A child may only want to spend a little personal time alone. Another likes to go away from his/her nosy parents or siblings. The last one doesn’t want to share his/he r personal things to others.

Indeed, individuals’ needs diverge and so is their meaning for their need to privacy. All people have a right for this and this includes that we only want to avoid interference from other people’s inquisitions and confidentiality from different manner of communication. Yet, a balance view of privacy is also essential to have a successful contact with other people since we may not like others to feel that we are too secluded for them to have a little interaction with us.

Although young, children have also the need for such right – their right for privacy. Having an ample time for them to be alone allows them to reflect for themselves or to give them time to be innovative. However, a concern is now rising that “privacy is now eroding because of the widespread use of advanced information technologies” (“Privacy.” Microsoft® Encarta® 2006 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005).

We may notice the trueness of these words since we are now exposed to a lot of new technologies. A child may even be an expert in utilizing such things and for having an easy access without the knowledge of a single adult.

The most common problem in protecting a child’s privacy is the wide use of internet. Children are mostly familiar to this because of the data that can be immediately gathered due to its use and the demands from the environment to use these technologies in getting information from anywhere. Although some shops are limiting the users of their computers especially to minors, new cell phones can now be used as an alternative for web browsing.

Such are often harmful to the child because of the variety of influences that he may be exposed to including his protected self. He/she may be open to the elements of lurking pedophiles that hid themselves in a profile that is too good to be true, or from websites used with strategy to invite a child to answer some question used in a survey that different markets would use to create an entertaining product in the market. Influences to gossip, to watch pornography, and even to conduct a theft way of transaction are only some of the things that children should be aware of especially when using chat rooms, Instant Messaging and Social Networking.

On the other side of it, it is part of parents’ instincts to feel that their child is doing some thing that is out of their watchful eyes. Since a child is well known by his parents, it is not really difficult for them find out what this is. It is already a common knowledge that parents is known for their inquisitive attitude to ask straightforwardly their concerns or to look for evidences for their child’s secrets.

Parents nowadays however are having second thoughts if they would find a way to know their child’s businesses. They somehow sense that doing acts like playing an investigative reporter work just to discover if their child is telling the truth would somehow undermine their relationship with their child. Cases like this eventually will only make a parent and child relationship weakens due to distrust. The child’s initial reaction would be to distance his self from his parents’ inquiries and the parents would become more suspicious in return.

Privacy for cases that would give person harm would then be unethical most probably when signs of such misconduct are becoming more and more obvious. Parents should then be warned because the doubts that they might be feeling could cause them regret for not taking timely and appropriate action of their child’s condition. Though it may seem that they were breaking the trust of their child, more positive can result happen if they have done the right thing – to prove that their child is not doing misconduct.

Some basic and healthy suggestions would be 1. Parents should strive to keep an open communication with their children; 2. Parents have to keep an absolute interest in their children’s friends and/or acquaintances; 3. Parents should always give ample time to give their children proper attention. Creating a healthy family atmosphere would help to stabilize the trust given by each one and this would help train children to go away from joining activities that would hinder the bond that the family has created.

Privacy would be more practical when considered regularly during one’s interaction with the world outside the home. When it comes to the family however, honesty would be an initial requirement to keep the relationship secure.