Dear Future President,

This is an important topic that affects our future voters and adults of the United States.

55% of parents spy on their teenager and invade their privacy. Some of the teenagers don’t even know that their parents spy on them. The parents that spy create many problems for their teenagers that will affect them later in life. Adolescent years are when people learn and make mistakes. It’s when they grow and expand on their thoughts. Spying on those teenagers will limit their ability to learn and grow. Teenagers deserve their privacy and there should be laws to restrict parents from snooping around too much.

Parents invading teenager’s privacy affects their behavior. It can causes them to lose trust & confidence in themselves. These two beliefs are very vital when you grow up. Trust and confidence in yourself causes you to go after what you believe in. “Snooping sends your teen a message that you don't trust him or his ability to make sound decisions”, according to counselor Terri Barnes of Jacksonville's Youth Crisis Center. The teenager will take this message to heart and not believe in him/herself. When he or she grows up, they won’t be confident in their problem-solving skills and rely on others. The adolescent will grow up to be a person that relies on others and isn’t self-sufficient. He won’t go far in life without others because he won’t try new things that could help him succeed. Parents shouldn’t snoop around because it causes teenagers to lose trust and confidence in their abilities.

Parents shouldn’t invade teenagers privacy because it may stop them from becoming independent.Teenagers make mistakes and and learn from them so they can be better adults. Looking over your adolescent’s shoulder, checking and restricting them, stops them from making mistakes. The mistakes teenagers make lead to natural consequences that help them grow. “Allowing teenagers to make mistakes and then experiencing natural consequences is what helps them grow into successful adults”, according to Patti Cancellier, education coordinator for the Parent Encouragement Program. Adolescent years are when you make mistakes and learn from them so you don’t make those mistakes in adulthood. Do you want to be the reason your child depends on others because you never let him or her experience independence when they were younger?

When it comes to privacy, some parents say the relationship should be like an employer and an employee. They say that the teenagers should always know that their parents are watching and that they will look through their private things if suspicions are raised. But doing that to your adolescent makes them overly cautious. They don’t trust themselves and they sneak around. Keeping a tight noose around your kid and disrupting their privacy doesn’t help them or give them the idea to not do bad things. They just learn how to lie better and cover up their own tracks well. Parents say that they hear that many parents don’t know what is happening with their child. They believe that maybe a peek in a diary could of prevented all the bad things. But looking into your child things doesn’t make it better. It may strain your relationship with your child and cause a chasm to appear.

Teenagers deserve privacy from their parents and there should be laws restricting parents from disturbing the privacy. Adolescent years are when children learn, grow and have independence. Looking over their shoulder, not only makes them secretive, it also stops them from learning from mistakes and causes them to lose trust and confidence in themselves. Teenagers need their privacy so they can succeed in their adulthood and not make foolish mistakes that will affect them more in adulthood than in teenage years.

Sincerely, Sruthi Gunturu

Cedar Valley Middle School

Austin, Texas

8th Grade