Should parents be able to monitor their teens' social media sites (facebook, etc.)?

[Ana]

Maybe they should be able to monitor but they should not be monitoring. I don't think this is how you build trust between parent and teenager. Parent should not have social media access as a tool to get to know his/her child better and find out what is happening in his life. Parent should find other ways to build trust with their child, on that level that he/she doesn't feel it is ever necessary to access their social med account.
The parent who ask the question " Is it invasion of the privacy?" is actually revealing that there is underlying communication problem between that parent and child.The parent is into quick fixes of the larger problems. It takes minutes to read everything from your child's soc media site, but it takes years to build and maintain Emotional Bank Account. Parent should learn the skills of empathic listening, improve communication with child, make enough deposits into emotional account and empower your child to open. It will be the most powerfull tool in getting the best data about your child, not only what is on his FB account but much much more. Maybe he will ask you to see what he wrote to friend on FB, some photos funny stuff etc without your asking for it without invading your child's privacy. Than you will be happy parent your child is proud of and you will be proud of your child.
Stephen R. Covey book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is the goldmine.
Read Habit 5 :..principles of empathic communication.