According to Pew Research Center, 63% of young people trade text messages every day with people in their lives, so your child is likely doing it. And, if you're worried you're crossing some kind of parental line by checking your child's text messages, stop worrying. Cleveland Clinic Children's psychologist Dr. Kristen Eastman says parents have every right to read them, they just have to go about it the right way.
"We don't want our kids to feel like we're violating their privacy. We don't want them to feel like we're snooping. We don't want them to feel like we're sneaking around behind their backs to learn what's going on in their life. However, on the other hand I do think it is our job as parents to know what your child is communicating to other people and how they're doing it," explained Eastman.
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A study in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology found kids sending as many as 60-100 texts per day. In fact, 75 percent of teenagers now own cell phones, 54 percent use them for texting, and 24 percent use them for instant messaging.
Similar surveys have found parents split on whether or not they should be reading their child's text messages. Eastman says the best approach to take is to let your children know up-front that you will be looking at their phones.
"There are going to be times when Mom or Dad are going to take a look at this and we're going to look through your texts with you and just keep tabs and make sure that everything is safe and that you're conducting yourself appropriately," Eastman added.
Eastman reminds all parents that adolescent and teenaged brains are not fully developed and they do need parents to help them make good decisions.