Guardianship and privacy conflict broke out. What if a
14-year-old boy called the police that his father used a camera to monitor it, causing heated discussions
● Looking through the child’s diary, checking chat records, installing monitoring and supervising children’s learning, etc., it is easy to destroy the child’s psychological safety, deprive the child of their need for respect, and lose the original intention of family education
● The original intention of busy parents to install monitoring and supervision of children’s learning is understandable, but if they do not communicate and coordinate with their children in advance, this approach not only violates the children’s privacy to a certain extent, but also easily damages the relationship between parents and children. Basic trust
● According to Chinese law, the privacy of minors should be specially protected, but compared with adults, minors’ privacy rights are more derogatory and subject to more restrictions. This is because minors are not yet mature. , The survivability is weak, if you want to grow up smoothly, you must transfer part of the privacy benefits to create the necessary space for parents to fully exercise their guardianship
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Su Xinyu, an intern from our newspaper
Recently, a video of "a 14-year-old boy calling the police saying he was monitored by his father with a camera" has aroused public debate.
The video shows: Parents have been away from home for a long time and worry that their children are addicted to online games and their grades will decline. Therefore, in order to urge their children to study, they have installed cameras for monitoring.
The child reported to the police that he was monitored by his father, and the father asked the child: "How much privacy do you have? Who am I? Can't I monitor you?"
Some netizens objected to this father’s approach, believing that the child is not the private property of the parents, but an independent and complete individual with an independent personality. This approach not only violates the child’s right to privacy, but also makes the child resist the parent. Emotions, rebellion or autism is likely.
Some netizens also expressed support, believing that children have poor self-control ability and that parents have the right to guard and educate their children. It is also helpless to install a camera when adults are not at home, and it is understandable.
If you just talk about the right to privacy, many people understand it, but if you put the right to privacy in a family to discuss it, it's not that simple.
Because family members have very close relationships, and there are also very clear rights and obligations.
So, how to deal with the privacy conflict between relatives?
The privacy of relatives is hotly debated
Monitor positioning influence relationship
Recently, discussions about children's privacy rights continue to arouse heated discussions.
In addition to the 14-year-old boy who reported that he was monitored by his father using a camera, there is also a first-grade girl’s mother who installed a pan-tilt camera at home. Even if the person is not at home, he can monitor whether the child is reading and sitting on time on his mobile phone. Is it correct?
And this mother also shouted through the camera intercom function from time to time: "Sit up straight. What are you reading? Why are you watching cartoons again?"
Netizens said: I suddenly remembered the fear of being dominated by my parents when I was young.
Nowadays, with the development of technology, monitoring and positioning have become the means for parents to pay attention to their children.
When children express dissatisfaction, parents often use the phrase "for you" as an excuse.
Regarding whether parents can monitor their children, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily recently interviewed some students and parents randomly.
Students generally understand this approach, but at the same time they believe that this approach may trigger children’s rebellious psychology, and there are also blind spots in the surveillance probe. This approach treats the symptoms rather than the root cause. What children need is not surveillance, but actual companionship and communication. And understanding.
The interviewed parents held two views.
Some parents said that because they were uncomfortable when they were peeked in their diary or other private matters by their parents when they were young, they would never do the same things without their children’s knowledge. Violating children’s privacy may leave them behind. Psychological shadows.
At the same time, these parents believe that it is not advisable to install monitors in the name of love to monitor their children's behavior, and to peek at their children's diaries. It is advisable to educate children about methods and communication methods.
Children are self-aware and self-emotional individuals. As children grow up and mature, their needs will also increase.
When parents infringe on their children’s privacy in the name of love, the children will feel that they are not respected, understood, and trusted, personal self-esteem will be greatly harmed, and the children will develop inferiority complex or rebellious psychology.
There are also some parents who believe that the children are born by themselves and that there is no privacy at all. Parents have the right to know everything about their children; and some parents believe that their children will have privacy after they go to college. It is good for the post-natal period. Everything the parents do today is for their own good. Even looking through the children’s diary is a matter of course.
Find the original intention of family education
Balancing guardianship and privacy
Install a camera to monitor children, will this form of family education have any effect?
In this regard, Han Yingwei, a senior partner of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said bluntly: “Camera-based education can play a supervisory role to a certain extent, but in the long run, it will inevitably cause children to have rebellious psychology, which is unreasonable and violates children’s privacy. Suspect of right."
Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management of Communication University of China, believes that children are not an accessory of their parents. Each child is an independent individual and has the right to privacy.
Reading children’s diaries, checking chat records, installing monitoring and supervising children’s studies, etc. can easily destroy children’s psychological security, deprive children of their need for respect, and lose the original intention of family education.
Zheng Ning said that this is actually a question of how to balance the guardianship of parents and the privacy of children.
The original intention of busy parents to install monitoring and supervision of children’s learning is understandable, but if they do not communicate and coordinate with their children in advance, this approach not only violates the children’s privacy to a certain extent, but also easily destroys the basic trust between parents and children. .
The seemingly invisible supervision, in fact, brings tangible pressure, and the mental high pressure for a long time may also cause the child to have mental health problems.
Therefore, parents need to find suitable companionship and education methods to avoid low-quality care that makes their children rebellious and affects the parent-child relationship.
“Using monitoring to supervise children’s homework is not advocating, and monitoring children’s homework is not desirable in the long run. Monitoring alone cannot produce children who love to learn. Children who are consciously obedient often do not need to monitor and are resistant to their hearts. For learning children, monitoring may not be very useful. Self-discipline is often more effective than heterogeneous discipline. On the basis of children’s self-discipline, parents as guardians should spend more time with accompany and counseling, explore reasonable ways to supervise children’s learning, and cultivate children The good habit of independent learning and conscious learning. Sincere and equal communication and exchange between parents and children is far more effective than monitoring through cold machines." Zheng Ning said.
What are the particularities of the privacy rights of minors?
In this regard, Han Yingwei said: First, the privacy rights of minors are subject to certain legal restrictions.
Minors are persons with restricted capacity and incapable persons, and their physical and psychological development are not yet mature.
Second, the guardian of minors enjoys guardianship rights in accordance with the law, which is both a right and an obligation.
Guardians have the right to know the daily life and education of minors.
Han Yingwei said that privately reading minors’ letters, diaries, e-mails, online chat records, mobile phone text messages and other personal information, disclosing minors’ privacy, etc. are suspected of infringing on children’s privacy rights.
Parents need to bear tort liability such as stopping the infringement, eliminating the impact, and apologizing, but based on the legal provisions of the parental guardianship of the child, the operability is not strong.
In Zheng Ning’s view, according to Chinese law, the privacy of minors should be specially protected. However, compared with adults, minors’ privacy rights are more derogable and subject to more restrictions. Adults are immature in their minds and weak in survivability. If they want to grow up smoothly, they must transfer part of their privacy interests in order to create the necessary space for parents to fully exercise their guardianship.
The Marriage Law stipulates that parents have the right and duty to protect and educate their minor children.
The Civil Code stipulates that the rights of guardians from performing guardianship duties according to law are protected by law.
The Law on the Protection of Minors also clearly stipulates that parents or other guardians should pay attention to the physical and psychological conditions and behaviors of minors, educate and influence minors with healthy thinking, good conduct and appropriate methods, and guide minors Carry out activities that are beneficial to physical and mental health to prevent and stop minors from smoking, drinking, vagging, indulging in the Internet, gambling, drug abuse, and prostitution.
"It can be seen from these laws and regulations that guardians have the obligation to educate and manage minors under guardianship, and have the right and obligation to understand the thinking and living conditions of minors in order to discover problems in time, educate and guide them. The privacy rights of minor children resist and evade the guardianship of parents." Zheng Ning said.
Zheng Ning believes that parents or others randomly read the children's mobile phone information, WeChat, web pages, letters, and diaries, all of which violate the children's privacy.
The behavior of parents or others randomly searching children's rooms, school bags, and clothing also violated children's privacy.
However, from the perspective of law enforcement, can such regulations be effective?
According to the survey, 76% of netizens believe that legislation cannot prevent parents from peeking at their children's privacy, because this provision is not feasible in reality; only 10% of netizens believe that as long as their children dare to report, they can be prohibited.
Must respect children's privacy
Intervene in bad behavior in time
So, how do parents balance their guardianship with their children's privacy?
In this regard, Han Yingwei suggested that parents should increase their legal awareness, understand the characteristics of minors’ physical and mental development, give full consideration to the particularity of minors’ privacy rights, and respect them, and increase education on minors’ independent personality and correct three views .
Zheng Ning believes that, first of all, parents should respect the privacy of their children.
Provide independent space and respect children's privacy.
Parents can choose to give their children independent space and enough trust, so that children can spend adolescence easily and happily in a relatively relaxed and respectful environment.
Also understand the child's situation and communicate positively in time.
In the face of children, parents can think in a different way, keep abreast of the child’s recent status, avoid spying on the child’s secrets, communicate more with the child, and guide positively.
We must also change the way to find a balance.
Parents can observe the children's performance more and find a balance between the right of supervision and the right of privacy of the child.
When communication cannot solve the problem, change the way, replace communication with action, and establish a good parent-child relationship, so as to truly protect the privacy of children.
"Secondly, intervene in bad behaviors in time. Children can have their own private space and ideas, but when they have bad behaviors such as skipping classes, smoking, drinking, or browsing pornographic websites, which may lead them astray, parents will check their children’s mobile phones and search. Children’s room clothing and other behaviors belong to the right to exercise the right of guardianship, which is a concrete manifestation of the right of supervision and the right to know in the guardianship. That is, parents do not peep into the child’s privacy out of curiosity, but take protection for their healthy growth Measures." Zheng Ning said.
How do minors maintain their privacy rights?
In this regard, Han Yingwei suggested that, first, minors can communicate with their parents and teachers to gain trust and understanding; second, minors should increase their legal awareness, and once they discover that their privacy rights have been violated, they should fix evidence in time. Report to the police from time to time; thirdly, minors should enhance their awareness of self-protection, take good care of their letters, diaries, and other items and information that contain personal privacy, and do not easily disclose their own and family secrets to others.
In Zheng Ning's view, when a parent violates a child's right to privacy, the best solution is for the child to take the initiative to communicate with the parent, indicating that their behavior is disrespectful to themselves, and at the same time an infringement of citizens' right to privacy.
If the parents are stubborn, they can turn to the school teacher or even ask the relevant department to help solve the problem.
For safety concerns
Real-time positioning is understandable
Not long ago, the "Family Map" function was launched on AutoNavi Maps, and the privacy of family members has been controversial.
"Family Map" allows family members to see each other's location at any time, especially for empty nest elderly families. Whether the elderly have gone out, where they have gone out, and whether they have deviated from their daily trajectories can all be seen on the map at a glance and can be checked at any time.
In addition to sharing with family members and obtaining real-time location of family members, you can also set "Reminders for relatives and friends location", and "Family History Track Record" can accurately record the family's movement trajectory in the last 72 hours, and trace back the locations the family has visited.
This feature became a hot topic as soon as it went online, and it also attracted a lot of controversy.
Some netizens believe that this feature is indeed very useful for people who have elderly and children in need of care at home.
Some netizens also said: "Being watched and positioned in such real-time, my privacy will no longer be placed."
It is understood that some couples have activated this feature either actively or passively.
In fact, before this feature comes out, if both husband and wife or relatives use Apple mobile phones, they can also check each other's location in real time after some operations.
In Zheng Ning's view, one spouse has its own right to privacy.
The establishment of a husband and wife relationship through free love is based on trust and love, and requires mutual loyalty, mutual respect and mutual trust.
Before men and women get married, in their daily life, work, and interpersonal communication, many secrets that are unknown or unwilling to be known are formed in daily life, work, and interpersonal communication, that is, personal privacy before marriage.
After the husband and wife have established a husband and wife relationship, one spouse can also have its own work or circle of friends, forming a personal privacy after marriage.
When the husband and wife live together, the mutual privacy between husband and wife is formed.
Whether it is pre-marital privacy, post-marriage privacy, personal privacy or mutual privacy, unless one party agrees, the other party should not make the privacy public.
The Marriage Law stipulates: "Husband and wife should be loyal to each other and respect each other; family members should respect the old and love the young, help each other, and maintain an equal, harmonious, and civilized marriage and family relationship."
Zheng Ning believes that according to this article, a civilized and harmonious relationship between husband and wife is based on mutual respect, and no matter for any purpose, illegal means should not be used to obtain the privacy of each other.
Personal real-time location information and activity trajectory are personal privacy information. If the positioning software is used without the consent and authorization of the other party, it is suspected of infringing on personal privacy.
However, if parents locate minors mainly for safety and concern, they are exercising their guardianship rights to monitor their children effectively in real time and prevent possible safety risks.
"The spouse does not have the rights and obligations of guardianship when both parties are persons of full capacity, and the privacy rights enjoyed are comprehensive." Han Yingwei said.