N.Y. Senator Creates 'How To Snoop On Kids' Video
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- How do you know if your school age child is in possession of drugs or even a gun? A New York lawmaker is offering a video to instruct parents on how to go about looking for dangerous contraband in your home.
Imagine a gun in a lunch box, or drug paraphernalia stashed in a book bag. These are dangers a New York State senator said on Monday parents must watch for, reports CBS 2's John Slattery.
"Backpack, look through it to see if there's something other than a book, like a crack pipe," Sen. Eric Adams said.
Adams, a former police officer, said he regularly searches the room of his 15-year-old son. He has produced a video on YouTube to instruct parents on where to search and what to look for, like in a jewelry box.
"You don't know what could be hidden," Adams said.
On Fordham Road in the Bronx, each of the people Slattery spoke with thought parents should search a child's domain, including a woman who said her son was shot to death at the age of 18.
"And I had no clue he was in a gang or doing things that other people, so we should be abreast of our children in today's world," the woman said.
But a level of trust must be established, said one psychologist, in which the child sees it as fair.
"Versus, you're completely invading my privacy; and shuts down and makes it more secretive than I was before," Dr. Jeffrey Gardere said.
The issue of snooping on your kids and whether it's a good idea points once again that parenting is a vocation that is fraught with challenges.
The psychologist Gardere interviewed said one problem is that a youth who wants to keep contraband might just find another place to hide it, like at a friend's house.
Do you agree or disagree with the intention behind the state senator's video? Please let us know in the comments section below.
