Do Teens Deserve Email Privacy?

Do teens of any age deserve email privacy or not? What do other parents think? what do you teens think (or need I ask?). Thanks.

Do Teens Deserve Email Privacy?
I don't think it's cut and dry like that.





Trust isn't something anyone automatically "deserves"..you have to earn it.





Therefore some teens probably can handle unmonitored internet access and some can not. It's not a matter of "deserving" it.





Many parents would feel that it is better to protect their children and have them be angry with them...than to have something horrible happen to them.





I think a good compromise would be having parental controls. There are many out there that filter certain words in email messages. And they are smart too, they recognize "tricks" to make the words out in different ways.





Also, I don't think any teens should have internet access in a private room. Personally, I feel that the family computer should be in a room that is shared by all in the house.





I'd rather have my kids think I'm a nosy busybody than have them be the targets of a child predator, or drug dealers.
Reply:I love it when people negative rate your answer just because. Negative rate me all you want, you know what I've said is the truth. :) Report It

Reply:I'm a teenager. I'm a good girl, get all A's and B's. My opinion? Watch what your adolescent is doing. I don't understand why teens are into e-mail and IM'ing, but watch out. And be careful of MySpace friends.


Lots of Luck!
Reply:No they don't. I'd give my sons privacy but not my daughters. Then again my husband and I don't plan on having internet in his parents house which is where we'll be living.
Reply:I keep an eye on the computer, my boyfriends son downloaded porn sights when he was 15 and16, Well computer started acting up, man came in to fix it, and he told me it was caused by some of the porn sights the kid downloaded. Well now I check when my son is on it. To expensive not too.
Reply:Nope Supervision Until 18 Unless there responsible enough then you should wait till around 14-18





I am in 6th grade, I dont like to be watched on the computer but its the safe thing to do.








Also on the phone, Give them privacy, I need privacy on the phone myself xD
Reply:No, absolutely not. Teens think they are smart and mature enough to handle whatever they get themselves into, but really they are not. And there are sick adults that can mess with naive teenagers. It's a parent's job to protect their children. No matter what. Sorry, but they'll have the rest of their lives to have privacy, when they are mature enough to make the right decisions.
Reply:Yeah we do. I would hate it if my parents started reading my email. We want privacy as much as the next person.
Reply:If you want your teen to respect YOUR privacy as an adult, you eventually have to give them some of their own.





It IS up to you as the parent to decide when your child is mature enough *have* an e-mail account of their own. If you don't think they should have "e-mail privacy," then why should they be given their own e-mail address?





If you really feel that you can't trust your child yet, they should share an e-mail address with you. There should be none of this "you can have your own e-mail address, but I get access to everything on it." That's not the way to teach your children respect, and that's not how to get them to act more mature and responsible. Your kids will just resent it.





So, basically, YES, teens deserve e-mail privacy, but only if they are mature enough to deserve their own e-mail account. It's up to you!





I'm a teenager, by the way...
Reply:Most do some dont. If your parents are worried they will check up on you - dont do stuff to make them check you out!!! I really think most email and myspace stuff is harmless but occassionally something quite harmful shows up and a teen may need help with out really realizing it themselves.
Reply:I would say up until high school no. In high school yes, they do. In high school, they are basically young adults. Odds are by then they can hide an email account from their parents anyway. May as well you show that you can trust them.


This is assuming they're good kids, if they're little terrors I'd keep a watch on them until their 65
Reply:For any teen 16 or older, I would say yes.





Before that, only if there is some way to give them email privacy just with their friends and not with just any old person out there on the internet.
Reply:No teenagers need supervision on everything they do
Reply:I would say yes. All that needs to be done is the parent needs to tell their children how to be safe on the internet, before they even start to use it. If they don't know, they shouldn't even be an inch close to the computer.


I rarely ever use email myself. When I do, I'm not talking about anything that's bad. However, I would still crawl in a hole and die if any one I know ever read anything in my email.


Parents need to tell their children how to be safe, then trust them to make the right decisions. They don't need to ruin their privacy and trust. That will just cause problems between the parent and the child.
Reply:NO!!!!! You live in "thier" house you abide by "thier" rules.
Reply:To an extant. If you trust your teen(which u should) then don't worry about it. But if you feel that something is going on then go ahead, But don't let them find out if nothing is going on because then you both will be farther apart.
Reply:yes and no
Reply:Teens have a right to privacy however not when it comes to the internet. We allow total strangers some wonderful and some criminal into our homes. Children have a right to be safe and proteted in their own homes even if they don;t like it. As a parent it is their responsibility to ensure this safety......in my house it is either that or no computer.....needless to say my teen welcomes snoopervision as he calls it.....lol
Reply:I think, no. Not w/ the way predators are getting to them on-line. It's almost like they are coming into your house now and taking your child's innocence. I believe, as long as they are under 18, and not entirely able to make good decisions, that you, as a parent, are entitled to check email at your discretion.
Reply:yep. 18 and 19 are still considered teenagers.








Edit to add: when I was in college last year, we HAD to have an email address. There were kids who were still in high school taking classes. We all had to have a PRIVATE adress that was used for nothing more than school.