Do you monitor your childrens computer use and how much screen time they get?

[Milicent]

I am in a "stich and b****" club (basically its middle aged moms who get together and cross stich and talk. Anyways I am the only mom in the group of 5 who actually monitors my children on the computer - even our 17 year old is monitored. We have the passwords to all their facebook accounts and email addresses and we also limit the computer and tv time. Is this really that rare?

[Dance Mom]

My daughter can only be on facebook/twitter on the pc in the living room. It's blocked on her laptop.

[Charlotte Skye]

I think it all depends on the parent. I'm 16 and my screen time isn't monitored at all, but that's because my mom trusts me and I don't do anything bad. I maintain good grades and don't post inappropriate stuff on my Facebook and tumblr

[Amy]

I've got 16 & 17 year old girls. I have username / passwords to their facebook and email accounts. We limit computer time and even that time is loosely supervised (they're in the room with us).

The thing about listening to other moms say things that they DON'T do, is that often get to here about the awful things their kids are saying/doing (which is a direct result non-parenting). Hope that helps.

[Dynamictoe155]

I am the mother of four between the ages of two and soon to be 15. Their use of electronics is limited in regard to both quality and quantity. My older two children have Facebook pages, but neither even know the password (I must log them in). I am also their "friend" on Facebook. I monitor their phones, as well. I do not read every word, but I do keep up with what and how they are using electronics.

I am not the only one, but it is rare among my mommy friends.

[Person,...]

Let me tell you this,
I'm 15 and my parents don't monitor me, they don't need to monitor me anyways because I feel that they don't need to look up anything that your looking for to catch your kids with.
I don't have a Facebook but last year I did and I allowed my parents to be my friend just to show them that they can trust me. ( it's basically me teaching them instead of them not trusting me.)
If you feel the need to monitor the time your kids are in the computer and tv then you might just need to put them on a sports team or something that they are interested in.
Don't force them to do stuff because they will just rebel against you.
Ask them if there is anything that they want to do.
Don't make them feel like you are stalking them give them some freedom, but they take advantage of that them just take that away for a few months. Make sure they know what they did so they won't get confused and call you mean for taking something away for no reason.

[Harley Quinn]

I agree kids should be monitored on the internet, there is all kinds of inappropriate stuff on there and guys who want to take advantage of teens girls. My daughter is 2 at the moment but when she is older I plan on monitoring her time online and we are going to download software to monitor what our children are looking at.

[Aphotic Sun]

What evil could they do? Oppression (not the best word choice) creates rebels... besides they could be learning ..... or on facebook, twitter, or porn

[ROMVLVS]

My parents used to do that. But because of what I use the computer for (learning Latin and Russian, research on the priesthood, grades) they decided that I'm doing something productive so...yeah. I'd say your 17 year old is old enough for you to not monitor him as much, if at all seeing as he is almost an adult. I'd limit them depending on what they are doing and how old they are.

Deus tecoom,
ROMVLVS

(God be with you,
ROMVLVS)

[whatever]

I'm 15 as well. My parents don't monitor me, and personally, I think it's stupid to do so.
All my friends whose parents monitor them turn out really weird. I think you should teach your kid about the internet and stuff, and maybe put some limits on what they do, but complete control over what they do is creepy.
The internet today is like the diary of yesterday. You can't just snoop around like that. It breeds chaos.