Should parents be able to read their kids’ IM and e-mail messages?
Privacy Rules
I think that parents shouldn’t read their kids’ IM-s and e-mails! This is the time when kids get to talk to their friends without worrying about people reading what they write. I do think that parents have a right to read them if they feel like their kids are up to something, though. But if after reading the messages they find that nothing is going on, they should stop. Parents want to keep their kids safe, but kids should have some privacy!
–Sydney, age 11, Ga.
No_Way@Keepout.com
No! We all have secrets—some of those secrets are best kept between you and your friends, and some between you and your parents. Some of the between-friends secrets might be found in your IM-s and e-mails. Our parents do have the right to know about our lives, but reading IM-s and e-mails is like them going into your room and reading your diary when they know the stuff in there is private!
–Olivia, age 10, Ore.
For Your Protection
Yes, I think parents should read the child’s IM-s and e-mails, but they should also trust their kids. Kids should make a list of the people they talk to, with e-mail address and screen names, so all parents have to do is check the e-mail addresses. If they see an e-mail that’s not from an address on the list, then they should ask questions. There are people out there who want to hurt kids, so it’s for your safety!
–Heidi, age 12, Ala.
“AIM” for Safety
I think parents should be able to read their kids’ e-mail and IM-s because parents should know what their children are talking about. They should also know the people they’re talking to and how much they talk to them. It is a parent’s responsibility to make sure their children are safe. If parents are able to see what their child doing in e-mail and on IM, they might be able to keep a closer watch.
–Mary Kate, age 12, Mass.
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N.O.= NO!
Absoloutly not!! I understand that parents are just trying to keep us safe but intruding in their personal life, about crushes and school ect. I mean you dont see us reading their email! If something bad is happening that might be suspicious in a kids life then for the best you should read it. But reading it normally is not very respectful. Besides parents should trust that their is nothing bad or “inappropriate” happening.
No No No and definaly NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Parents should trust their kids and not intrude on them.
I bet they wanted the same trust when they where kids!!!!!!!!!!
NO NO AND DEFINALY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I AGREE
noooooo
parents so should not be able to read your emails and ims that kind of stuff is personel
No way!
I think that parents should let the kids have some privacy, if they really think something bad is going on they should atleast ask first, its the respectful thing to do, I mean seriously!!!!
NO NO AND DEFINALY NOOOOOO
I don’t think parents should read there kids emails. Shouldn’t parents trust there kids when there just talking to friends online? Well I think so . Kids should be able to have a little freedom and show there real self
parents reading kids emails
i do not think parents should because that stuff is private it would be like reading someones journal.
YEA!
If you have a suprise or something for your mom or dad,then if they read it it wont be a suprise! If its something bad then i would definitly tell!
yes
parents are not trying to be snoopy they just want to make sure your safe.
Well I agree AND disagree.
I think kids have a right to privacy to, but if parents think something is wrong, or the kids are acting strange, they have a right to know!
Re: Well I agree AND disagree@ur_so_right.net
I totaly agree with you! We should have some privesy, and parents should respect that. My parents read my emails and I HATE it. But if parent can tell (wich they usually can) if something’s wrong, they have a right to know what’s up. Parents just want what’s best for us, but we should have boundries, too, you know.
-Courtney =^..^=
Noway@Privecy.com!!
NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!! Girls should be able to have some privecy! my dad says that every body in the famliy should be able to read my emails and if not i shoulden’t be able to email….. but i disagree, my BFF lives in florida and email is the only thing that we can do to keep in touch. secrets are secrets and i think that secrets are best kep when there with your friends! parents have the right to know some secrets but if you email friends that your parents know and like then they should not have to read your emails. i think that parents should trust there kids and know that there isn’t anything in your emails that are wrong!- Alissa
SteerClear@NoWay.com
No. They should not read our Im and e-mail. I mean, they don’t see us hacking into their personal stuff. Reading stuff like that is an invasion of privacy. If parents suspect something is up, they should talk to their child not reading e-mil and stuff. They should read with permission from their kids. We have a right to privacy you know.
ABSOLUTELY!!!!!
I THINK PARENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO READ THEIR KID’S IMS AND E-MAILS SO THAT THEY CAN HELP YOU WITH AN IMPORTANT PROBLEM ( if you have one ) THAT YOU REFUSED TO TELL THEM BEFORE.
XOXOXO, LINDSAY
NO NO NO NO YES
I think that kids should have their privacy, so absolutly not. But if they are checking to see WHO u r IMing or E-mailing it’s okay, just as long as they don’t read What u r IMing or E-mailing. If it’s a person they do not know they have the right to ask who it is and u should tell them it’s ur BFFs new screen name or whatever
Reply # 1 to: No No No and definaly NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
. . . . .But your parents care for you and they just want to see what’s up with school and such. (not the emails about crushes!) They don’t have to read the emails or IM EVERYDAY but just once in a while.
NO way!
I have msn & e-mail and my parents don’t read them they just simpley ASK ME when i am done or walk by the computer room just too have a LITTLE TINY PEEK! So let this be a tip to all the worried parents out there!
NO NO NO AND DEFINALY NOOOOOOOO
I THINK THEY SHOULD NOT CAUSE WE LIKE TO TALK IN PRIVATE AND THEY DO NOT NEED TO KNOW WHO WE LIKE AND IF WE ARE MAD AT OUR BFF’S!
um...
its obvious that you are mad at something!
=^..^=
i know
they should trust there kids so no!!!
always, danielle xoxo
No
Because we deserve privacy with something. if they need to no when all of are test are and what we did at school. We nned some place to vent.
I sorta agree
I open my feelings to my BFF when I IM her. On the other hand I do think that parents have the right to ask who someone they don’t know is and ONLY if neccesary read your IMs to a person you don’t know, but they should not read your IMs to people you do know.
its about trust
When i first got my email my dad checked what i wrote for two months. it’s ok for parents to know that their child is responsible. Try setting a limit with your parents. that’s wat i did
My reply to No No No and definaly NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I think that you are right, but I can also see the parents side to it There is a solution though. You can just get parental controls on your computer so that you know who your child is talking to. I have those because my mom gets a lot of hate-mail and she doesn’t want me getting any. I love my mummy!
N.O= NO
I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO
I third that.
Seriously, people here are nine to thirteen. You’d think they might be a little trustworthy after living with them for that long…
Solution
I have teen aol. It allows me to im, but sends a report to my parents of screennames’ of people who im me and who i im. It also shows how many times they im me, and how many times i im. They always ask me who “screenname” is and I tell them. If I don’t tell them who the person is they can block me from iming them, and block them from iming me. It really stinks that i have to tell them who everyone is…like my crush and stuff! But atleast they don’t read my ims!
Reply to Solution
At least you have some freedom! I can not send pictures, or instant message. I don’t even get my own e-mail adress and I’m 11! My parents read my e-mails. It`s soooooooo embarassing!
reply to solution
u are 11 years old well on aim to have a sn u need to be at leats 13 .so u just have to wait to more years,and u should not feel embrassed aleast your parents care about you being safe.
AIM age limit
I really don’t think that anyone listens to the AIM age limit, of 13, i’m not 13, i have AIM. All my friends aren’t 13, they have AIM. Its kind of stupid that you need to be that old anyway, thats almost like age discrimination when you think hard about it!!
I am replying to this girl-AIM age limit
I have AIM and I am under 13. But I don’t think that it is age discrimination. The website is just trying to keep you safe, just like your parents and thats the most important thing, There are so many girls and boys who are the same age as you who get kidnapped from their home because of some information they gave off online. Just because you didnt talk to someone you didnt know doesnt mean they cannot get every peice of information that you just gave to ur bff. The only reason that the age is thirteen is because kids that age are sometimes more educated on what they should be doing online. (that doesnt always mean they are!!) So please be careful!! And also, I don’t think parents should be reading our IMs or emails. We have our own social lives at this age and they really don’t need to know. They should be able to talk a little peak everyone in a while or maybe you could just catch them up a little on who you are talking to. I think that is fair enough.
No
Parents should not read their kids’ ims or emails because it is an invasion of privacy. If parents think something is wrong then they should just ask instead of reading our personal messages.Parents should be able to trust their kids enough to just ask them if something is wrong and then trust them.
Reply # 2 to Solution
That’s better than having parents read your emails!!!!!! But it’s still ANNOYING AND EMBARRISING!!!!!!
Oh Yes!
I think Parents should so read IM and Emails because, I mean, privacy is great and all but lets face it, on the ‘net nobody gets privacy- someone can hack into your account and change things and it can create a huge mess- and if parents are reading your email and IM they can tell if someone is doing anything inappropriate, if you really want genuine privacy face to face or a phone call is your best bet.
no they sholdnt
i think they shouldnt because if your talking about something really private you wouldnt want your parents to be snooping around your conversation i mean nobody wants that , do they? if they do their crazy because every one wants privacy and your parents don’t want you looking at thier email so why do they look at our emails. and parents can listen to phone calls so no phone calls!
no question......YES
Parents just want the best for you to be safe. I myself dont I.M. because I dont want to meet someone i dont know and people to cut and paste my feelings every where!! So….. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i think parents should always be able to read your I.M.’s. Now a diary is a whole other story!!!!
Reply to Oh Yes!
Yeah,but if somebody hacked into your account or said something innapropriate wouldn’t you just tell them? they don’t have to read all your e-mails!
NOOOOOOOO
parents can just read who the e-mail is from if they are worried and they dont have to really read the letter
It depends.
I honestly don’t think that parents should read their children’s e-mails and IMs. It is personal and they have to learn to trust them. But if someone has a myspace account or anything like that the parents should monitor them and make sure they are safe. People usually e-mail people that they know so that’s not much of a problem.
no way
no way life should stay personal. All u need is a parent thinking your boy crazy,or destroy a friendship at school.that can happen with you mom or dad reading all of your conversation!
Yea I do.
i think they should just keep an eye on them though like don’t just look at every single thing they do I know how much I hate people reading over my back my sister always does it! I think they should keep a limit just ask what the subject is and if it sounds bad read the e-mail.
Maybe, Maybe Not
I think ‘rents should not read them but, should look in your inbox and see if there is anything suspious.
IMSONOT@allintothis.com
I got my own email address about two years ago. Before then, if I wanted to email my friends, my mom would have me use her email address and she would “check” them before I sent them. So I told her I wanted my own email address. I got one, and the only reason I wanted one was because I wanted MORE privacy, and if I found out that that privacy was being violated, I would pretty much have gotten my own email address for nothing!
I agree
I totally agree with that. After all, i aim my friends about my crush and when i need boy advice, and parents…i don’t want them reading that, it’s like reading your diary
Yes/No
Well parents should have knowledge of all thier kids email contacts. But if they see someone they don’t know they should read it! Thats what my mom does.
no but....
i dont think that parents should read their kids IM’s and emails but it is our responsibillity to watch what we are saying. if you give them a reason to be cautious then they will look at them. but, if you dont give them a reason to look they shouldnt.
Well I think.......
Well I think the child that is IM or E-Mailing should be mature enough to tell their parents who they are talking to and what they are talking about. And/or the child’s parents should be protective, but just don’t be to nosy if you know what I mean!
Yours Always,
Sydney, TX
yes, absolutely
I do think that parents should be able to read kids email and IM conversations because the internet is an extremely dangerous place. And you never know whos on the other end of the internet. When your Iming it could be anyone! Parents can protect by doing that. My sister got IMed one time by a stranger and the stranger was saying that she was amazing, my sister got scared because she didnt know the guy on the other end that was “flirting with her” ofcourse my sister didnt answer and got my dad, who not only blocked the guy but called AOL and told them about it. It may be an invasion of privacy but its for your safety and there only doing it because they love you.
-Em:^)
reply to yes absoutely
Yeah, that’s true but if you have AIM, there are setting such as •only letting people on your “screen name list” im you •blocking specific people (you cant talk to them, they can’t talk to you, they can’t see when you’re online) When I got an AIM, my mom was really paranoid about it, so we researched it and she helped me set it up safely. And now, she lets me use it and she trusts me. Every once and a while, she checks my Buddy List, and we go through who’s who. But as I get older, she does that less and less. And, if i feel weird or suspicious about ANYTHING of course i tell her, and she trusts me to do that too. Just build up some trust, talk to your parents about it, and they’ll probably understand that u want some privacy.
~gracielou~
N.O. - NO!
I agree! If our parents don’t let us read or see their private things, why can they see ours??? We, teens and kids also have our particular things!!!!!!
NO Way !!
If they think we are up to no good, so they decide to read our e-mails about boys, and other stuff they do not need to know, our freedom just fell like 90% right? We would then have to tell our friends only to talk about boys and stuff at school which would make us sound like we are up to something to our friend no matter how much we explain. Soon our parents would get suspicious of us because now nobody is e-mailing any more and it would be a mess. If they think something is up they should do what every other parent does…have a talk, it may not sound fun but it is better. What I am trying to say is thinking we are up to no good when we aren’t is insulting, having to check our e-mail is worse.
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! If you have nothing that would get you in trouble or that is innopropriate then you should have no problem with letting anyone read your ims and e-mail. Plus , if you live in your parents house and they bought the computer they can do what ever they want
reply to YES YES YES YES YES......
I don’t get that everyone is so serious about getting their email and ims read. I mean, you can tell your parents ANYTHING and SHOW them anything. They let you do this in the first place!
yes!!
I compleatly agree with you!! I just wish my parents would understand!!
NO, i dont think they should
I don’t think parents should read our e-mails. For our safety, I think they can check the addresses. Like sometimes my mom if she sees and address she doesnt know, she asks, “who is that” and that’s okay. but they shouldnt read the e-mails…. i mean, those are things between us and the people we email. like secrets between best friends. and parents dont like us reading the letters they get, so they shouldnt read our stuff.
no way
I think kids have a right to keep there message’s A secret. I think if thery do not feel right with a message to tell them.
COME ON!!
Totally agree. We ARE growing up freedom should come with it!!!! ;)
Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
parents need to mind their own bizznezzz,dude. They woudn’t want you sneaking ino their check books or sneaking a peak at their banking account. So I agree with no no no no and def- no.
RE:Yes and No
No because we all need our privacy and shouldn’t our parents TRUST US? And if they are “suspicous” of something shouldn’t they ask their kids personaly instead of getting in there buissness? And then Yes because if you share a e-mail address with your family there’s no choice,but if you have a private one then you shouldn’t meet people on chat-rooms and you feel like you’re really close to them and give out your e-mail!!! And if your rents find some suspicous e-mail address then they SHOULD read it right? I really think that they shouldn’t because that can really annoy someone and then that’s just,”asking for trouble”. -Isabella
At the No part...
Well, when the parents ask the kid about it, and the kid doesn’t say anything. Then how are they supposed to help their kid? They can’t read minds. They’re gonna have to look in they’re childs diary.
are you serious?
this is a reply to At the No part… Are you serious? Reading a childs diary makes no sense,not even for protective reasons. Why?Because in a diary you’re just pouring out you’re feelings to yourself and there is nobody to harass you on the internet! So there is no reason for a parent to do that. if they read their e-mails and their diary then where does a child have for privacy?
I don't think so.
I really don’t think that is nessecary because if you aren’t responisble enough to tell your parents if you got an IM or email that is not okay or scary, you shouldn’t be allowed to even have email or IM. If your parents want to read your emails or IM messages, that means that they probably don’t think you are responsible enough to tell them if something bad happens (I doubt parents read kids emais just for fun) and if you won’t tell them that, you shouldn’t be allowed the responsability that comes with having your own email or IM.
Umm...yeah!
I TOTALLY understand that you want privacy, but parents are put on this earth to PROTECT us. They love us a lot and they don’t want anything or anybody to hurt us. They were kids too, and they understand that you need privacy, BUT, as I said above, they love us a lot and the don’t want us to get hurt.
????
No, they should NOT be able to read kids emails and IM’s. Parents werent “put on this earth to prtoect us” they were put on this earth to have babies and increase the human population, not watch over everything their kids do! we have lives too, you know, and parents should respect that and trust that we are not doing anything bad!
wHAT on earth are you talking about?
they weren’t put on earth to just have babies, they were put on earth to watch over there kids. I agree that they should respect your privacy but they should watch over you.
I KNOW WHAT THERE TALKING ABOUT!!!
I know what you’re saying,but—PRIVACY CHECK!! I know they watch over us,but they shouldn’t with IM and e-mail. It’s like texting,except more private(and harder!) so do you want your parents reading your texts,e-mails,AND Im’s? I don’t like when there always in my biz,FYI! So think about it,K? L8r
—A life helper
ACCUALLY YOUR WRONG
Not to be rude but parents try as hard as they can to protect us. Dont you think there would be a LOT of meyham if that were true so umm they should get to read certain messages!
umm ... no!
No i don’t think parents should read EMails or IM’s. Imagine if u wanted to say something private to ur friends and ur parents go and read wut u have to say to them. Ok, parents have a right to know stuff like that but u should tell them on ur own. If u are a bad kid how might be getting in some kinda trouble then, i think that the parents should read it and see if anything is going on. But, parents should trust their kids enough. If the parents don’t trust their kids then they should just delete the screen name and email address. They shouldn’t go hunting through emails just to see wut there kids are doing. Kids need some personal space. I just don’t think its a good thing for parents to go and read EVERYTHING that u write to ur friends. Thats just wut i think.
you know, when they were
you know, when they were kids, they didnt even have computers that came in sizes smaller than a large room! they dont have a clue what its like to be a kid with e-mail and\or IM! you cant say anything about when they were kids!
=^..^=
reply to Umm...yeah!
Most kids that are 10 and older know better than to A. Talk to someone they do not know B. Tell their parents if they are being harased C. And most of them have common sence