• News
  • Life
  • TV & Film
  • Beauty
  • Style
  • Home
  • News
    • Celebrity
    • Entertainment
    • Politics
    • Royal Family
  • Life
    • Animals
    • Food & Drink
    • Women's Health
    • Mental Health
    • Sex & Relationships
    • Travel
    • Real Life
  • TV & Film
    • True Crime
    • Documentaries
    • Netflix
    • BBC
    • ITV
    • Tyla Recommends
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Make-up
    • Skincare
  • Style
    • Home
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
Submit Your Content
Mum says she's allowed to look through children's phones because she pays for them

Home> Life

Published 20:56 21 Nov 2022 GMT

Mum says she's allowed to look through children's phones because she pays for them

A mum has spoken out about why she thinks it's justified she confiscates and snoops through her teenagers' phones.

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

A mum has spoken out about why she thinks it's justified she confiscates and snoops through her teenagers' phones.

The amount of arguments I used to have with my mum about why I should be allowed to keep my phone on my bedside table at night rather than leaving it downstairs, or why I wouldn't be taking the password off because I knew she'd have a peep - it happened on a weekly basis.

It's a contentious topic - how much freedom you should give your child in their relationship with technology.

The internet can be a dark and dangerous place, children able to more easily fall victim to scams, inappropriate messages and trends.

Advert

Overuse of mobile phones can result in late nights and grumpy teenagers, with social media very addictive in nature and potentially damaging to one's mental health.

However, one mum's answer to this is to hell with any privacy at all.

Laura Muse conducts random searches of her two teenagers' phones.
@museparty/ TikTok

Laura Muse, from Greensboro, North Carolina, confiscates her 15-year-old son Cohen's phone when he goes to bed at around 11:30pm.

Advert

As well as confiscating her son's phone at night, Laura goes onto her son and her 17-year-old daughter Kylie's phones and checks their personal messages and social media accounts.

The mum has since explained why she feels like she has the right to sift through her children's phone whenever she so chooses.

Laura's children are aged 15 and 17.
@museparty/ TikTok

Speaking to the New York Post, the 41-year-old mum and mental health clinician acknowledged some people 'might think [checking her teen's phones] is a sign of disrespect or an invasion of their privacy'.

Advert

However, ultimately she argued it's how she has decided to 'manage [her] ship'.

Laura resolved: "I own their phones, I pay for the phones. I can go through them whenever I want."

Laura argues she should be able to check her children's phone whenever she wants because she pays for them.
@museparty/ TikTok

In return for their mum paying for their mobile devices, Cohen and Kylie - who have had their phones since the age of 11 - have to submit their phones to checks.

Advert

The checks have gotten less - Laura only checking a few times a year opposed to on a weekly basis when her children were younger - and ultimately, the mental health physician's children have gotten used to it.

Laura has previously discovered her son to be using inappropriate language on Instagram and posting topless images.

"If I do find something that’s an issue, we talk about it and turn it into a teachable moment," Muse reasons. "I’m not perfect, I don’t expect my children to be perfect, but it’s important to keep an eye on things."

Muse thinks it's 'important to keep an eye on things' for the safety of her children.
@museparty/ TikTok

Advert

The topic has been heavily debated on TikTok, with parents and children alike taking to the platform to argue their case.

"Checking your kids phone is a invasion of privacy and shows you don’t trust them they will never open up to you ever again," one user argued.

Another wrote: "My daughter had to turn her phone in every night at bedtime & yes i looked at it. it’s for their protection."

Ultimately, each side has a valid point.

Featured Image Credit: @museparty/ TikTok

Topics: Parenting, Real Life

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    People only just realising why Getty images is called that

    Brace yourself for some pretty wild family stories

    Life
  • 2 days ago

    There’s only one Starbucks in the world where staff are not allowed to ask for your name

    No butchering someone's name in this store...

    Life
  • 3 days ago

    Ozempic user shocked to learn what 'symptom jump' is after no one warned them of bizarre weight loss drug side effect

    The drug is traditionally prescribed to help sufferers of Type-2 diabetes

    Life
  • 3 days ago

    Dark history behind dangerous war weapon that’s now used by millions of cancer patients

    The clue was hidden among the battlefields of World War One for decades

    Life
  • Mum-of-three thought she was ‘going to die’ after two minute ‘skinny jab’
  • Mum who thought she was suffering from 'UTI pain' actually made horrifying discovery
  • 33-year-old mum dies in UK after suspected ‘Brazilian bum lift’ surgery as two arrested
  • Mum given months to live after finding out true cause of her ‘dry eyes’