Should I monitor my teenager's phone and social media, or does that invade his privacy?

Measured monitoring protects a child, while blanket spying destroys trust. The younger the child, the more supervision is appropriate; the more mature and trustworthy he becomes, the more privacy he should be given. Instead of spying silently, be upfront: tell him from the start what you check and why, namely safety, not suspicion. Agree on rules together, such as knowing which apps he uses and not keeping passwords from you. Give more freedom when he shows responsibility, and less when that trust is betrayed. Your aim is to guide him to be wise online even when unsupervised, not just to catch his mistakes. Read family digital guide.