I am a 17 year old, whos opinion in most cases does not matter but NOOOO! first off if you are paying for your childs cell phone then you should trust them to use it appropriatly, if you dont then why pay for them to have it?

Second most kids are smart enough to delete messages or use other forms of communication if they dont want you to see something

Third, I am one of the teens who pays for their own cell phone. My parents dont pay for my service, They wont even let me on their plan, so why should they be allowed to just take my phone, or look through my messages. As far as I can see if my phone is not being paid for by you or on your plan then you have no rights to invade my privacy unless i give you permission.

Parents look through their kids phones, when they dont trust them. which hurts the child. So in other words you are mentally skrewing up your kid. you cant build and trust between a parent and child that way.

oh and P.S. dont lecture your child about trust, if you sneak and look at their phone. How can you tell them you cant trust them if you just did that. Obviously they need to be the ones unable to trust you. No lines of communication and openness will come that way. Just saying...