Do You Allow Your Kids to Have Passwords?

I'm with you. So long as my kids live here and I'm paying for their stuff, they don't get to have password privacy.

I have all passwords and user names. If she changes them, she has to give them to me. I don't "snoop" but I do look at her posts and history.

My daughter just turned 18. YES I have her passwords. Do I use them? Hardly ever.

The point is... She knows I have them and I will test them sporadically. Her main concern now are colleges, etc checking her profile and she's clean as a whistle!!

When she was younger... Omg yes I patrolled more, had 100% access but since daughter turned 18 I don't . If she hasn't learned by now she won't plus I need to trust that its ok to let go at this point.

Keep communication lines WIDE open and LISTEN .

My son is 17 and I know all his passwords. It's not that I don't trust him, it's just been the rule since I allowed him to have access to certain things. He has no problem with it.

I pay for the internet, so he knows he doesn't get to tell me it's none of my business, because it is. He's a really great kid and usually shares with me what's going on, etc, even without me asking. I don't worry too much because he doesn't do or say anything that has to be "private".
I can check anything at any time and he doesn't mind. He's on track for a career in law enforcement so he's careful about who he communicates with and what he says.

I think that very young kids shouldn't have access to anything that their parents don't have access to. Eleven year olds really don't have the right to privacy when it comes to certain things. Too many young girls have found themselves in trouble getting in over their heads because there are total pervs online and they can get in trouble sending and receiving things that aren't appropriate.

I'm very strict on this issue and it never harmed either one of my kids.

Just my opinion.

I will have all passwords, including to email and face book, or they won't have those items.

We want to know the passwords and/or have access to the electronics. The sks also knew that the were always monitored in general by parental filters. We had an issue once or twice and had to talk to them about their behavior. 11 is too young to have unfettered access to the online world.

Things like Edline (for school) we had our own parent accounts. The kids actually thought we monitored it more than we did. We said no, we could see from their report cards they were doing fine. When a C showed up, then we logged in to find out why.

We also spent time with the kids and got them to tour us through their music, their FB, some funny joke that came through their email, etc. SD in particular is very open to sharing her FB account with us.

Might also be a good time to remind her that just because "everyone else" has x doesn't mean it applies to her and if they are hiding from their parents, what are they doing that they should not be?

My daughter is only 6, but my husband and I have each others' passwords for stuff, not because we don't trust each other but just because sometimes we need to get on each others' stuff. Like I have to use his computer to print things, he uses mine to play his MMOs when we're out of town, etc, and we're dumb and use our same passwords for everything. :)

But we've discussed that our daughter will have to give us the passwords to anything or she won't be allowed to use it. My little brother is a freshman in high school and my mother doesn't monitor his social media. Consequently, he posts incredibly inappropriate things on Facebook, and when we complained, he blocked us and my mother, who said she'd shut him down but didn't even bother. I think that sort of parenting is lazy and I refuse to allow my daughter to ruin her life over social media before she really gets it started.

We have passwords on their computer and e-mail accounts. WE have the passwords.

I do NOT have the passwords for their Blackboard accounts (school) because I have access to the parent board. There is NOTHING and NO ONE that can go on that site that doesn't belong to the school. So I am not concerned about people who aren't who they say they are.

On my oldest son's cell phone? I have access and will check his cell phone and log. I told him if he didn't like it - too bad. I'm paying for it and he's still not an adult. I will take the phone away. He knows my rules and broke them once. He paid the price and now KNOWS there is no room for error...

I have the passwords to my daughters emails and social media accounts. They both have iPhones that are passcode protected, but that is mainly to keep their friends out! If I had reason to need to check, they would hand over the unlocked phones.

More than them knowing that we can check on them at any time, we have talked openly and honestly about the dangers, stupid mistakes and consequences that would result in abusing the internet. We've never had an issue, in fact, they both have brought touchy issues to my attention. Learning how to properly use technology is a tool that will serve this generation well.

Good luck! If your kids are anything like mine, they will teach you a thing or two!

I have the password to the itunes account, so my 10 year old can't order any apps without my permission. He has passwords to keep people out, but if I asked him to show me what's on his ipod he would have to show me. I recently took an internet safety course with my kids, and when I asked the instructor about using filters the instructor said that the idea is to teach children to be their own filters and to make the right decisions because there is no way to monitor everything they are doing online everywhere they go. I figure if I periodically check his browser I will at least know what kinds of discussions we need to be having.

My children do not have their passwords, are not allowed electronic/tv/phones in their bedrooms. They have been taught that the internet may seem harmless but know how what they put out there can effect changes on their long term future for education, jobs and happiness. Yes i want them tohave great computer skills but social as well and be kept safe.

My kids have kindle fires that they got for Christmas this year. It has a program called free time that allows parents to control content and how much time they can spend on it. Free time has a parent password that the kids aren't allowed to have - so in essence, they don't have passwords for their devices. I do. And they won't until they are on their own, as far as I'm concerned. My husband and I know each other's passwords, too. That's just the way it is. Oh, and they are 8 1/2 and almost 11.

Ditto you C.!!!!! We practice the same here.

My son's Jr. High just hosted an amazing speaker, an IT expert, to speak about cyber safety. Wow, I learned a lot, but was shocked at how many parents admitted to their kids having passwords they don't know. He coached those parents right on the spot how to turn that scenario around.

Here's his website if anyone is interested in reading his security tips:

http://snstips.com/

We don't allow passcodes on our daughters iPods and if they put a passcode on them they get taken away. (We've had a lot of issues with D12 sneaking around and changing the passcode too many times.) They have passwords for the mac but we know what they are.

I check the history on the mac every week or so as well as their text msgs and emails. At first D12 was very resistant to me checking her iPod but I just told her that the iPod is not only paid for by her parents it is also a privelege to have. And if she abuses these priveleges (sp) then she can lose the iPod.

So far I've found some pictures that were not tasteful on her iPod. I monitor her contacts and I know or have met most of the girls she texts. At one point she was downloading inappropiate books that contained sexual content and swearing. Ugh! She also tried to set up a FB account, kik messaging app and an Instagram account. I finally took internet access (safari) off D12's iPod for a while. Oh and she found the wifi code that my husband put in the cupboard.

So I guess what I'm saying is, don't feel guilty for checking on your daughters devices. You paid for them and they can be used as little weapons if they aren't monitored periodically.

I try not to check the iPods too often so the girls feel like they have some privacy but I make sure they know that I am checking and will continue to do so until they earn my trust. No sneaking around or deleting the texts before I can check things. Right now D12 is a handful and she also has no impulse control (ADHD) so there's never a dull moment with her.

Not too long ago the girls and I read the American Girl Doll book called "The Smart Girls Guide to the Internet." It was helpful with the info it gave regarding emails, texting and internet safety.

HTH!

the rule in our house is and always has been that until you move out of the house and are paying for your own device completely (meaning the electricty to plug it into as well as the device) then we know the passwords. same goes for being administrator on said devices. that changes when they hit 18 and are college level. then they can have there own private passwords etc. but until then we have to have them. of course we also want to know where there going who they are going with and how long they will be gone lol. our system seems to work as we have 4 adult children who are all very well adjusted members of society. one more to go........ and yes we have all his passwords etc and he is 17.

My son is 6 and has an account set up on my computer where he has limited access to certain programs. I have the password and have told him that if he wants to change the password, he has to ask me, because I have to know what it is. I definitely plan on continuing that as he gets older and has access to different websites and a cell phone. If I'm paying for it, I'm going to monitor it.

I had all codes and passwords. My 8 and 11 year old have FB pages, but they do not have the passwords, I go the pages for them so they could play games on their tablets with family and a few select friends. When they are 13 I will give them their passwords, which will remain the same.

I do not however go out of my way to search their things, if and when I have a reason to I will. That doesn't mean I haven't had to do it, but my older 4 only ever gave me reason 3 times and only one of those was a false alarm lol

My daughter is 10. She has a Nook that she got as a Christmas gift from a relative.
She also is able to use our "family" iPad.
And she got my Husband's old iPhone, but it is not hooked up as a phone, but she can go online etc.
Now per my daughter, she always tells us or asks permission, about things per computers or tech gadgets, and what her friend's have or do... online or via their tech gadgets.
I can't believe, how some kids say, they do not tell their parents when/if they sign up for things or make passwords. Even my daughter tells us that.
My daughter is very responsible and open and can tell us and always asks us permission first and knows what our rules are.
She is very good about that.
She knows, that we... can at anytime look at ANYTHING she may be doing on the computer or her tech gadget. She even will show us. It is never a battle or secretive.
And WE, make her passwords. On things. That is never a battle.
However, some classmates, because some classmates like to "brag" will say how they have such and such an account. And my daughter tells me what she hears from other kids at school. So then, WITH my daughter, on the computer, we go to the sites her classmates talked about... and of course it is an ADULT, type of social media site. Besides Facebook etc.
And WITH my daughter, I read and tell her the legal rules for these sites. And she knows, what that is. And she knows, that kids.... are LYING when signing up on these sites, and making up passwords, because they are signed up for it... and yes, they just did it without their parents knowing. The kids, TELL other kids these things in school. But my daughter, knows these are not "honest" kids in the firs place.
She tells, us.

As parents, WE have the passwords for whatever we all do or get online, even if just games. My daughter has no problem, with her tech gadgets being an open book, with us. It is not about "privacy"... but about, how we are the parents and she is under aged and how, there are MANY sites and games online, that are just not kid appropriate.
We tell her these things and about how to analyze, media hype etc. How to discern, for herself.
In school they have computer class, AND they have, a school wide class/workshop for the kids, taught by Police Officers, about cyber safety and dangers and about predators etc.
Even my 6 year old son, knows rules about this. They are taught in school as well.

ALSO, these tech gadgets, even if my 10 year old girl may use it and we allow her to use it... it is not "hers." She knows it is a privilege. And we do not have to let her use it or have one.
She respects that.

WE have a list of all accounts and passwords for our and my daughter's tech gadgets.
My daughter never signs up for anything nor creates a password, without our permission. She knows, it is up to us.
And she plays with these tech gadgets, right there in front of us. Never being secretive.