How much or how little freedom/privacy do you allow your teen to have?

I think it depends on the child. How mature they are and what they can be trusted with. Like my oldest who is 24, In trusted her with watching the home and her younger brother and sister when she was only 13. But my 21 year old, I didn't trust him until he was at least 16 or 17 because he was much more immature. My 18 year old still lives at home, and because she is an adult, I just give her advice, and hope for the best. But because of her history of cutting, I sometimes ask to see not only her arms, but her legs as well and I get nosy about it. She would also be one that I would be very concerned about when she moves out because of this.

I do agree that children should have some privacy but you still have to be careful not to give them too much because I know from experience that trust only goes so far and it lets them do whatever they like behind your back. I give my daughter an inch and she will take ten miles every time so I have to watch her and make sure she stays on the right path.

I have a 16 year old daughter and she has been in some trouble some by sneaking out to see a boy that we had banned her from. I think that she needs some guidance and I am protective of her and I don't give her a lot of freedom. I also think that kids need to learn that there are rules that whether we like or not, we have to follow them. I believe that it depends on the child as to how much freedom you can give them and how much you have to watch and what you have to watch them for.

By no choice of my own since I am a single parent and work full time, both my daughters had more freedom than I would have liked them to have had. And I was naive about alot of the things that they were doing, and didn't find out about them until way after the fact. I think it really depend on their maturity level in when a child deserves some independence. Because what is appropriate age for one, may not be for another.

Children and teens are people too! Did you have any privacy while growing up?Why would a child need to be watched (in the privacy of their own room? What are you afraid of? Everybody deserves and needs some private time! (sounds like you wanna put your child in solitary confinement!)

It depends on how mature the child is and what their history is. Like my 2 oldest ones, I gave them privacy because I knew them and though they did some things I didn't agree with, it wasn't life threatening. But my 18 has a history of cutting, so I get nosy in checking her arms and legs and asking her about it. She also would be the one when she moves out, that I would be concerned with..

They need a little bit of privacy. The way that technology is going, it is so easy for them to get themselves in situations that they are not ready to handle. You cannot be too safe. I watch who they are calling, where they are going, what they are doing on the computer. It is such a crazy world, you cannot be too safe.

i THINK IT HAS TO DEPEND ON THE PERSONALITY INVOLVED. A child at one age can be trusted with more freedom and privacy than can another. I honestly dont think you can put an age on such a thing, it is up to the parents to decide when the time is right for their child blessed be

yes teens can be sneaky! and my best thing was to point out pitfalls and that I had made them myself and for them to watch out for them seemed to work for mine I wish you all the luck in the world!

I am not a parent thankfully so I can only tell you from the point of of the teen I was. Back in my day, I had privacy. My parents never entered my room without knocking first.I wasn't spied on.I was respected and I respected my parents. It is a two way street. How did this happen? My mom gave me respect way before I was a teen. I knew not to lie to my mom.And she wasn't strict. All her rules weren't too unreasonable. But if parents don't treat their children with respect when they are young. Or make unreasonable rules. they are making sure that their kids will have ti lie to them. The one thing that is different today than when I was young is the internet.John or Jane can be home in their room and getting into more trouble than I could have when I went out.Parents have to make sure their kids, and I mean kids age 6-12,know that they shouldn't lie to their parents. and that they should come to their parents when something seems not right.And parents should be stern but not so strict that the kids and teens have to start lying to their parents.When a teen becomes 16-18, they should have some privacy but the parents should have a line of communication with their kids so they don't have to spy on their kids just to know what is going on.

When jakes older, I'll give him as much as he needs but make sure he doesn't get up to stuff. I'm sure it's going to be a challenge but I'm working on "building" trust and allowing him the chance to open up to me. Hopefully it'll be a good learning experience for us both, ~Joey

Privacy and freedom go hand in hand with behavioral responsibility. And along with that I think that keeping an eye on what kids are doing, even to snooping, is necessary. Kids will not tell everything even if you have a good relationship. It is just not the nature of a kid. Teens think that nothing will happen to them and they have a bit of a herd mentality-all my friends do. Some times you have to be the bad guy.My oldest daughter snuck around and stole money from me. One time she even to my car late one night and denied doing it! Like I could not tell when the seat and radio were changed and the gas was lower. My younger daughter skipped school so often the principal and I were on speed dial with each other. My son got in trouble with some of his buddies in his freshman year by vandalizing the high school. He spent a year on probation for that. I could go on and on but I wont. I still don't trust my oldest to tell the truth and she is 31 now. My son did learn from his escapades with the police enough that when my stepdaughter got caught shoplifting he took her aside and gave her the riot act. I hate to say this but sometimes,I believe that you have to make you kids prove themselves to you to gain trust.

Well I took a chance on mine, and hoped and depended on that what I taught them in life would keep them in the right direction and out of trouble! And out of seven kids, I did pretty good, because I only had a couple of them that only got into misdemeanor trouble! Neither my wife nor I, ever had to invade their privacy!

They were taught morality, values, religion.They know their boundaries.We just check a little.Allow them to explore so that they will learn what life is all about.