De Leon 1

Gisselle De Leon

Ms. Woelke

ERWC/ Per. 1

13 April 2018

Fight for Teenage Privacy Revision

Imagine being supervised at all times and knowing that your own home is not even

secure. A student from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music could relate

as she explains that after a long day of school she comes home to feel like “a dog with a collar

on” (Reese). This happens to be a big controversy because people are arguing on whether or not

teenagers should have the right to live a personal and private life as adults do. This topic is not

respected in most school districts because they witness their student’s behaviors as some are

involved in bullying or drugs. They do not believe they should be treated as adults when they

prove to have that type of reckless behavior. Although, students from North Suburban High

School are getting their phones taken away because the school wants to investigate any text

messages connected to drug dealing (Keilman & Berger 8). There are more schools like this who

believe that it is their right to look into their student’s personal belongings. Teenagers should

have the rights to privacy as adults because this is an invasion of their personal life as well as

going against one’s freedom of speech. At last, teenagers would get the chance to experience

independence before they become adults.

To begin with, teenager’s freedom of speech and rights to privacy are constantly being

avoided. A school named Lower Merion High School offered to give out laptops just for students

because the school focuses on achieving high academic levels. Those computers needed to be

taken home, but when “2,600 student laptops activated webcams and automatically snapped
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photos of kids in school and at home,” (Moore 10) lawsuits were filed from parents and students.

This type of spying they have committed is unbearable for all students because they do not feel

safe or trusted in their school anymore. This would have not happened if people would treat

teenagers as they do with adults, with respect. Throughout the text, Moore proclaims that the

parents are traumatized by this situation because unknown individuals will be able to look at

their children at home (11). Not a single parent wants to know that their child is being watched

through the small webcam on their laptop screen. This solely demonstrates the lack of respect

many schools have towards their students. All of this creates an unsafe environment for many

especially those who are beginning their freshman year. While many students are excited to be

going to high school, these students develop anxiety because they are being watched without the

slight realization that it is right in front of them. To sum it up, schools should not have the ability

to invade an individual's personal life whether they are considered an adult or not because it

creates frightening situations and the feeling of betrayal from the place whose main purpose is to

educate, not to act as spies.

Furthermore, teenagers deserve the same right to privacy that adults expect because it

would teach them to become independent by the time they become adults. Not only are some

high schools taking away their student’s privacy, but parents are taking strict parenting to

another level. A father of two has explained that he has blocked many apps on his children’s

electronic devices as well as monitoring social media accounts incase his daughters, 8 and 13

years old, enter inappropriate websites (Sengupta 22). As these two girls are growing up they

will not learn what the meaning of independence is. Most eight-year old girls download fun apps

on their electronic devices while thirteen-year olds are eager to make social media accounts in

order to connect with their friends from school. Although, it is understandable that parents want

to protect them from the dark side of social media, but it is all about trust. Research has found
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that about two thirds of parents watch every post and comments on every social media account

(Sengupta 22). As parents are doing this, their children will feel nothing but anger and betrayal

towards them. This is because they are unable to experience what it is like to have a trustworthy

bond with their parents. These statistics demonstrate that parents, known as helicopter parents,

want to keep their children safe by limiting their privacy. As a result, teenagers are not given the

chance to feel independent in their home and that is wrong because they must learn from their

own mistakes in order to become successful by the time adulthood vastly approaches.

Although, many people could disagree with this claim and argue that if teenagers are

given more privacy rights then it will create more issues on campus and at home. Many parents

believe that their children have a different personality online, therefore by checking their teen’s

accounts it will prevent their children from doing bad things such as cyber bullying or looking

into inappropriate websites because as a mother stated, “I don't want [that] drama” (Paul,18).

This gives parents and schools the reassurance that nothing inappropriate is occurring in the

teenager’s devices. Nevertheless, it is important for all adults to know that teenagers are going

through many things from balancing their school work and finding their true selves throughout

high school that they do not deserve to feel untrusted by their own parents or school. A parent

gave his opinion on this issue and explained that he gives his “…son some leeway to make

mistakes without dying in the process…” (Paul 17). Giving them that chance to grow will give

them a taste of what independence is actually like. There should not be any fears of being

watched at high school, but it is nerve-wrecking to know that the schools know more about our

lives than we believe. In sum, many people argue that invasion of privacy is needed for teenagers

since they make many mistakes, but that mindset should change because they are learning to be

independent and it could not be done unless they receive the same privacy as adults.
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To wrap it up, teenagers deserve to feel respected in their daily lives as adults expect to be

by their peers. In this roller coaster we call life, every teenager’s rights must be obeyed and they

should be able to get a glimpse of what independence feels like in order to become exposed to

the real world. To this day, teenagers are making great changes as well as becoming the voice

within our society. Restricting them from expressing themselves will not make a difference

because they are fighting for what is right in this world. While it may seem wrong for most

people to give them the privacy they deserve, one must remember that social media platforms are

now available for everyone to fight for their beliefs and rebelling against teenagers is the worst

move to make. All teenagers deserve their independence and freedom of speech!
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Works Cited

Keilman, John, and Susan Berger. "Students' Phones Taken in Probe." Chicago Tribune. 02 Feb.

2012: 1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Moore, Martha T. "School District's Webcam Surveillance Focus of Suit." USA TODAY. 03

May 2010: A.3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Paul, Pamela. "Cyberparenting and the Risk of T.M.I." New York Times. 05 May 2013: ST.8.

SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Reese, Diana. "Helicopter Parents: When Do They Cross the Line into Stalking?" ​Washington

Post​. The Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 04 May 2016.

Sengupta, Somini. "'Big Brother'? No, It's Parents." New York Times. 26 Jun. 2012: A.1. SIRS

Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

"Snapshots in the Classroom." University Wire. 12 Nov. 2014: n.p. SIRS Issues

Researcher.Web. 19 Apr. 2015.