To pry or not to pry, that is the question
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Many teens will welcome Chongqing municipality's new "Law for the Protection of Minors", which keeps their personal communications out of reach of prying parents. Conversely, many parents would instinctively wish they could continue to monitor their children's personal communications, particularly on the Internet.
Apart from potential contradictions within the family, at least while the law is new, a contrast may also be made between the Western Internet landscape and the West's emphasis on parental supervision of minors on the one hand, and the Chinese Internet landscape, with its systemic supervisory mechanisms, on the other.
In Chongqing, no longer will parents be able to monitor the communication behavior of their offspring by looking at their diaries, blogs, social media or cell phones. The municipality has, however, not acted on its own. In fact, it has brought its laws in line with national laws that seek to extend privacy rights to minors, the age of majority in China being 18.
It is normal for parents to feel obliged to monitor their children's personal communications to protect them. Even those who believe in the sacrosanct nature of personal communications often exclude minors because of potential jeopardy. Jeopardy is an important factor here if we are to discuss the issue in terms of the security of children.
Parents' supervision of children's communication behavior is born out of advice on simple matters of etiquette such as "mind your p's and q's", growing to cover more serious issues like conversations with strangers. It is said that a stranger is a friend that you do not know. But strangers can also pose deadly threats. They can be predators.
