I remember hearing some where that the kids who are always up to the most mischief are the sons and daughters of preachers. I don’t know of any stats to back that up, but I definitely believe that being overbearing with rules and control only leads to rebellion as soon as the kid can make choices for themselves. You want to guide in the right direction but also set up some safe ways for your child to learn from experience. They need to see that what you are teaching them is actually helpful and not just rules for rules sake. Eventually, the goal is to give them independence but support and watch them fly. Well in the story below, this woman’s parents were so overbearing that she had to get a restraining order against them. If you are still trying to act as the correcting parent when your kid is in college, only bad things will happen. It’s even too late if you have done nothing and decide to try being a responsible parent when they are teens. Give your kids while they are young all the success and survival skills you think they will need before letting them leave the nest and you won’t have to worry as much. Bad things happen, but all you can do is prepare them as best you can.
Side note: I really like the idea of using monitoring software on the cell phones given to your kids. But this should be done with complete awareness by your child and not abused as monitoring but simply as an additional safety measure when your kid is traveling.
BlackNEKS - Keeping it Rugged 