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4th October 2024
10:47am BST
A North Carolina mother has kicked off a heated debate on social media after revealing she regularly checks her teenagers' phones.
Laura Muse openly admitted to confiscating her son and daughter's phones before bedtime, not only so they get a proper night's sleep but also so she can monitor their online activity.
The 43-year-old spoke to The New York Post and said that because she pays for her children's phones, she believes it gives her the right to check them whenever she wants to.
"I own their phones, I pay for the phones. I can go through them whenever I want," she explained.
"People might think [it] is a sign of disrespect or an invasion of their privacy, but this is how I manage my ship."
Her random phone checks began when her kids were around 11 and has continued into their teenage years.
The mother-of-two still occasionally asks her teens to hand over their phones for inspection, even though she says she trusts them.
According to her, the purpose of these checks is to prevent her children from engaging in inappropriate behaviour and to protect them from online dangers like predators and scammers.
On one occasion, she said she discovered her son, Cohen, posting shirtless photos of himself online.
She quickly asked him to remove the content, and said she used the situation as a teaching moment.
"If I do find something that’s an issue, we talk about it and turn it into a teachable moment," she explained.
"I’m not perfect, I don’t expect my children to be perfect, but it’s important to keep an eye on things."
Muse shared her phone-checking routine in a TikTok video, and sparked a wave of reactions from others on the platform who were divided on the issue.
While some supported her parenting method, others criticised her for what they saw as an invasion of her kids’ privacy.
One commenter wrote: "Checking your kids' phone is an invasion of privacy and shows you don’t trust them.
“They will never open up to you ever again."
Another chimed in and said: "Paying for the phone doesn't mean anything. Don’t give them the phone then if you're gonna use that as leverage to go through their personal things."
Let us know your thoughts over on our social media. Is this something you do, or would do, with your kids’ phones?
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