These days a mobile phone is the lifeline of a teens social life. It's not uncommon at all these days for even an eight year old to be walking in the mall talking on a phone. My how the times have changed.

My teen got her first phone when she was ten. It was actually a gift from a friend at her tenth birthday party. My wife and I thought it was a strange gift and honestly considered giving it back. It was one of those pay as you go phones. She was just beginning to talk to her friends and begged us to keep it. We agreed to let her have the phone on the following conditions;

These days a mobile phone is the lifeline of a teens social life. It's not uncommon at all these days for even an eight year old to be walking in the mall talking on a phone. My how the times have changed. My teen got her first phone when she was ten. It was actually a gift from a friend at her tenth birthday party. My wife and I thought it was a strange gift and honestly considered giving it back. It was one of those pay as you go phones. She was just beginning to talk to her friends and begged us to keep it. We agreed to let her have the phone on the following conditions;

• She had to keep it on her at all times when she was away from us.
• We programmed in all the family numbers.
• No talking to strangers.
• Once the minutes were up that was it for the month.
• She would have to do chores to earn the phone each month.

She used the phone for few weeks then lost interest. At least that was until she reached middle school. This is when the phone became almost organically attached to my teen. By the sixth grade she had grown much more mobile savvy and wanted a better phone so she could text easier. We helped her out and bought her Xenon phone with a slide out keypad.

We kept up the same rules (even to this day) for the new phone as the old phone with one addition. If we called or texted she had to respond.

Today she's got an iPhone 4 like the majority of her friends. Over the years we've had little to worry about her and her phone. It's honestly given us great leverage to help prod her to do chores, keep up her grades and not mouth off. Believe me, once a rule is broken the phone is the first thing to go.

This day in age things like sexting among teens is pretty common. We've warned our daughter that it's not only illegal, but you never know what the other person is going to do with the image you send. What if they put it out on the web somewhere or use it for blackmail?

Am I wrong to spy on my teens mobile?

My advice would be not to mobile spy unless you are concerned of any kind of illegal activity, risky behavior or you're teen is in danger of some type. A teens life is filled with secrets that some parents aren't ready to handle or deal with. Not all teen secrets are bad or require a parents intervention so be cautious. However, if you suspect this is the case there is mobile spy software available. Here are a few I've come across and looked into.

• Mobile Spy

• Eazyspy

• Mobistealth

• Flexispy

Mobile spy software is still relatively new but growing like crazy. Not all mobile spy software is compatible with the iPhone so for iPhone users be sure it's compatible. A decent mobile spy application should;

Basic Mobile Spy Features

• Record calls
• Record text messages
• Record chat messages
• Record video
• Record mobile emails
• Track location using GPS (depends on if the phone is capable)

Advanced Mobile Spy Features

• Remote control by SMS
• Call interception
• Remote listening
• SIM change notification

Most of the applications I mentioned above will do this, but the price range varies from around $40 to upwards of $300 depending on the features. Most mobile spy applications require you to install the app on the phone you're wanting to spy on however, some can install themselves just by sending a text message.

I looked at a lot more than I've listed above however it looks like most of the other mobile spy sites I reviewed were affiliates of one of the companies mentioned above.

Again I wouldn't use a mobile spy app unless you absolutely think it's necessary to protect you're teen or intervene in risky behavior. Good luck!