Okay moment of truth time, would you steal your kids Facebook password in order to see what they were doing online?
The police chief of Mahwah New Jersey says parents should do just that!
“Trust sounds good. It’s a good cliché,” says Batelli. “[But] to stick your head in the sand and think that, in 9th, 10th, 8th grade, your child is not going to be exposed to alcohol, is not going to be exposed to drugs, is kind of a naïve way to go about it.” But Batelli doesn’t stop there; he advocates parents use spyware that will copy the keystrokes from your family’s computer so you can access their passwords.
Hmmm, well where to start on this one? First of all, isn’t that illegal in most cases? Maybe you get a pass since they are minors living in your home. But why not sit your kids down and TALK to them about the dangers of the Internet? How about closely monitoring whom your kids hang out with and what they’re doing?
We, as parents, know which kids are the ones we want our children hanging with and the ones who give us cause for concern. I am friend with my kids on Facebook so I can see what’s going on. I also routinely check the browsing history on their laptops. That may be overstepping a bit into their personal space but it doesn’t seem as egregious as stealing their passwords.
I get what Batelli is saying, the old “trust but verify” routine but this seems to be sending all sorts of wrong messages.
I sense a GEM Debate coming!
So what do you think? Would you go as far as to steal your kids Facebook password? How do you monitor your kid’s online behavior? Let’s hear it!
