Is there a way to prevent my child from deleting texts messages on his phone? His phone is set up with family sharing, but I can’t find a setting to prevent him from deleting his text messages. I want to be able to read his text messages, if necessary.
iPhone 12 Pro
Agreed: this is the safety feature that is beyond needed. Thankfully my child took screenshots of text messages that she received from someone claiming to be “grand master” and the subsequent conversation that I found on her phone (she had taken the screenshots to send to a friend ) because she had deleted the texts. It is not okay that children can be having these conversations and then deleting them so parents cannot monitor them.
Agreed: this is the safety feature that is beyond needed. Thankfully my child took screenshots of text messages that she received from someone claiming to be “grand master” and the subsequent conversation that I found on her phone (she had taken the screenshots to send to a friend ) because she had deleted the texts. It is not okay that children can be having these conversations and then deleting them so parents cannot monitor them.
There are MANY reasons besides dealing drugs that having an eye on the conversations would be a helpful parenting tool. As kids are learning how to behave in the world and communicate with others, knowing the types of conversations they are having is super important. In my opinion, that is part of our job as a parent. It is not responsible to hand a phone to a child without teaching them how to use it appropriately.
This is a tactic that sexual predators use. They’ll send photos and texts and things that can be used as evidence and tell the groomed minor to delete them.
then you have school shooters, cyber bullying—There’s a lot of literal physical safety issues that warrant the keeping of receipts.
we’re also not talking about 17 year olds exclusively. Kids as young as 10 for necessary reasons may have cellphones. That is like a portal into madness when kids don’t have the developmental capacity to gauge this type of safety. It’s not as cut and dried as looking both ways when crossing a street.
i actually have no desire to read my kids texts actively, 99% of the time it’s inane and kids are entitled to have a level of privacy commensurate with age, but I do need to keep them safe and making just so that they can’t delete their texts in the event there is a suspected problem.
Thanks for your reply (even if it wasn’t what I was hoping for). Is there a way to submit feedback and a request to Apple? As I’m sure I’m not the only parent concerned about the content of their teen’s text messages.
Furthermore, You can suggest this feature directly to Apple by leaving a product feedback here ➔Product Feedback - Apple
Axel F.
I have no intention of reading every message. But if a child is deleting text messages, there is a reason why. They are deleting it so it can’t be seen. That is concerning as a parent. Our conversations regarding phone/text and internet use are that if you wouldn’t want it to be public information, it’s best not to share. In a world where lives can be flipped upside down due to a screen shot or careless response, it’s an important topic (for everyone, not just kids).
I agree that one should look out for ones child especially regarding the internet, but a constant spying on chats is extremely intrusive
There is no setting to prevent a family member from deleting Text Messages. I understand what you meant and what you want to accomplish, however, that feature is not available.
Axel F.
Don’t know if z
Agreed. This is a feature I wish existed for kids’ phones.
Submitted product feedback, hopefully this feature is added soon.
I really don’t think it is necessary for one to have to read ones kids messages unless you think they are dealing drugs or something like that
I agree with you 100%, and I submitted a request as well.
How to prevent child from deleting text messages in family sharing?
