Many parental units are not "techies" and openly admit they are not.
They seem to use that as an excuse to not be informed and "trust" their children to do what is right in an environment that is clearly risky.
When it comes to You hear stories in the news all the time about police stings, pedophiles making contact with children or wacky teenagers running away to hook up with their newly discovered online love.
We all know that as teenagers we didn't know squat in regard to communicating with strangers or what "love" is.
Heck, I thought I was in love with Bobby Sherman! Just dated myself didn't I? Your child's life experience simply is not in place yet to make mature decisions.
That's part of life and your children need you to be their guide as they use technology.
Watching over your children's online sessions is not an invasion of privacy.
In my not so humble opinion, off-spring do not have privacy until they are 18 and move out!(Or is that around 30 now-a-days?) ;-) Online monitoring is a sign of a caring parent who is involved in the activities and information their children will be exposed to online.
Yes, it may be frustrating and require parents to learn some new things along the way.
A computer with an online connection is not a babysitter or because we didn't have computers as children an excuse to not be involved.
Learn, get involved and be part of your children's online experiences.
Look at it as another activity you can share together!