Being a parent – when done responsibly – is never an easy task. Each new generation of mothers and fathers have fresh challenges to face and obstacles to overcome, all while taking the decisions they think are best for their kids.

Parents in today’s society, for example, have to contend with things that those who parented in decades gone by never had to. The internet is a huge one that springs to mind, not to mention the use of smartphones and the ever-present arguments put forth about appropriate screen time.

In any case, whenever topics regarding parental choices arise, you can be sure that they’ll be hotly debated. Just ask Laura Muse, a North Carolina mom who divided the internet a couple of years ago, when she confessed to snooping through her children’s phones in order to keep track of what they’re doing and who they’re talking to.

These days it’s becoming increasingly difficult for parents to deprive their kids of smartphones. Let’s face it, phones have become a tool used in virtually all aspects of life, and that’s not something children fail to notice as they’re growing up.

Of course, holding out as long as possible before buying your son or daughter such a device is advisable, while striving to keep yourself aware of what they’re doing with the sudden access to any website in the world is only natural.

But where is the line drawn between wanting to practice caution as a parent and denying your child their right to privacy?

Well, one mom’s admission regarding her vigilance where her kids and their mobile phones are concerned split the internet in 2022. Laura Muse, of North Carolina, revealed she regularly looks through her children’s phones, stating her belief that she has a right to do so as she is the one paying for them.

Laura’s teenage children, 15 and 17, are also forced to hand in their smartphones before they go to bed, as Laura doesn’t want them sitting up late scrolling.