Lockdown has meant that many of us have now been at home longer than we had anticipated at the start of the pandemic. It has certainly been challenging. Families aren’t used to being cooped up together. With different personalities, needs and wants for each family members to be met, a lot of good listening, privacy including phone privacy and understanding has been needed. On the plus side, parents have seen personal growth in our children and a shift in independence. Our children have been ‘hopefully’ doing more for themselves and that has included taking responsibility for staying connected to friends.
Giving Our Children Phone Privacy
More of our children are reliant on social media since school has been closed. It can be difficult to step back and not interfere when they are using it as we worry about too much screen time. However, it is important that we leave them to it and give them some phone privacy. Part of growing up and becoming more independent is being allowed to have private conversations with friends without mum or dad listening at the door, or walking into their room when they know they are on facetime. Giving them phone privacy is important because it shows that we trust and respect them and their conversations. We don’t need to know everything about their lives or micro-manage everything they are saying to their friends.
Allow your children to have this space and respect their privacy. Parents of a certain age who did not have mobile phones would have found it difficult to have private conservations on the house phone when they were growing up. When they think back to being a teenager themselves they were probably hiding in a cupboard so no one would hear their conversation. Your child’s cupboard is their bedroom, so leave them to their conversations and their fun with their friends.
Children need privacy in lots of different ways. To read more about how to teach children about privacy in general take a look at this article.
