Comments on: Should Parents Stalk Their Teens?

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 12 May 2011 03:05:03 +0000

Dear god, you should never, and I mean *never*, use military tactics against your daughter. Teens do dumb things sometimes, but if you don’t trust her what happens when she starts this “college career”? Teens with over protective parents (yes, that’s you) are more likely to act out once they move away… and then, if things go wrong, you won’t be able to fix it.

By: Bridget

Bridget — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:10:11 +0000

you need to let your chilren make their own decisions at some point. In the future you are not always going to be there to protect them. They need to be able to establish their own relationships without their parents controlling them. Over protecting your child will only make them hate you.

By: TA

TA — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:38:39 +0000

To tell your child that she is not allowed to see someone, will make her want to see him even more. Obviously she needs to have consequences because she lied to her parents. But to think that your daughter who confessed to being in love will stop seeing her boyfriend is putting your head in the sand. I’d rather know how often they are seeing each other than not knowing at all.

By: jill

jill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:12:41 +0000

It’s tricky to balance this situation. Growing up I had no curfew and very few restrictions. I did not rebel against my mom because I did not have much to rebel against. The more restrictions that are placed on a teen may make the teen want to break the rules even more. It will not stop the teen from doing what she wants. It will just make her sneakier in breaking the rules.

By: SK

SK — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:38:48 +0000

If a parent has such strong feelings that they cannot trust there daughter to follow the ground rules, they may want to have a goal of building trust rather than sneaking up on her every time they suspect her.

By: Sandra Ellis

Sandra Ellis — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:11:31 +0000

If these parents had built the foundations of a good relationship with their daughter throughout her childhood, had engaged in honest communication, instilled self-confidence, and were respectful and supportive, etc. then unless the daughter had previously shown herself to be irresponsible, I think prowling at her boyfriend’s house with night vision goggles was over the top as was the argument that followed. On the other hand, involvement in a relationship with this boy does seem to indicate poor judgment on the daughter’s part, but that should be handled through rational discussion. The daughter and her boyfriend are young, the chances that this relationship is going to last is remote. The parents need to gain some perspective. They might also want to consider that their daughter has low self-esteem issues and needs help in feeling good about herself and guidance in good decision making so that they can be more trusting.

By: BT

BT — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:51:10 +0000

Reading this brings back the anxiety I felt when my son was in high school! He thought I was overprotective-I was just trying to be his parent. I suppose there is a very fine line……..