive autonomy
The concept of progressive autonomy was incorporated by the law on the guarantee of children’s rights, recently approved in the Chamber of Deputies. According to this consideration, every child has the right to develop their private life, to enjoy privacy and to maintain communications without arbitrary or illegal interference, and parents must respect this right.
Although for many this concept would imply the prohibition for parents to check their children’s social networks, the underlying issue is, in reality, much broader. It is about the importance of media education and the incorporation of digital technologies into the daily lives of children and adolescents.
It is clear that prohibiting or controlling the use of the networks by teenagers is almost impossible. They will always find strategies to circumvent that control. The real concern should be to strengthen the competencies of parents and adults in general. It is about being intermediaries in the consumption of social networks.
Do parents have the right to check their children’s social networks without their consent?
During the adolescent period, most young people tend to distance themselves from their parents and seek refuge in groups of friends. And this, at times, can generate concern among parents. It may happen, for example, that parents suspect that their children have problems.
In these situations, being responsible for the care and protection of their children, parents have the right to use strategies to learn about their private life in order to know what is happening and to intervene.
As long as it is done with the welfare of their children in mind, this act of review by parents is legally justified, and includes the control of social networks, WhatsApp messages, etc.
