Opinions on parents going through their kids' phones?

What does paying the bills have to do with it?

@UnparalleledMonster: Did they buy the phone and pay for the service, it's basically theirs then. And you are a minor, legally they have an obligation to protect you and make sure you stay within bounds so that you don't get into trouble.

@cherokeepatti:

Yeah... but it's not, though. No more so than the shirt they bought for their child.
Or are we saying that parents essentially own everything in their child's life and as such have the right to do whatever they want with those belongings?

You can make the argument that a parent's responsibility is to look out for their kid, but saying they have the right because they own the phone is absurd.

@UnparalleledMonster: You can make any argument you want but I can almost guarantee a judge would side with your parents.

@cherokeepatti:

And are you under the impression that what is legal and what is morally correct are always the same thing?

@UnparalleledMonster: It is morally right for parents to care enough for their offspring that they will do whatever it takes to protect them.

@cherokeepatti:

Sure. As i already conceded.
I'm just pointing out how ridiculous it is to argue that a parent has the moral right to snoop through their child's belongings because they paid for them.

@UnparalleledMonster: Well nothing more bitter than a parent's regret after finding out their child was involved with someone who had evil intentions and hurt their child...parents who care will do anything to prevent it if they are able to.

@cherokeepatti:

...yeah. Again, not debating that parents should do what they have to in order to keep their kid safe. The desire and responsibility to keep their kid safe gives them the moral right, not the fact that they shelled out some cash

@UnparalleledMonster: My point is that if I paid for the phone and I am paying the phone bill then I am letting my kid use my phone. The phone is mine to do with as I want including going through it and taking it away from the kid. If my kid pays for the phone and the phone bill then it is my kid's phone to use as he/she wants.

@hippyjoe1955:

Yeah, you're right. And if you decide you like his shirt you can just take that too.
Sounds like a good moral stance on parenting

@UnparalleledMonster: You're right, he can take his shirt. Think it's quite arrogant for teens to feel so entitled to things that they haven't earned by working for...we had little in my generation and that little could have been taken from us if we didn't toe the line, something this new generation needs to learn and maybe they'll appreciate what's been provided for them...phones are basically luxuries anyway.

@UnparalleledMonster: So when my teenaged son borrows my car to take his girlfriend I have no right to drive it afterwards?

@hippyjoe1955:

lol you just used the words "my" and "borrow". So no. Horrible comparison.
Try again.

@cherokeepatti:

God i hope you never had any children.
Children are not your servants. They are not your property.
They are people.
Just because you have financial control over them doesn't give you the moral right to do whatever, whenever.
Apparently to you, a dependent minor means "a person over whom i deserve unilateral control because i pay for them"

Disgusting. I'd tell you to grow up but apparently you;re already in your sixties, so i guess that ship has sailed

@UnparalleledMonster: Actually being a parent of non majority children not only gives the parent the right it gives the parent the responsibility to keep tabs on their children. What children, yourself included, forget is that parents were once children and they know the dangers involved in being a kid.

@hippyjoe1955:

...sigh...
ACTUALLY joe, i'm not debating that parent should do what they think is right to protect their child.
Haven't been from the start.
I've been pointing out how absurd it is to claim the right on the basis that you paid for their stuff so it's really yours anyway.
A point you appear to be having trouble processing given your borrowed car example.

The right to check up on their child comes from the parent's desire and responsibility to take care of their kid, NOT because they financed their life.