How Closely Should We Monitor?

I just read this article at http://teensafe.howlifeworks.com/?cid=7310bh  Check it out.  At first, I thought it seemed like a great article about great technology.  And it is, kind of. 

As discussed before, my view on kids and social media is that they should be closely monitored.  One mistake can have lifetime consequences.  In that regard, the new app TeenSafe sounds great.  It seems it would be easy to monitor numerous ways your teens communicate.  My problem is that the article suggests it is okay to not let your kids know you are monitoring them. 

Of course it is up to the parents but I feel that defeats part of the reason we are monitoring.  I would think that if a teen knows their parents can read things that they delete, they are less likely to send them.  Don’t we want them to learn to stop and think before sending?  Eventually they will be old enough where they will be on their own and we will want them to not post or send things that could come back to haunt them.  If the parent is simply monitoring without their knowledge and then punishing them if someone bad occurs, the lesson is missed.   

What do you think? 

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